Quoting: DetroitRedWingsFan2
They Could Win Also Got The Best Pacific Division With 11-3-2 Record And 24 Points In The Standings Only Vegas Is Trailing With A 10-5-1 And 21 Points Behind The LA Kings Following Calgary 9-7-0 18 Points Vancouver 8-6-2 18 Points And San Jose 8-6-0 16 Points Are Currently Battling For 3rd Place In The Pacific Division
I'd love to see Vegas win the Pacific, they probably got like a 20-25% chance while Kings are like 33% right now... Sharks have played less games than other teams in division... They just beat Canucks on Dell having a 41 save 5-0 shut out without Burns having a goal in like 15 games this season... They got cap space, have room to make a move to upgrade... Biggest problems for them are younger players not scoring as they hoped from the AHL club at forward since Heed has done well while Ryan is taking over Martin's spot it seems... Ward is long in the tooth, Donskoi is chipping in a decent rate, Tierney is good, yet nobody is replacing Marleau's 20-30+ goal potential making it dicey...
I figure Kings started out really well within a few seasons only to drop like a stone... Yet getting Carter back could help them have just enough to keep the division till end this time... After that Flames/Canucks have their pros/cons like Flames have a pretty deep Defense... Though not sure either of them will have the goaltending to get the job done... Sharks I think have a healthier team with more room to improve giving them a nod over Ducks who have serious injury problems... Even in Net Gibson wasn't playing great, Miller got hurt already, Reto Barre or however spell that hasn't impressed me... Kings have Quick, Darcy, guys in minors who could help giving an edge over Sharks who just have Jones/Dell if their starter got hurt it would be dicey...
Vegas has to win on the road to really have a shot at Pacific though... They got about as many wins at home as games played on the road currently... If they can get their 3 top goalies back or upgrade over Lag it would help their chances. I think if not for the injuries in net besides a few other mismanaging by their GM they would be in 1st still right now. Sharks have a good history of doing well winning divisions, Ducks, other teams while Kings even with some stacked teams only won it once ever... So until they get that 2nd title, I wont believe it until it is already official
... I remember thinking they would blow it on last day of season with Ducks shafting them saving me money having to buy Pacific Division Champion merchandise on bright side
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Thanks for taking time to vote/reply, would be ironic if Knights toppled Kings for title since they played that famous outdoor game early in the Silver & Black era
. Injuries could make a huge impact like if Drew got hurt that would be the end of the Kings run quickly. I think the Flames, Canucks, Knights have all been over achieving, so to sustain that an entire season don't seem likely... Like Optimus said to Megatron "...One Must Fall..."
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