Inside the Cage: Nighty Knight

The Sharks will surely use the experience from their regular-season series against the Golden Knights and apply what they learned from Vegas' first-round sweep when they meet in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal.
One miscue they won't repeat, however, is the gaffe head coach Peter DeBoer committed during San Jose's first visit to the expansion team's home on the Vegas Strip.
"I won't make the mistake again of walking to the rink through a mob that probably started drinking 4-5 hours earlier," DeBoer said good-naturedly. "I took a lot of heckling."
The Sharks come in as villains who threaten to halt this magical inaugural season that has captured the imagination of a new market and sent a boisterous and supportive fan base on a seven-month spiral to hockey heaven.
Well, into the second round at least, which is light years from what was expected.
"We understood they were a team that was going to compete right from the start," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said, "And that's what they're going to hang their hat on."
As we embark on only the eighth series in Stanley Cup history to pit two teams fresh off sweeps in their preceding seven-game series, here are the keys:

ONE:

Based on their respective performances in the opening round - not to mention career-playoff showings - goalies Martin Jones of the Sharks and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Golden Knights will be a challenge to solve for opposing goals-scorers.
Jones pitched his fifth career postseason shutout and held Anaheim to only four goals total while winning each game in Round 1. His 1.00 goals-against average and .970 save percentage were second only to the numbers Fleury produced - three goals allowed (0.65 GAA) and a .977 save percentage.
"I'm trying to take care of business down at my end," said Jones, who lowered his career GAA to 1.90 and improved his save percentage to .931 in 36 games. "It's going to be tough. They're a good team, they're fast and they can score some goals."

San Jose goalie coach Johan Hedberg routinely pours over video to provide detailed analytics to the staff and players that are "as thick as a book" as DeBoer describes in an effort to break down the opposition goalie.
"I'm not sure we broke (John) Gibson down," DeBoer said of Anaheim's goalie. "We found a way to win, get one more goal and I think that's going to be the same with Fleury. We don't have a magic answer to break him down. We've just got to find a way to get one more goal than they're getting."

TWO:

The Sharks plan to counter Vegas' dynamic and explosive transition game by limiting turnovers, playing as clean as possible in their own end and break out with tape-to-tape passes. When that doesn't happen, well, San Jose has to be on its toes.

"You're looking at a lot of speed coming down on you," Sharks defenseman Justin Braun said. "We've talked about a lot of back pressure from our guys coming back, but it's also about getting on the forecheck and working hard. But when the puck's turned over it's about getting back and having good gaps. That will be huge in the series.
The Golden Knights feature a balanced attack in which all four lines play a similar style. Their top line of Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith, which combined for 102 goals and 213 points, requires special attention.
"Watching them all year it seems every goal they've scored is off the rush, a tic-tac-toe play or a fourth man jumping up the ice," Braun said. "Karlsson's line has been rolling all year, but there might be nights when the (James) Neal or (David) Perron lines are going and you might be thrown out against them. It's all about getting the job done night-in and night-out."

THREE:

While preventing goals is A-No. 1, San Jose's blue line will also be looking to make an offensive contribution in Round 2. San Jose received six points from the blue line against the Ducks, who limited the offensively-gifted Brent Burns to one goal on 15 shots.
"You take something away and something else opens up," DeBoer said. "That's nothing we haven't dealt with before. Individually and collectively, that's what teams in the playoffs try to do. They try to take away the other teams' strengths and expose their weaknesses. We're trying to do that same thing on our end."
The Sharks' system encourages the defense to add to the offense when it makes sense to jump up. San Jose ranked third in league blue line scoring during the regular season, so it's a tactic that's caught on.
"If we're getting those chances 3-on-2 we've got to cash in," Braun said. "You see how Vegas scored all year. We've got to play strong defensively, but when we get our chances we've got to bear down, put them in and have that advantage going throughout the series."

FOUR:

Aside from managing a goalie carousel during the opening month of the season when Vegas got bit by the injury bug, the Golden Knights have not faced much adversity or the feeling of playing a must-win game.
It's the Sharks' job to introduce the expansion team to adversity, and see how they react. They can do that as early as Game 1 by winning this week's opener.
"If you look at years past I think it's nice for us to be an underdog," Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "They've been one of the best teams from Day 1 of the season, a team we have a lot of respect for and a team with high-end offense. They're feeling good about their game, and we're going to have to be at our best."

FIVE:

The Sharks' core group has been here many times in the past, and went as far as to reach the Stanley Cup Final two years ago. They know the pressure that comes with each round. They understand the need to maintain an even keel.
And they want to embrace the moment.
"The first time was a little interesting," Braun said of San Jose's initial visit on Thanksgiving Day. "We looked at the bright lights, thought it was more of a vacation and it took until the third period to really figure that one out."
"I thought we played a lot better the next time we were there. We realized what kind of team they were, or what we might have taken for granted the first time. This time of the year you have it dialed in, and you're not looking at the bright lights as much. We're all past that now. We want to just go out there and play the game."
Braun's defense partner, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, sees it the same way.
"It will be a lot of fun to play in Vegas," he said. "It's a great building to play in. I know what it's like in the regular season. I can only imagine that it's even better in the playoffs."