San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are at the top of the NHL Western Conference. Being at home throughout the playoffs would be a huge advantage for the Sharks as they have been a remarkable 22-6-8 at home. Their road record of 21-10-2 is not as impressive, but it still has been enough to get the job done in the West.
The San Jose Sharks, however, are on a three game skid at this point and are in danger of losing their number one spot. The Chicago Blackhawks are hot on their tails with a record of 6-3-1 in their last ten games, as well as Phoenix who is currently on a six game win streak and are showing no signs of slowing down. Phoenix is currently only 5 points behind the Sharks, who currently hold 96 points in the regular season.
This success comes as no surprise for the Sharks, as most suspected that they would be at the top of the Western Conference from the beginning. They have met and surpassed expectations with the help of both Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, a dangerous duo.
Thornton has been an excellent facilitator this year, dishing out an amazing 63 assists on the season. Patrick Marleau has been the beneficiary of many of these assists, scoring 41 goals so far this year (not to mention dishing out 32 assists of his own).
This team effort along with the solid goaltending of Evgeni Nabokov( 2.37 goals against average .924 save percentage) makes them favorites to take the conference and to possibly go deep into the playoffs. There is a very good chance that San Jose can make it to the NHL Championship and secure the Stanley Cup.
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