San Jose Sharks Take Control of NHL Pacific Division
The NHL regular season is winding down with only 15 to 16 games left before the playoffs begin. All season long, the Anaheim Ducks have been the cream of the crop in the Western Conference and have battled Pittsburgh for the top spot in the NHL.
However, the Ducks must be looking in their rearview mirrors, as there is a group of sharks, better known as the San Jose Sharks on the Ducks’ tail circling for the kill.
San Jose has won four straight games to tie the Anaheim in points, but since the Ducks have a game in hand they remain in first place overall in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference.
Regardless, the Sharks are playing fantastic hockey. San Jose is 8-1-1 over its past 10 games, while Anaheim has been struggling at 3-5-2.
Bruce Boudreau has not had a problem rallying his Ducks, but the team has just not responded on the ice. Boudreau says that San Jose on the other hand is just not losing.
Back on January 15, following Anaheim’s rout of Vancouver 9-1, the Ducks held a 13-point lead over the Sharks. Since that time, the Ducks have gone 7-8-2, while San Jose has been white-hot with a record of 14-5-1, erasing all 13 points of the deficit.
Oh, by the way, if it were not enough that the Sharks are 8-1-1 over their last ten, the Los Angeles Kings are a blistering 8-2 over their past 10 games securely taking over third place in the Pacific and sixth place in the conference by three points.
The Ducks have been passed by St. Louis in the conference standings trailing by four points. Only 7 points separate the top five teams in the Western Conference with plenty of points to win heading down the stretch to the postseason.
Boudreau looks to take a positive spin on the Ducks problems by saying it might be a good thing as it keeps the players sharp down the stretch and makes each game important and relevant in the playoff chase making sure the players remained focused.
Remember Vancouver? The past couple of years the Canucks easily won the former Northwest Division but were not prepared for playoff hockey. In 2012, they lost in 4 games to the Kings who were seeded No. 8 and last season were swept as well by the Sharks. Both the Kings and Sharks had to play hardnosed hockey for all 82 games jut to reach the postseason those two years.
Boudreau might have a good point and time will tell if his Ducks can respond.
The Ducks are not losing games through poor play. In their four straight losses, two were by shootout. Of course, they played late Friday against another team playing well, the Colorado Avalanche who has won two straight.
Anaheim has lost just twice in their past six games in regulation going 3-2-2.
The Kings are just 11 back with a month of the regular season left but are beginning to play like the team that entered the postseason as the eighth and final seed in the West and walked away holding the Stanley Cup as the NHL Champions.
