By Ryan Carlson
The San Jose Sharks punched their ticket into their 20th postseason since they’ve joined the NHL in the 1991-92 season.
For the first round of this year’s playoffs, they will face a familiar foe in the pesky Anaheim Ducks.
The Sharks and Ducks have met once before in the playoffs back in 2009 — a year which San Jose won the Pacific Division — but lost to the Ducks in six games during the first round.
As for Stanley Cup appearances, the Ducks have been to two. Three years after losing to the New Jersey Devils in 2002-03, Anaheim won it all against the Ottawa Senators.
For the Sharks, their lone trip to the championship game came in 2016. They lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The following year, the Sharks lost again, but in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers in six games.
The Ducks made it to the conference finals where they lost to the Nashville Predators, also in six games.
After spending the majority of the season behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division, the Sharks won one of their final six games to cost them home-ice advantage and a drop to third place.
When they matched up against the Ducks this year in the regular season, San Jose went 3-0-1, earning seven of the possible eight points.
That being said, if the Sharks get past the physical Ducks in the first round, they would certainly enjoy meeting the Los Angeles Kings rather than the Knights in the second round.
One of the Sharks’ newest addition is left wing Evander Kane, who has never been to an NHL playoffs. However, he’s produced quite a bit of noise on the offense for the Sharks and has fit in nicely with the top line.
Kane does have playoff and winning experience outside of the NHL, however.
In 2007, he won the Memorial Cup with the Vancouver Giants and won a gold medal in the World Junior Championships with Team Canada.
As for longtime Shark Joe Thornton, he is ruled out for Game 1 Thursday, but there has been rumors of Jumbo being on the road with the team and returning during the playoffs.
The postseason is the best and most stressful time of year for hockey fans and once again it will be a wild first round.
Over in Sin City, the Knights — who are in their inaugural season — won the Pacific Division by eight points and finished fifth overall in the league.
Their first playoff series in team history features a matchup against the Kings.
Los Angeles has a 2-1-1 record against the Knights this season and many fans anticipate a seven-game series.
Other first round matchups going on in the West include the Nashville Predators hosting the Colorado Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild visiting the Winnipeg Jets north of the border.
In the East, the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins matchup against their Pennsylvania rival, the Philadelphia Flyers, who missed the playoffs last year.
The Boston Bruins will host the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Columbus Blue Jackets will make their fourth-ever playoff appearance in the nation’s capital against the Capitals, and New Jersey will participate in the postseason for the first time in five years as they head South for an electric series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Back here in San Jose, with the Sharks’ second trip to the Stanley Cup Final in three seasons on the line, the playoff-designed puck will drop on freshly-painted ice tonight in Anaheim.