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SAN JOSE — Strong start, quality finish. The middle belonged to Martin Jones.
The Sharks lined up a second-round Stanley Cup playoff date with the Vegas Golden Knights Wednesday thanks to a show-stopping performance from Jones, who withstood a barrage of shots as the Anaheim Ducks desperately tried to keep their season alive at the SAP Center.
Jones bailed his teammates out of a horrendous second period by making 14 of his 30 saves in the frame. In doing so, Jones finished the series with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .970 save percentage.
Here’s what we learned as the Sharks completed a four-game sweep of the Ducks with a 2-1 win at SAP Center:
1. Jones is the goalie the Sharks needed several years ago.
Question: Logan, you’ve played in a few playoffs now, can you describe what it means to get goaltending like that in a series?
Logan Couture opened his eyes wide, nodded his head slightly and took a deep breath: “Yeaaaaah. Goaltending wins them this time of the year. He was fantastic.”
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Couture knows the importance of goaltending in the playoffs because he’s also been on the other side of the equation several times during his eight trips to the playoffs.
When the Sharks lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2010 Western Conference Final, Antti Niemi stood on his head, posting a .949 save percentage in four games. Roberto Luongo recorded a .931 save percentage for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2011 Western Conference Final. The St. Louis Blues tandem of Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak stopped .944 percent of the shots they faced in a 2012 first-round series and Jonathan Quick registered a .931 save percentage in two series against the Sharks in 2013 and 2014.
Now, the brick wall is in the Sharks goal crease.
Jones padded an already-impressive playoff resumé in the Sharks sweep, pitching a 25-save shutout in Game 1, making a career-playoff high 45 saves in Game 3 and stealing Game 4 with a remarkable-individual performance.
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The 28-year-old netminder took over after the Ducks grabbed the game’s momentum and held the Sharks without a shot for a 15:59 stretch in the first and second. His best work came against Ducks agitator Corey Perry, who he thwarted with left-pad kicks at 3:39 and 12:58 of the second. In the final minute of the frame, he stretched his right leg across the crease to deny Perry’s rebound chance from the doorstep.
“The second period was probably our worst period of the series,” captain Joe Pavelski said. “Jones made some huge saves.”
Wow. Just wow. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/8GQXpiHZTB
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 19, 2018
Jones’ work helped the Sharks kill off four penalties, three of which came during that miserable second period.
“Both games here, without (Jones), could have been different results,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s something that we rely on and take for granted.”
Sharks territory sure isn’t taking Jones for granted. The fan base is well aware that if the team had received Jones-like goaltending from 2006 to 2014, it might have received different results back then, including a Stanley Cup parade through Silicon Valley.
2. A fitting response.
Unlike the Sharks teams that squandered multi-game leads in 2006, 2007 and 2014, resiliency is embedded in this team’s DNA structure. The Sharks proved it again at 9:09 of the third when Tomas Hertl scored the game-winning goal just 1:16 after Andrew Cogliano tied it up at 1-1 by finally sneaking one past Jones.
Somehow, the Sharks managed to regroup and get back on the attack after spending roughly 42 minutes on their heels in the aftermath of Marcus Sorensen’s opening goal at 5:43 of the first.
“That was a big-character goal,” Pavelski said. “It was tough (after the Ducks goal).
“To come back (after) a couple shifts, bang one in, it got the energy right back in the building.”
Hertl power! #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/y05D6fOYpx
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 19, 2018
The Sharks also picked themselves up and went back to work when Joe Thornton went down with a major-knee injury on Jan. 23, producing a 19-13-3 record to reach the playoffs.
“It’s tough to play an elimination game when you’ve got an opportunity to sweep a really-good team,” DeBoer said. “We had some good moments, some moments we didn’t handle well, but we found a way, and that’s been the story all year.”
3. An unlikely hero emerges.
An unlikely hero emerged in Game 4. His name is Dan Darrow.
The Sharks video coach made the call to challenge Rickard Rakell’s apparent-tying goal just 27 seconds into the third. DeBoer, who can’t review goals on video from the bench, needed to trust Darrow’s judgement that the play was offside on faith.
If the challenge had failed, the Sharks would have suddenly found themselves in a tie game with a penalty to kill less than a minute into the third.
“That’s a gutsy (call),” DeBoer said. “(Assistant coach) Steve Spott said to him, are you 100 percent sure because, if you’re wrong, we get a penalty.
“He’s got that pressure he’s dealing with. That’s a huge call at that point in the game.”
The replay showed that both Perry and Rakell had entered the offensive zone before Ryan Getzlaf brought the puck all the way across the blue line. The Sharks made the right decision without hesitation.
Almost good as scoring a goal, getting one disallowed. pic.twitter.com/lhHAGu8D5p
— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) April 19, 2018
DeBoer commended Darrow and his team for their preparation and ability to make a quick judgment on the spot.
“(He) does a lot of work behind the scenes and doesn’t get recognized for it,” the Sharks coach said. “That was critical.”
