CSN Bay Area

SAN JOSE – Getting consistently positive results five-on-five has been an issue for the Sharks for much of the season, and they enter Thursday’s home game with Nashville just 24th in the league in that category.

The Predators, though, have thrived in that aspect. Despite being one of the league’s least successful teams on the power play, along with a mid-range penalty kill, Nashville is tied for first in the NHL in with 91 points thanks primarily to its success at even strength. It is second in the league, scoring 1.31 goals for each one it allows (the Sharks are at 0.94).

That success starts in the defensive end, with one of the NHL’s best goalies in Pekka Rinne, and one of the more impressive defense groups in the league according to Todd McLellan.

“Not only can [Rinne] stop the puck more often than not, but he has the ability to help the breakout. He’s very good at playing the puck,” McLellan said. “Their six D are as good as anybody has in the NHL. When you combine the six defensemen, the goaltender, they get the puck moving out of their end pretty good. Once they get over the red line, their forwards are creative and involved and fairly quick.”

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Tommy Wingels also pointed to the Predators success beneath their own blue line. Shea Weber, Roman Josi, recently acquired Cody Franson and the young Seth Jones comprise Nashville’s top four blueliners, but they're strong one-through-six.

“A lot of puck movers on the back end,” Wingels said. “They're able to break out of their zone very well and efficiently with Rinne back there. He's the best in the business at playing the puck.

“It frustrates teams. When you're not able to sustain pressure, you give up pucks and you don't put it in the right area and you don't get it back, you get frustrated, and they're able to frustrate teams and counter from it.”

Still, the Predators have struggled lately. They needed overtime to get past lowly Arizona on Monday, and had lost six straight in regulation before that.

The Sharks are trending more positively, winning three of their last four including Monday’s important 2-1 shootout win over Pittsburgh to keep them in the playoff mix. They enter Thursday’s game four points behind Winnipeg for the second wild card spot, and five points behind Calgary for third place in the Pacific Division. The Kings are also ahead of them by three points, with a game in hand.

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“We’re in desperation,” McLellan said. “Regardless of how you feel mentally or physically, you’ve got to bring it. If you happen to have a bad shift or two, you’ve got to overcome that quickly. You don’t get to wade your way through a night, through a practice, and into the next game. It doesn’t happen like that any more for us.”

Antti Niemi will remain an important piece of the Sharks’ stretch run, and is coming off of one of his best games of the season on Monday, when he stopped 39 Penguins shots. He also outdueled his Finnish countryman Rinne at SAP Center earlier this season, making 29 stops in a 2-0 shutout win on Dec. 13.

He’ll likely need a similar type performance again on Thursday.

“Nemo's playing really good hockey right now,” Wingels said. “If we're going to make a run here and try to make the playoffs, we're going to need that out of him every night. We're going to need the best out of every guy on this team."