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Game Changers: VGK vs SJ, Game 4

April 17, 2019, 4:57 PM ET [1 Comments]
Jeff Paul
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT

Electric T-Mobile Arena (USA Today Sports)

Imagine the San Jose Sharks with competent goaltending. That team would be downright scary to play. Instead, the Sharks continue to be plagued by subpar net play, from incumbent Martin Jones. Despite outplaying the Golden Knights for most of the first two periods, the Sharks were served a 5-0 loss in Vegas. Now in a 3-1 hole, the Sharks have a few important decisions to make. Will Jones start again? Will they play angry or look to get back into the series? Can they make the necessary changes to win? Those questions will be answered on Thursday night in San Jose, but for now, here’s the Game Four edition of “Game Changers”.

#1: (Bad) Martin Jones

Although goalie is arguably the most important position, Jones should not be appearing as the number one Game Changer every night. His appearance in this slot is never for being a great goaltender, that stole a playoff win for his team. Jones has been THE WORST player on the ice for the Sharks and it’s not particularly close. For the second straight game, the New Guy Line for the Golden Knights beat Jones with the team’s first shot on goal of the game. On a seemingly harmless crossing play with Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty flung a shot past Jones to give Vegas an early lead, just 1:11 in. This goal came after the Sharks controlled the whole first shift, threatening Marc-Andre Fleury early. Jones would shockingly go 18 minutes before giving up his next goal, to a streaking Shea Theodore. Although the defense broke down on the Theodore play, Jones could have made a stop, or at least a better attempt on it. Heading into the intermission with a 2-0 deficit, Peter DeBoer decided to yank Jones and rightfully put Aaron Dell in the net. It was a necessary change, but he was just a period too late. Dell played much better than Jones, in a tough spot, coming in cold and down two goals, in a playoff game.

#2: Ryan Reaves


Ryan Reaves (USA Today Sports)

It’s no secret that the Reaves likes to mix it up physically. He prides himself on getting into the opposition’s heads and taking them out of their game. He has regularly mixed it up with Evander Kane, including a fight at the tail end of Game Three. In Game Four, he did much of the same, goading the Sharks into a more physical style than they prefer to play and a handful of minor penalties. He is always quick to close on a hitting opportunity and that alone makes the Sharks keep their heads on a swivel. Their need to watch out for Reaves could be contributing to their overwhelming number of missed passes in the Golden Knights’ zone. While his aggressiveness and physicality can lead to penalties adding up, he has yet to take a minor penalty through the first four games. This leads us into the third Game Changer.

#3: The Zebras (refs)

It seems like the referees in this series are paid by the call. In Game Two, there were 11 penalties on the Golden Knights and six on the Sharks. Game Three saw five calls on the Knights and seven penalties on the Sharks, excluding the fighting majors to Reaves and Kane. Game Four provided much of the same with four calls on the home team and 11 on the visitors. Granted, toward the end of the game, the Sharks were visibly frustrated with their position and the calls the referees were deciding to make. That phrasing is used because the referees let the Golden Knights get away with a lot of questionable plays and seemed to crack down harder on the visibly angry Sharks.

On multiple occasions, Reaves disregarded the puck to drive a Sharks player hard into the glass. At another instance, Reaves literally punched Justin Braun in the chest twice, while forechecking in the corner. Braun hit the ice and his stick came up and clipped his teammate Barclay Goodrow. A last example is when he left the puck in deep to turn off and hit Goodrow toward the end of the third period. Goodrow took exception and shoved at and held Reaves as both men spilled onto the ice. The puck was nowhere near the hit, but Reaves avoided an interference call, while Goodrow picked up two minutes for holding.

