2011 NHL Playoffs Predictions: San Jose Sharks vs. Vancouver Canucks

The NHL Playoffs is such an amazing time of year. Each series gets more and more intense as the playoffs roll around, and the storylines become that much more intriguing.

Very little could be more intriguing than the two teams that we find ready to lock horns in the Western Conference Finals.

The San Jose Sharks are a team that is working to exorcise the disappointments of playoff failures that has riddled their franchise for years.

They took a step in the right direction last year, but fell short in the conference finals against the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks.

The Vancouver Canucks are a team that finally managed to conquer Chicago, after being eliminated by them in the playoffs the past two seasons, and now look to live up to the high expectations of their fan base and of the country of Canada.

These are the top two seeds from the Western Conference from the regular season, so it's really hard to find where any of the advantages are unless you look really hard.

So let's have a look at who has the advantage in these major categories.

Offense

Vancouver has the most dynamic duo in the NHL today on their side and on the same line. 

The Sedin twins are frighteningly talented and can turn any type of situation into a scoring chance from pretty much anywhere on the ice.

They also get solid secondary scoring from the likes of Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows. 

Throw in some good scoring from the blue line with Christian Ehrhoff, and you have a pretty complete team on the offensive side of the puck.

San Jose is finally getting good contributions from each of their top three players.

Patrick Marleau isn't lighting the lamp quite as much as he did last season, but Joe Thornton and Danny Heatley are finally putting up some points in the playoffs.

Their secondary scoring is equally lethal. With the likes of Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi, the Sharks can bury pucks from a lot of different places on the offense.

Ian White has also been a productive point getter from the blue line, and compliments Dan Boyle very nicely.

San Jose has scored 38 even strength goals to Vancouver's 30, so a small advantage could be given to the Sharks when it comes to offense. 

Defense

Both of these teams are incredibly solid on defense, but both have also given up a few goals during this post season.

San Jose has given up 38 goals this post season, while Vancouver has let in 33.

The fact that we are now into the third round does have something to do with this, but it also means that these teams have been in a lot of high scoring affairs.

Vancouver's defense is deeper, from a personnel standpoint, but San Jose's still has good size and great toughness.

Depth is really where it's at once you get into the conference finals, and Vancouver has been the deepest team all year long.

Advantage to Vancouver in this one.

Goaltending

Roberto Luongo is a finalist for the Vezina trophy this year, and has experience with the big time games but has experienced his share of playoff disappointments.

Antti Niemi is coming off of a Stanley Cup championship with the Chicago Blackhawks and has been doing everything right in the playoffs so far.

He's very young, but this kid already knows exactly what it takes to win a Stanley Cup, something that Luongo has yet to do.

Luongo does have an Olympic gold medal, and was goalie for one of the closest and most dramatic gold medal games in history.

Luongo does have a history of not playing very well in big-time playoff series, but hopes to have exorcised those demons when he defeated the Blackhawks in the first round this year.

In the end, because Niemi already has the Cup in his cabinet, and Luongo can't seem to get there, you have to give the edge to the Sharks.

Special Teams

During the regular season, the Canucks (24.3 percent) and Sharks (23.5 percent) had the best two power plays in the league.

During the playoffs, San Jose's power play has not been nearly as good and they have only hit their mark 13.7 percent of the time.

Vancouver's power play has remained pretty steady during the playoffs, scoring 22.2percent of the time. 

So for the power play, Vancouver has the advantage.

Penalty killing has a similar story as well. Vancouver's penalty kill is at 86 percent, about on par with their 85.6 percent regular season penalty kill.

San Jose had a regular season penalty killing percentage of 79.5 percent, well into the bottom 10 of the NHL. In the playoffs they fared slightly better, managing only a 82.2 percent penalty kill.

In a series that very well could come down to who will perform better on their special teams, the clear edge goes to the Vancouver Canucks.

In Conclusion

This is going to be a very evenly played series that will come down to two things.

First, special teams. Taking advantage of your power plays and killing off your opponent's power plays is one of the fastest ways to guarantee success in the playoffs. 

Second, solid goaltending. By this point of the playoffs, any mistake can prove to be a costly one. 

By the time you reach the conference finals, each team left is one that will jump on their opponents the second they detect a weakness, and goaltending must be there to bail their team out and give them confidence.

At even strength, both these teams are completely even, but since Vancouver remains the most lethal special teams unit there is in the NHL this season, the edge in the series has to go to them.

It's important for me to state that either team could easily take this series because they are so evenly matched, but I believe Vancouver will take what is going to be one of the best series of hockey we will see in a long time in seven games, and San Jose will once again have to search for answers.