2011 NHL Playoffs: 8 Key Questions for the Western Conference Finals
When San Jose travels to Vancouver to take on the Canucks Sunday, the West's top two teams will match up for a trip to the Stanley Cup finals. In many ways, this is as it should be. The two best teams, no Cinderellas, no miracle teams of destiny.
Just power against power.
Both teams have had their ups and downs on their path to the conference finals. They are so similar that they both tempted fate by blowing 3-0 series leads only to win Game 7.
The teams also mirror each other in almost every statistical category this season, which should result in a great series. It will be strength against strength.
There is an abundance of star power here as well. With guys named Thornton, Heatley, Sedin, Kesler and Luongo, there is no shortage of household hockey names.
While it may be hard to predict a winner, there are some key questions, the answers to which will determine which team is still playing in a couple of weeks.
So here are eight key questions to watch for in the Western Conference Finals.
1. Will Patrick Marleau Show Up?
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One of the most popular Sharks in the team’s history has been taking some knocks lately. He looked terrible coughing up the puck in Game 5 against Detroit and has drawn harsh criticism from his former teammate Jeremy Roenick.
Roenick referred to Marleau as "gutless" which is as harsh as an insult that you can heap on a hockey player.
He responded to that criticism with an invisible effort in Game 6, but did rebound and pot a big third period goal in Game 7 to help win the series.
Not that Marleau hasn’t deserved some criticism. Like his team, Marleau does not have the greatest playoff resume. So far, in two series this year, he has only six points with three goals.
Will this criticism wake up Marleau? Will he take out his frustration on the Canucks? In an evenly matched series like they are in with Vancouver, San Jose will need one of their best players to come up with his best playoff performance.
2. Will the Sedins Show Up?
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There may not be two players who have had better seasons than Henrik and Daniel Sedin have the past two seasons. The twins have dazzled on the ice, lighting up the score sheet and leading the Canucks and the league in scoring.
The problem has been repeating that performance into the playoffs.
They have been taken off their game, starting with the final four games against Chicago and all six games with Nashville. They claim they are not injured, not tired, yet still the goals are not coming.
At times it seems like it doesn’t take much to knock them off the puck, and in the regular season, puck control was one of the keys to their success.
So far the twins have only combined for 19 points in 13 Stanley Cup playoffs. Vancouver will need them to bring their A-game if they want to get past the Sharks.
Is there something wrong with the Sedins or did Nashville’s stingy defense bottle them up. This series, against a more free-wheeling opponent, will tell a lot about the twins and whether or not they are playoff performers.
There has been some talk that Henrik Sedin has been nursing an injury, which has led to his lackluster play, and time will tell if the days off between series has healed him enough to resemble the guy who won the Hart Trophy last year.
3. Will the Sharks Match Up Boyle and Murray Against the Sedins or Kesler?
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In the past, the formula against Vancouver was always the same. Match up your top defensive pairing against the Sedins line and pound them. It’s what Chicago and Nashville did.
To some extent it worked as the Sedins have been neutralized for most of the playoffs. The problem is that the Kesler line has come on to take over and become the Canucks top line.
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan has a dilemma of sorts in regards to matchups in this series. Does he put his top defensive pair against the Sedins and hope Kesler cools off? Or does he switch things up and look to contain Kesler?
If that happens will the Sedins get some room to work their game? It is an interesting thing to watch for in this series and will be a big factor in determining who wins.
McLellan has proven to be a good coach, able to make adjustments, and the matchup game will be fun and interesting to watch.
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4. Can Ryan Kesler Continue His Torrid Pace?
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What more can be said about Ryan Kesler’s explosion during the playoffs. He has followed up his career-best season with an unbelievable playoff run.
Tasked with matching Jonathan Toews in the first round Kesler didn’t score, but he negated Toews and showed a gritty determination to do whatever he needed to help his team win.
Against Nashville he simply took over. The Predators had no answer for Kesler, who seemed to be everywhere on the ice and able to do whatever he wanted. He ended that series by scoring five goals and is now the playoff leading scorer with 15 points.
Can he keep this tremendous pace up? So far he is having the kind of playoffs that makes legends out of guys.
If the Sharks can’t find an answer for Kesler, he may be hoisting two trophies in a couple of weeks.
5. Which Goalie Will Step Up?
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As always, goal tending is key to advancing in the playoffs. Both the Sharks and Canucks have goalies that are in some ways, enigmas.
Antti Niemi does have a Stanley Cup on his resume but many people dismiss that to the team playing in front of him. Despite having some unbeatable moments this year, there is still some doubt as to how elite he is.
The same questions have dogged Roberto Luongo since coming to Vancouver. Paid as a top goal tender he has been erratic in the past, was benched once this playoffs and still has some critics to answer for.
In the second-round series against the Predators he was great, although there were a number of strange, somewhat soft goals allowed that haven’t allowed the whispers of discontent to totally vanish.
This series could come down to which goal tender establishes themselves as a presence and puts their team on their backs. Both are facing high-powered offense with multiple players and lines who can score.
Which one will be raising their hands skyward at the end of the series?
6. Will Special Teams Decide Series?
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Both teams are loaded with goal scorers and dangerous power plays. The special teams may play a big role in determining who advances to the finals.
With as good a season that the Sharks had they had one glaring weakness: their penalty killing. They ended the season ranked 24th, killing 79 percent of their penalties.
They were able to overcome it in the regular season and have so far in the playoffs but will now be facing the regular season’s top power play in the Canucks. How this matchup fares may end up deciding the series.
If Vancouver is able to fill up the net with the man advantage they will control the series. San Jose will have to limit their penalties to avoid testing the fates with the Sedins and Kesler.
So far in the playoffs the Sharks are killing penalties at 82 percent while Vancouver’s power play has dipped a little to 22 percent.
Conversely, the Sharks power play is surprisingly low at 13 percent and Vancouver, while struggling a bit in the first round, rebounded to kill 19 out of 20 Predator power plays.
7. Will Both Teams Be Able to Shed Their Choker Tag?
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The Canucks and Sharks are very evenly matched on the ice. They also share the stigma of playoff underachievers. Which is a nice way of saying they have been called chokers.
Will this series wipe that out for both teams?
One team will make the Stanley Cup finals, which should be enough to quiet their critics regardless of what happens. Just getting this far may be enough to do the same.
This is the second straight year that the Sharks have made the conference finals, which is not the territory of chokers. While a loss may frustrate their fans, there are 31 other teams who would be happy with two straight trips this far.
The Canucks have already overcome their playoff demons by eliminating the Blackhawks and advancing past the second round. Something they have not been able to do since 1994.
They also have avoided the President’s Trophy curse of losing early in the playoffs. The pressure is high in Vancouver, so they may have to win to totally rid themselves of the underachiever label, but at the least they have tempered it.
8. Which Team Gets Secondary Scoring?
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San Jose and Vancouver are loaded at the top of their lineups. All-Stars abound. With all these big names perhaps cancelling each other out, secondary scoring may be the key to this series.
So far, both teams have been getting a bit of help from their secondary scorers. For San Jose, guys like Logan Couture, Dan Boyle, Devin Setoguchi and Kyle Wellwood have chipped in for some big scoring.
Vancouver has seen guys like Mason Raymond, Chris Higgins and Christian Ehrhoff come up with some timely goals as well.
These guys could be key in tipping the series one way or the other.
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