"Veteran guys who have been around for a while," Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "I think they're a quicker team than the Los Angeles Kings] and can create more offensively."
It shouldn't be difficult for the Sharks to score more than the Kings did against the Golden Knights in the first round. Vegas allowed three goals in a four-game sweep. San Jose outscored the Anaheim Ducks 16-4 in its own sweep.
***[RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Sharks series coverage]*
The Sharks' style might allow for more offense from the Golden Knights too. After finishing fifth in the NHL in goals per game in the regular season (3.27), Vegas scored seven against Los Angeles in a physical, mostly tight-checking series.
"I would assume it'll be more fast-paced, more open hockey," Fleury said. "I think L.A. played well defensively, but maybe they didn't create more offensively. With these guys, you've got to play a little more up and down."
San Jose had a balanced attack in the first round. Logan Couture (two goals, three assists) and Joe Pavelski (one goal, four assists) each had five points, and Evander Kane was one of three Sharks with four points (Marcus Sorensen, Tomas Hertl).
The Golden Knights' top defense pair of Brayden McNabb and Nate Schmidt will be tasked with slowing down the Sharks' top six; Pavelski is the center on the first line with Kane and Joonas Donskoi, and Couture is the center with Hertl and Mikkel Boedker on the second.
"We have to make sure, with our defensemen, that we do the same thing we did with L.A.: tightening our gaps and limiting their speed," Schmidt said.
The Sharks like to initiate their offense with defenseman Brent Burns, the 2017 Norris Trophy winner, as the Kings do with defenseman Drew Doughty, who was held without a point in three games in the first round against the Golden Knights.
Vegas will try to neutralize Burns like it did Doughty by getting the puck out of his possession and limiting his space.
"He's been a really good weapon for them in the [offensive] zone," Golden Knights forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said of Burns. "They rely on him a lot as an outlet player. He's tough to play against. I don't think we focused so hard, especially on Doughty. I think we focused a little more on us and what we can do."
Although the Golden Knights may be concerned by their own lack of offensive production in the first round, there's the sense that winning tight games, including two 1-0, will benefit them as the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue.
"Just knowing you have that in your game," Schmidt said. "And knowing that [Fleury] is back there, that's the all-time calming factor. It's helped us because we haven't been in that situation most of the year. It's not good to have it until the playoffs, but good to have success with it in the playoffs."
