Sharks, Kings take big steps in West playoff race
A couple of teams are staying alive in the hunt for the postseason, with just a few games to go.
On Monday night, the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings picked up important wins, keeping pace with the rest of the pack for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The Sharks held on for a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, while the Kings outlasted the Nashville Predators in a shootout.
With back-to-back wins, the Kings leapfrogged the Predators for the final Wild Card spot, while the Sharks, sitting fifth in the Pacific Division, are just two points back of L.A., with a game in hand on both the Kings and Preds.
On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss how the Sharks and Kings are still in the thick of the push for the playoffs.
Carter Hutton: The main thing is that San Jose is in a position where they control their own fate, and one takeaway I take from them, that big win last night, is the matchup head-to-head with the Preds. I think that’s going to be an important one. You can control your fate from that standpoint. I think this has been a productive road trip for the Nashville Predators. You’ve got to take that away. If you said you had to play L.A. twice and San Jose to come out of there with five or six points, that’s rewarding to go home now and try to find ways to win and be good down the stretch.
So, there is a lot of dynamics here, but what I do like is I think the freedom that San Jose gets to play with here. I think pressure is more squarely on L.A. because of the fact of the way this team is built, how they went out and got Panarin and the Anze Kopitar farewell tour. Then, the fact for me, the Nashville Predators, they were sellers at the deadline, so there’s a lot less pressure. I still think there is because of veteran guys, because of Stamkos and O’Reilly. Where the Sharks, ‘If we don’t get in, no big deal. Next year’s our year.’ So, it will be a great stretch drive because, man, these matchups are so great.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…