Sharks' Game 4 Dismantling of Oilers Reminds Us Why They Should Be Feared

Entering Game 4 down 2-1 in the series following a pair of shutout losses to a supposedly faster, younger, and hungrier Edmonton Oilers club, the San Jose Sharks looked anything like the powerhouse that marched all the way to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final last June.

What a difference a day off and a few adjustments can make.

A 7-0 shellacking of the Oilers on Tuesday was the largest margin of victory in the postseason ever for the Sharks, the most one-sided playoff win in over 10 years, and reminded everyone why this group came within two games of winning it all last season. Needing its special teams to take over and its big stars to play like such, San Jose got all that and more while delivering a message that the Sharks do, indeed, have an extra gear.

After struggling to find offence early in the series, coach Peter DeBoer made a couple adjustments prior to Game 4 that paid off dearly—the biggest being the re-assembling of the veteran top line of Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, and Joe Pavelski. The Trio combined for three goals and six points, while Pavelski's deflection just 15 seconds in was the fastest goal to open a game in Sharks playoff history. Patty and the two Joes, along with Brent Burns and Logan Couture, were also key in bringing the Sharks' powerplay back from the dead, with San Jose going 4-for-8 with the extra man after going just 1-for-14 in the first three games.

Couture, who led the league in playoff scoring last season, looks to have found his touch again, potting his first two goals of the series in Game 4. And Burns, the Norris Trophy favourite, was an absolute savage, notching three assists on the man advantage while gobbling up a team-high 21:54 of ice time—much of which was spent draping a heavy blanket over a pointless and visibly frustrated Connor McDavid.

It was a statement game for the veteran-laden Sharks and, for the young Oilers, it was the exact opposite. Aside from suffering the most lopsided playoff loss in the history of the franchise—worse than a pair of 8-2 losses to the Islanders and Blackhawks in 1981 and 1992—the Game 4 blowout was filled with setbacks and disappointing performances from three of the Oilers' key players.

Goaltender Cam Talbot, who was coming off two straight shutouts and had stopped 80 of 83 shots going into Game 4, was pulled in the second period after surrendering five goals on 24 shots, though the move by coach Todd McLellan was clearly one to save his No. 1 netminder from the Sharks' offensive onslaught more than anything. Frustrations boiled over moments later as Leon Draisaitl, who finished second on the Oilers and eighth in the NHL with 77 points this season, was ejected for a vicious spear to the groin of Chris Tierney.

Edmonton's captain and the NHL's leading scorer had another night he'd like to forget, too, as McDavid was held without an even strength point for the fourth straight game, the first time this season the 20-year-old has gone that long without a 5-on-5 point. McDavid has been held to one goal and one assist in four games, and played only 16:08 in the Game 4 blowout loss, his lowest TOI this season.

One could say that the Sharks are back. But after seeing their vets, who drip with playoff experience, step up and find another level during a crucial Game 4, it's clear that they never left.