As most hockey fans—and, perhaps, facial hair admirers in general—know, the actual awesome beards on the San Jose Sharks belong to Brent Burns and Joe Thornton. Metaphorically, though, the Sharks are a collection of greybeards who aren’t easily knocked off kilter.
That’s why, despite a recent rough patch that’s cost them a sizable lead in the Pacific Division, the heart rate inside San Jose’s room remains steady as ever in advance of Thursday night’s tilt with the surging Oilers in Edmonton.
"We don’t get flustered too much," said Thornton, who’s team stopped a six-game losing skid with a rollicking 5-4 overtime win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday. "Just kinda, steady at the rudder."
Not every team could exhibit that attitude in the face of what’s gone on in San Jose. On March 15, the Sharks enjoyed a nine-point advantage on their closest Pacific pursuers—the Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames—and held a 10-point gap on the fourth-place Oilers. Today, they sit tied with Edmonton for second place in the Pacific, each team having amassed 93 points through 76 games (Anaheim leads the Pacific with 95 in 76 contests).
But the calm demonstrated by Thornton is derived from a couple things, both micro and macro. Looking at the big picture, the Sharks are the defending Western Conference champions and—even with Logan Couture presently sidelined—have too much proven talent to stay down for long.
On a smaller scale, the Sharks believe they haven’t gotten much in the way of bounces the past little while. Despite its high-powered weapons, San Jose failed to register more than two goals in any of the six games it recently dropped.
"We felt like we were playing some good hockey, we just weren’t getting good results," Thornton said. "You just have to really ride the wave out and hopefully we did that and hopefully we can score some goals now."
Timing is another factor that makes it easier to wonder about the Sharks’ anxiety levels. Let’s face it, when a team’s offence goes dry and the defeats pile up on the eve of the playoffs, more people tend to notice.
"If this happens the first six times of the year, nobody’s panicking," said defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic. "So now, everybody is panicking.
"It’s just the way hockey is, it’s an 82-game season. Last game (against the Rangers) was just going back to good breakouts, good forechecking and having fun. You’ve just got to feel good going into playoffs and we have six games to do that."
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There’s no denying that task gets a little tougher with Couture—who took a puck directly to the mouth on Saturday night during a 7-2 clobbering at the hands of the Nashville Predators—slated to miss the team’s next three outings in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
"His intensity and his drive, he drives that team as much as anybody," said Oilers bench boss Todd McLellan, who coached San Jose from 2008 to 2015. "It doesn’t help [the Sharks] not having him in the lineup, but we’ll continue to prepare because they have a number of others who can make you pay."
Edmonton and San Jose will meet again just before the end of the season in Northern California and could well open the playoffs against each other. While a Shark-Oilers matchup is just one of a number of post-season scenarios still in play, San Jose coach Peter DeBoer acknowledged the potential for a return engagement in the second season amps up the intensity for Thursday’s affair.
"Both of us will pick up and move on whether it’s a win or loss," DeBoer said, "but there’s definitely a lot at stake and there’s definitely messaging that can be sent this time of year."