Inside the Cage: Divisional Success

With teams having played a different number of games - the imbalance of those with road-heavy schedule while others have enjoyed more home cooking - it can be confusing to decipher exactly what the standings mean until things even out more later in the season.
The Sharks woke up Wednesday in second place in the Pacific Division, thanks in large part to winning three straight following a five-day break. And San Jose can bask in the relative comfort it has played the fewest number of games (43) along with Vegas.
So there is opportunity for more points than teams who have played more games, but it does come at the expense of playing a more compacted schedule than division rivals.

What is most telling about the Sharks standing is the fact they are having tremendous success against Pacific Division opponents, and that goes a long way in determining the final pecking order. It's no coincidence the top two teams in the division - Vegas (11-1-1) and San Jose (11-2-3) - are Nos. 1-2 in the Pacific, and own the best percentage of points during intra-division match-ups.
"It's huge, but we've got a long ways to go," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "We've got a lot of games against them. We'll take it so far."

Without another Pacific match-up before Anaheim hosts Los Angeles on Friday, here's how the eight teams have fared within the division thus far:
While the Golden Knights' success has caught everyone by surprise, the rest of how these teams stack up could match what preseason prognosticators forecast. Of course, the season is far from over. That's what gives Edmonton, a team enjoying success in the division and with a Pacific-high 18 match-ups remaining, more hope than some might see.
Conversely, a team like Los Angeles will have to pick up its play inside the division to reach the postseason in spite of the Kings' otherwise impressive bounce back during the season's first half.
The Kings are the only Pacific opponent the Sharks have completed playing, with San Jose having won three of the four match-ups, including the final three meetings after the Sharks lost 4-1 during the season's second game when they were completely out of sorts.
By winning the last three by a combined score of 8-1, the Sharks displayed a lot of the domination they are enjoying against the Pacific.
"A lot of us have played in this division for a long time," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "They're tough games, they're tough match-ups. And that's what we know. … We believe we can play with these teams, and that belief has to continue."
"It's easy to prepare for any division game," goalie Martin Jones added. "We know what the standings are like and how difficult it is and we know we need our best games."

Breaking down the reasons for San Jose's success in the division, the Sharks have been lethal on the power play at 25.5 percent (12-for-47) and stingy at 87 percent on the penalty kill (87 percent). San Jose has averaged 31.7 shots per game, an even more impressive figure when you consider they've led throughout in most division match-ups, which usually yield fewer shots for and more against.
The Sharks, who have outscored Pacific foes 51-40, have to like the fact they have three games remaining against Vegas with an eyes on hunting down the expansion team to win the division. San Jose has three left against Edmonton, two versus Anaheim, Calgary and Vancouver and one left against Arizona.
San Jose has taken care of business against the weaker teams in the division - 3-0 versus the Coyotes and 2-0-1 against the Canucks. The Sharks' only meeting against the Golden Knights ended with visiting San Jose losing 5-4 in overtime a day after Thanksgiving. The Sharks are 1-0-1 against the Ducks, 2-0 versus the Flames and 0-1 against the Oilers.
"We know these are all four-point games, and this is all going to come down to the end," DeBoer said.
Intra-division success has gone a long way in the Sharks securing third-place finishes each of DeBoer's first two years behind the bench. San Jose went 16-11-3 against Pacific foes last year after going 16-9-3 against similar opponents in 2015-16.
"You've got to win these games because those are the teams you play most," defenseman Dylan DeMelo added.