Players with the reputation that Reaves has don’t normally get the benefit of the doubt as he has during this series. Additionally, the refs were very quick to slap a misconduct on Kane, following a post-whistle punch to Colin Miller, in the third period. They could sense the game getting out of hand and I have a hard time faulting the Sharks for their frustration. Sharks Captain Joe Pavelski’s reaction to a terrible interference call at 3:06 of the final period said everything about the Sharks’ mentality. They were obviously frustrated with falling behind and seemingly having to battle the officials as well. While both sides have suffered from shoddy officiating, the Sharks got the short end of the stick in Game Four.

#4: Evander Kane’s Love for the Penalty Box

Maybe Reaves is really in his head. Maybe he expected to roll through the Golden Knights after winning their last meeting of the regular season and dominating them in Game One. Whatever it is that is taking Kane off his game, is paying dividends for the Golden Knights. The Sharks’ 30-goal scorer has always been susceptible to the occasional bad penalty, but the hatred between the teams in this series has certainly exaggerated that tendency of his. Kane has 39 penalty minutes in four games, 14 of which came on the same play in Game 4. Kane cross-checked Paul Stastny in the neutral zone and it could have gone either way. Following the cross-check call, Kane’s frustration poured over and he sucker punched Miller. Miller hit the ground fast and Kane got another minor, this one for roughing. In order to get him off the ice, the officials gave him the misconduct as well.


Evander Kane (USA Today Sports)

Looking back at the punch, it was nothing different than what happens following most whistles in front of the nets. With one call already made on Kane, he could have gotten away with the punch. He didn’t get away with it because Miller hit the ice fast, there was no group or crowd around them, and his name is Evander Kane. Many fans were up in arms over the punch and while it has no place in the game, it wasn’t as egregious as most would classify it to be. In the playoffs, tempers flare, as team’s simply get tired of one another and vitriol builds. Mix that in with the fact that these teams already hated each other and you have the perfect recipe for a chippy series. Kane has value as a scoring forward and the Sharks need him to be that guy, more than they need him to indulge Reaves and partake in the extra-curricular activities.

#5: Marc-Andre Fleury


Shea Theodore with Marc-Andre Fleury (USA Today Sports)

Early on in Game Four, Fleury was called upon to make crucial saves. He was not given anything too crazy to stop, but every now and then, he was forced to come up big during the Sharks’ dominating first and second periods. Following the first period, the Sharks had a severe Corsi For advantage, in all situations, of 74.47%. Although they generated a staggering number of shot attempts (35), they were unable to beat Fleury. With the shutout, Fleury moved into seventh place all-time, with 78 career playoff victories. If he wins the series clinching game against the Sharks, he will tie Ken Dryden for sixth, provided the Golden Knights don’t get swept in round two.

**

With the Golden Knights holding a 3-1 lead, it would appear as if the Sharks are unofficially done. They have made mental errors, turned over too many passes in the offensive zone, and have not been helped by their offensive-minded blueline. Furthermore, how could they win with a goalie playing as badly as Jones has thus far? Jones has allowed 11 goals, stopping just 43 shots out of 54 shots, a lowly .796 save percentage. If the Sharks want to win, they need to go with Dell. Jones’ subpar regular season is now pouring over into the playoffs. For a team that was actively improving their roster, to try to finally make a cup run rather than an early exit, they need to prep with more urgency. Making the call to go with Dell is a necessary risk. Simply repeating the same losing equation may be something that could cost DeBoer his job, pending a Game Five loss.

Game Five will be in SAP Center in San Jose. Expect the Golden Knights to continue to try to get out to an early start, as they have been successful with in this series. All of the pressure is on the Sharks to turn this series around. They are good enough to win three in a row and steal the series, but they need better goaltending and staying away from the Brent Burns – Erik Karlsson pairing at 5-on-5 is probably best, if they want to have a chance. Joe Thornton will be back from his one-game suspension and it looks as if Marc-Edouard Vlasic will suit up in Game Five, per the practice report from Sheng Peng or FearTheFin.com. Be sure to tune in because the Golden Knights could clinch the series, the Sharks could start a historic comeback (only 28 others have won a series when down 3-1), or it could even turn into a live-action version of the movie Slap Shot.

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