The first two months of the 2016-17 NHL season are in the books. That represents a large enough sample size for analysis. The San Jose Sharks back end carried them into a five-day weekend providing a perfect opportunity.
San Jose’s Pacific Division lead is because of its defensive game. It boasts the best goals-against average (GAA) on the 2016-17 NHL season (2.04 per game). Its penalty kill is 12th (84.4 percent) and rising.
The Sharks have taken play in their end to a new level recently. Opponents have scored nine goals in the last seven games, and one was only because the scorer was allowed to plow into Martin Jones.