Currently sitting at third in the Western Conference with ninety-two points, the San Jose Sharks are in a great position with nine games to go. It's been an up-and-down-and-then-down-again kind of season, but a few winning streaks and a strong second half of the season has led put them in the aforementioned great position. They're riding a three-game winning streak which came after a three-game losing streak. Needless to say, they'd like to make sure that's not a trend and will be playing hard to extend this to four games when they take on the fringe Calgary Flames.
The Flames have been falling apart as the season's end draws near, and they owe it mostly to inconsistency. They'll play well, but lose close games or just completely shut down in losses. But they have a talented roster and remain a dangerous threat. They're coming off of two straight losses, both after regulation, one in overtime and one in the shootout. They can ill afford to lose anymore points if they hope to enter the playoffs, so they will playing these final games as though they are already in said playoffs.
But San Jose will be tough to beat regardless. They're coming off a 5-2 win over the St.Louis Blues in which they jumped to an early three goal lead, forcing Jaroslav Halak to be pulled after he allowed three goals on ten shots in the opening period. Torrey Mitchell, Devin Setoguchi and Joe Pavelski scored goals for the Sharks, and Antti Niemi made 42 saves, as the Blues battled back hard but took things over too late, ultimately falling short.
This stream will take us through games against the aforementioned Calgary Flames, and two pivotal matchups against the number two and three teams in the Pacific Division - the Phoenix Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings. Those matchups will be key, with Phoenix just one point behind San Jose and Los Angeles being just four points back. Follow along for previews, recaps and more.