With the NHL playoff race getting down to the wire, we’ll be providing regular updates on each bubble team’s postseason push.
Bubble team: San Jose Sharks
Where they stand: 3rd in the West (first in the Pacific Division), two points clear of ninth-place Los Angeles
Games remaining: 6
SportsClubStats.com says: 79.1% chance of making the playoffs
Why they’ll get in:
A renewed confidence. The Sharks are 6-2-1 since a miserable month-and-a-bit of poor play. Monday they smoked Colorado, 5-1, for their third straight victory – a win that lifted them into first in the Pacific Division. This is unfamiliar territory for San Jose, a team that’s used to clinching a playoff spot well before the final game of the season. But lately the players seem to be responding.
Why they won’t:
Four of their last six games are on the road, where the Sharks are a mediocre 15-15-7. In fact, San Jose has just two road victories in its last 12 tries. And while most of those losses came during the aforementioned “miserable month-and-a-bit of poor play,” it was miserable in part because of all games away from the Tank.
Quotable:
“Lately we’ve been having fun playing, guys are smiling. Not that we weren’t before but maybe we were a little more uptight when we were losing, and didn’t want to make a mistake. Guys are going out there playing more free and things are working out.” – Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Biggest game coming up:
Thursday at the Coyotes