The Sharks must meet three challenges in Wednesday's Game 4 to re-knot their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Golden Knights - stay out of the penalty box, better contain Vegas' top line and remain positive.
Listening to the comments following Monday's 4-3 overtime loss suggests San Jose is on its way to mastering the third point. The Sharks have been a resilient group all season, and their attitude is not waning.
"We're getting better every game in the series, so that's a good thing," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "Every game our game is building, we're getting better. We're realizing what works against them, and in this series there's a lot of hockey left to be played."
"We'll be ready for Game 4 back here in our building," Sharks forward Evander Kane added. "If we play like that again on Wednesday we like our chances."
Inside the Cage: 3 Keys to Even the Series
Accomplishing the other two challenges comes down to better execution.
Special teams have played a big part of the second-round series between the Pacific Division rivals. The Golden Knights have struck for five power-play goals - all coming in their two wins - and failed on two tries during their loss.
Conversely, the Sharks went 2-for-7 in their Game 2 win - breaking through goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for the first time in the series with the first one, and skating out of hostile T-Mobile with the second in sudden death. They're just 1-for-9 on the power play in their two losses.
Interestingly, the Sharks never allowed more than 14 power plays to opponents during any three-game stretch in the regular season or in their four-game sweep of Anaheim in the opening round.
"We'd definitely like to keep it 5-on-5," Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "When you're in the penalty box you're either gaining or giving momentum. That's really been our bread and butter this year, we've really been able to rely on that."
"Maybe we're taking that a little bit for granted and we've just got to get back to what makes us successful."
Five of the eight minor penalties San Jose committed in a 7-0 Game 1 loss were stick-related. The Sharks have cleaned up that area in the last two games - combining to take just two stick-related fouls - but they've taken some uncharacteristic minors that include three delay-of-game infractions and a too-many-men call just 36 seconds into Monday's OT.
Vegas' team speed can do that to an opponent. The Sharks are conscious of how quickly the Golden Knights can strike, and they've been forced to try to make plays faster than they'd like. San Jose feels it's getting closer to neutralizing Vegas' attack, but they're not quite there yet.
"They're quality players, but we've got a game plan and I don't think we've completely executed it yet," Dillon said. "We're doing it in bits and pieces. We see the success we get when we're doing it well. Those guys play a north-south game, they're not turning pucks over."
Dillon is referring mainly to the Vegas top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. And they're absolutely tearing it up in this series after combining for 92 goals and 213 points in the regular season.
Karlsson, who centers the line, scored the game-winner in OT on Monday included among his three goals and seven points in the series. Marchessault has two goals and six points while Smith has a goal and five assists. In all, the line has combined to score six goals and 19 points with 31 shots on goal.
"Their key guys don't need many looks to stick the puck in the net," DeBoer said. "You're seeing that."
Nearly one-third of the line's production in the series has come on the power play where the trio has one goal and five assists for six points.
"Stay out of the box, the power play gives them energy," Sharks forward Logan Couture said. "They feel good about their game when they're making plays."
"We can't take as many penalties as we did (Monday)," Kane added. "That's really why they were able to stay in the game. Other than that we just have to keep playing our game, doing what we do best."
There are positives to take from the three games for the Sharks. They've out-shot Vegas 122-96, including by 47-29 and 42-33 margins in the last two games, respectively. San Jose's power play was struggling down the stretch, but it has produced nine goals in seven playoff games.
Individually, Tomas Hertl has four goals and six points this postseason, and Kane has four goals during his first career trip to the playoffs. Defenseman Brent Burns has broken out against the Golden Knights with two goals and four points in the first three games. And Couture tied a career-high with seven shots on goal in Game 3.
"It's fun playing when you're playing well and competing. You're seeing that throughout the lineup," Pavelski said. "I believe our game is there. Everyone in here would say that."
Not that what's happened in the past has bearing today, it's noted the Sharks have rallied from a 2-1 series deficit to advance three times in 11 tries (2010 vs. Colorado, '08 vs. Calgary and '94 vs. Detroit - all in the first round).
"I think our game's in a good place, we're doing a lot of good stuff," DeBoer said. "But, through the three games, we're chasing the game every night and we've got to find a way to get out in front."
"It's easy," Couture responded when asked about moving on from Monday's loss. "We have a practice then a game the next day. … It doesn't matter how you got there and what the score was in any of the games. We're down 2-1 and we've got a big game on Wednesday."
