The Sharks are on a four-game Stanley Cup playoff win streak, thanks to Friday's 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the second round. Their run of allowing "two or fewer" goals also expanded to a flawless 36-0 record across the regular season and playoffs.
Here are five observations from the Sharks taking a 1-0 series lead.
Martin Jones overcomes slow start
San Jose allowed that infamous early goal, when Gabriel Borque beat Martin Jones just 2:10 into the night. It was all too familiar.
But Jones settled, and in fact, also made some tremendous saves that preserved the scoreboard from getting out of hand. The goaltender essentially set a tone for the skaters, and bought them some time to get their own grasp on the game. If it weren't for Jones, the final outcome could have been much different.
Easing into the game
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A big concern was the emotional fatigue of the Sharks entering Friday, following three wins against elimination and of course the storybook finish that was Tuesday night. They also missed captain Joe Pavelski, and needed to adjust to a new reality for the start of the series.
Although the the group did look flat in the first period, their offense became engaged in the second stanza. Right after a four-minute penalty kill was successful, the Sharks never looked back on the scoreboard.
Depth wins the day ... for now
The Avalanche already has a glaring issue in this series: Can they account for Joe Thornton's "third line"?
This is something the Vegas Golden Knights were able to counter in the first round with their own depth, but it's uncertain how -- and if -- Colorado can best respond. The problem is that if you fixate on the most impactful trio from Game 1, it opens up the prowess of other threats at the top of San Jose's lineup like Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture, Timo Meier and Evander Kane.
Stay out of the box
The Avalanche is unreal on the power play. They move the puck with such precision and tact.
Staying out of the penalty box is one of the biggest slogans in hockey, but it will be imperative in this series, no matter how good the Sharks' penalty kill can look. Going back to the regular season, Colorado had the fourth-most power-play goals, and topped the league in power-play opportunities with 286.
[RELATED: Sharks troll Vegas after killing extended penalty vs. Avs]
A strong start is all it is
No Stanley Cup playoff series has ever been decided with the results of Game 1 alone. However, this matchup already feels quite different than what the Sharks saw last round against the Golden Knights.
This is not to discredit Colorado as a formidable opponent who could end up advancing to the Western Conference Final. Let's not forget the Avs just had a full week off, and we also know that drama and storylines will evolve as the series does.
But at this point, you can't say there's any of the same animosity, temperature, or nastiness facing San Jose as there was one week ago.
