SAN JOSE, Calif. — Well, the shark head is sort of intimidating.
It is lowered from the rafters at SAP Center before each San Jose hockey game, one of the league’s more impressive props at 25 years old, and from its mouth the Sharks skate onto the ice to a thunderous ovation.
“A great atmosphere,” said Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb. “They come out firing here just like us at home.”
Home ice for San Jose in the first round of this best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series means for the Knights to advance they would have to win at least one game — and perhaps more — in a place the Sharks were terrific over a majority of the season.