NBC’s Eddie Olczyk says too much rest could slow Knights, Sharks
After Vegas finesse outflexed L.A. muscle during a first-round NHL playoff sweep, some hockey pundits are billing the long-awaited (and that’s putting it mildly) Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks Western Conference semifinal series as speed vs. speed. After all, the retooled Sharks also seemed a much swifter team in brooming Anaheim from the postseason.
Eddie Olczyk isn’t among them.
“I wouldn’t say San Jose is a speed team,” said the NBC hockey analyst who tallied 342 goals for six NHL teams during a playing career that spanned 16 seasons and frequent trips to thoroughbred racetracks. “They do have the ability to get in the carpool lane when they are exiting the zone, and getting the puck up to the forwards in open ice. But they’re not one of the top five teams that comes off my tongue when somebody mentions speed.”
In characterizing the Sharks, Olczyk said they are well-coached (by Pete DeBoer), well-positioned and well-equipped to give the Knights a tussle in the second round, much as they did during the regular season.
The Knights went 2-1-1 against San Jose during the first 82 games of 2017-18. But much like the playoff set against the Kings, three of the four games were decided by one goal — and it would have been all four had it not been for Jonathan Marchessault finding an open net and the end of Vegas’ 5-3 victory on March 22.
Olczyk inferred that the key to beating the Sharks is catching them out of position. The trouble is that these Sharks don’t make haphazard forays into the deep end of the frozen pond.
“They pick their spots; they don’t beat themselves,” he said. “They do what they need to do. It all goes to coaching.”
Playoff layoff
San Jose may get veteran center Joe Thornton back against the Knights. Thornton missed the Sharks’ last 39 games with torn knee ligaments and has been ruled out of Game 1 of the series.
Thornton is 38, a grizzled veteran personified both in terms of service and appearance: From the length of his chin whiskers, it would appear he started growing a playoff beard the last time the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. “Jumbo Joe” isn’t one of those guys apt to fill the carpool lane. But should he lace up the blades, it could provide the Sharks with an emotional edge in addition to a physical one in front of Marc-Andre Fleury’s goal crease.
If there is an intangible in the series, it could be the aforementioned playoff layoff, Olczyk said.
The Knights haven’t played in so long that they may have to reteach the rules of hockey to their neophyte fans. The Knights have been shuffling around since bouncing the Kings on April 17; the Sharks have been idling one day fewer since banishing Anaheim.
“It could lead to a 7-5 game at the start,” said Olczyk, adding that some rest before the second round is nice, but too much can lead to playoff hockey becoming pond hockey.
“I’m sure the coaches have had to deal with it at some point during their career. Five to six days (off) is one thing. Nine to 10 days is uncharted territory.”
Holding serve
As for home-ice advantage, the Sharks and Knights were two of the few teams able to hold serve during the first round of the playoffs. But Olczyk said home ice isn’t what it was when he played, when arenas had different dimensions or other characteristics that provided home sides with a distinct edge.
“You had one stretch where the road teams won 11 of 13 games,” Olczyk said of the first-round momentum swings. “The energy isn’t the same in every building, but the rinks are pretty much the same and players have gotten comfortable playing in them.
“If it comes down to a Game 7, you’d want the game in your own building, 110 percent. But the way the game is now, the way it is officiated and the way the players are prepared, I don’t think (home ice) is as big a deal as it used to be.”
So it could come down to the usual suspects — a hot goalie or a lucky bounce. The Sharks’ Martin Jones has been on top of his game; the Knights’ Fleury has been even better, a Flower made of wurtzite boron nitride, the hardest substance to penetrate on the planet.
But that was during the first round, if you can remember that far back.
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Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.