Before the San Jose Sharks Game 5 win, Peter DeBoer made his first line-up changes of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The roster moves were exactly what the Sharks needed after a 4-1 Game 3 loss and a triple-overtime heartbreaker in Game 4.
DeBoer shifted Marleau to the left wing alongside Joonas Donskoi and Logan Couture, who has been the Sharks best forward in the series. DeBoer also rolled out a newly constructed third line of Chris Tierney, Matt Nieto, and Joel Ward. Finally, Tommy Wingels rotated out of the lineup and inserted the fresh and rested Dainius Zubrus, who skated on the fourth line in his first playoff game as a Shark.
The resulting energy throughout the Sharks forward line-up thoroughly outplayed and outworked the increasingly tired Nashville defense. The Predators have played their top four defensemen in heavy rotation and look as if they are wearing down after 12 games of abuse.Tierney’s third line was regularly deployed as well, recording 17 even-strength shifts, keeping the Sharks three scoring lines rolling after a grueling 111 minutes of hockey in Game 4.
#SJSharks Game 5 deployment: Rolling lines & Dillon/Polak taking a regular turn on the blue line (via @war_on_ice) pic.twitter.com/xQrvmzgZGp
— Sharks Daily Chum (@SharksDailyChum) May 8, 2016
Benefiting from the reshuffled lines, the Sharks rolled their forwards and got back to the basics against Pekka Rinne, who has not been the goalie of old so far this postseason. It is a small sample size, but just how much Rinne has struggled in close is evident.
SAVE Chart courtesy of Ian Fleming
All five of the Sharks goals in Game 5 came in the home plate in front of the net and included in the high danger area shown in the SAVE chart. Rinne has been below average all season long stopping shots in close and the struggle has continued in the postseason. The Sharks retooled lines were able to get the pucks to the net and exploit this weakness and retake the series lead. If the Sharks can duplicate what was their first full-game effort again in Game 6, it could be the end of the series.
