EDMONTON, Alberta — There’s no question the Sharks need to pay close attention to Edmonton Oilers power forwards Milan Lucic and Patrick Maroon in this opening round playoff series after they combined to score five goals in the last two meetings between the two teams.
When Connor McDavid steps on the ice, though, all eyes better be on him.
The Sharks made it to the Stanley Cup Final last season partly because their defensive awareness helped limit the effectiveness of scorers such as Los Angeles’ Tyler Toffoli, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg and St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko.
The Sharks will need to have the same presence of mind to have any chance of slowing down the lightning-quick McDavid and getting past the Oilers and into second round.