The 82-game regular season is officially in the books. 16 teams will begin their journey with the hopes of hoisting the Stanley Cup when it is all said and done. The FPC NHL staff will preview each and every series all the way through the Stanley Cup Finals. On the docket: The Anaheim Ducks vs. the San Jose Sharks.
Record Recap
Season Series
The Sharks took the season series 3-0-1. With that said the Ducks ended up 1-1-2 in those games as three of the four games went into overtime.
| Team | Team | Team | Oppo | Oppo | Oppo | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | G | S | PIM | GA | SA | OppPIM | ||||
| 1 | 2018-02-11 | ANA | SJS | 2-3 | L | SO | 2 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 39 | 9 | |
| 2 | 2018-01-21 | ANA | SJS | 2-6 | L | 2 | 35 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 2017-11-20 | ANA | @ | SJS | 3-2 | W | SO | 3 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 42 | 4 |
| 4 | 2017-11-04 | ANA | @ | SJS | 1-2 | L | SO | 1 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 45 | 2 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Key Players/Matchups
Getzlaf and Perry versus the Sharks Defense
I think this will be the biggest matchup of the series. That’s if San Jose can contain the dynamic duo of Getzlaf and Perry. Because the success of those two will be a huge factor into whether or not the Ducks get past the Sharks and further through the playoffs.
Miller vs Jones: A battle in Net
The goaltending is going to be a big key as well. I am not sold on either one of these teams ability to make a deep run based on the current set of goalies. I would like Anaheim’s chances more if John Gibson was in net. But he is out with an injury through at least the first round. Which means that the Ducks are stuck with Miller, and that would scare me as a Ducks fan; because he is not as good of a goalie as he once was.
Sharks Offense versus Ducks Defense
Much like the Ducks with Getzlaf and Perry, the Sharks have their own superstar players on offense. Such players include Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture, and Evander Kane. This will be a tall order for the Ducks defense. And it should be fun to see which side wins out in this case, usually, it is the defense in most other sports. But when it comes to hockey, that is not always the case.
Prediction
So with all of that being said, my prediction is Ducks in seven. They have more experience and a deeper roster. To be fair to San Jose however, I feel has the better talent at the top end so that should very well suit them. And I just think the Ducks’ depth is deeper and it will be a factor.
The series should be a good tight checking one with plenty of goals, a fight or two and plenty of hard body checks. This series should be very close. I chose the Ducks in seven but it very well could be the Sharks in six or seven. That is how close I see these two teams. It will undoubtedly be one of the best first-round series.
