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Can Martin Jones give the Sharks the…
Can Martin Jones give the Sharks the goaltending they need to win the Cup?
The Sharks ranked dead-last in save percentage this season.
San Jose Sharks goalie Martin Jones (31) stands on the ice during a break in the action in the second period of their NHL match against the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, March 9, 2019. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)
By Paul Gackle |
PUBLISHED: April 9, 2019 at 5:24 p.m. | UPDATED: April 10, 2019 at 4:17 a.m.
SAN JOSE — After a decade of playoff disappointments, it seemed like the Sharks had finally found the missing ingredient with a slick trade in the summer of 2015.
Martin Jones opened his career with the Sharks by setting a franchise-record shutout streak of 234:33 during his first week on the job. Later, in the spring, he led the Sharks to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, recording a .923 save percentage in 24 games. The future looked bright. At 26, Jones had the potential to give the Sharks years of stability in the one position they could never seem to completely secure.
Now, as the Sharks prepare for Game 1 of their opening-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center on Wednesday, the franchise appears to be back at square one in the goal crease. Jones completed the regular season ranked 50th among NHL goalies who appeared in a minimum of 25 games in save percentage (.896), and as a team, the Sharks finished dead last in that department.
As a result, the fate of the most-talented squad in franchise history — a team that went all-in by trading for Erik Karlsson on the eve of training camp — lies in the hope that Jones will suddenly regain the form of an elite goaltender with everything on the line in the playoffs. If he doesn't, the Sharks will be adding another entry to their resumé of playoff shortfalls.
"They should have a stat that says 'belief in your goaltender.' If they had that stat, Jonesy would be batting 1.000 with our group," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. "There's not been one mumble or whisper within our group about him or our confidence in him to get the job done. That's the one analytics stat I can give you guy that you guys don't have access to."
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Despite all the talent that has come through the Sharks organization in 27 NHL seasons, goaltending is the one position where the team has lacked a true franchise player. It also happens to be the position most closely correlated with success in the playoffs.
Evgeni Nabokov posted an .890 save percentage in the Sharks first-round playoff loss to the Anaheim Ducks in their Presidents' Trophy year back in 2008-09. In 2010, he got out-dueled by Antti Niemi, who recorded a .949 save percentage with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final. One year later, Niemi came out on the other side of that equation as a member of the Sharks, registering an .869 save percentage in the conference final while Roberto Luongo put a .931 on the board for the Vancouver Canucks.
An elite goaltending performance in any of these runs might have put the Sharks over the top and brought the Stanley Cup to Northern California.
The Sharks are hoping it isn't a scene that plays out again this spring with a team that scored a franchise record 289 goals.
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Depending on who you ask, Jones' struggles this year are a reflection of his mechanical flaws or a product of the Sharks loose team defense. In reality, the answer lies somewhere in between.
"There are some ugly truths in Jones' game right now," a scout told the Mercury News. "But the defense in front of him is definitely a factor, too."
The Sharks are straying from the defense-first identity that DeBoer instilled in them when he came to town four years ago, often hanging their goalies out to dry by giving up odd-man rushes as they cheat for offense. Historically, when the Sharks play tight defense in front of Jones, keeping the offense on the perimeter and limiting the one-timers he faces through the slot, he's thrived.
"A lot of it just comes down to us being dialed in," defenseman Justin Braun said, explaining the team's league-worst save percentage. "There were too many games where we were garbage through the neutral zone, giving up breakaways. There were games where we've given up five breakaways and that doesn't help the save percentage. We know Joner will be there for the saves he needs to make."
(Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)
But most No. 1 goalies will put up decent numbers when the defense does its job. The concern here is that the flaws in Jones' fundamentals are being exposed now that the Sharks are playing looser in front of him. Yes, Jones is facing more high-danger scoring chances this season, but his save percentage (.788) against those opportunities ranks 52nd in the NHL (minimum 25 games).
According to goalie scouts, the biggest flaw in Jones' game is his lateral movement and recovery within the crease. Instead of rotating his body when he moves from post to post, he lunges sideways, which pulls him out of position for rebounds. This weakness is especially pronounced when Jones moves to his right, causing him to overcompensate and leave the crease, a major reason why opponents are targeting him on his blocker side this year.
"Some of the deficiencies in his game are really not giving him a chance on these (high-danger) plays," the scout said. "Because he has no rotation and recovery, we often see him swimming outside his crease. He's all of a sudden caught in no-man's land."
It's a flaw that feeds into the Golden Knights' strengths. Vegas produces a lot of its offense off one-timers and plays in transition, testing goalies' abilities to move from side to side. With that in mind, it isn't entirely surprising that Jones produced an .895 save percentage in last year's second-round series against the Golden Knights after he'd posted a .931 over his first 36 playoff appearances. That said, Jones put up arguably his best performance of the season against the Knights on Jan. 10, making 36 saves on 38 shots to steal a couple points in the desert.
"Vegas likes to move the puck laterally and they're a counterattack team," the scout said. "That's probably not a great thing for Jones. The Sharks will need to play better defensively."
(Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune)
And that's the idea the Sharks are pinning their hopes on. If they can tighten up their defense in the playoffs, the Sharks are convinced that Jones will elevate his level of play in the clutch, performing more like the goalie who's registered a .926 save percentage in 42 postseason appearances than the guy who struggled throughout the winter.
It's a narrative that isn't without precedent. In 2008-09, Chris Osgood took the Detroit Red Wings to the Stanley Cup Final, leaning on his experience to post a .926 save percentage in the playoffs after he recorded an .887 during the regular season. Last year, Braden Holtby led the Washington Capitals to a Cup win even though he started the playoffs as Philipp Grubauer's backup after he struggled through the regular season with a .907 save percentage.
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The Sharks are confident that Jones can add his name to that list, giving the team the type of elite goaltending it has lacked in playoffs past to finally bring that elusive-first Stanley Cup to Silicon Valley.
"Joner's going to be good in the playoffs. I'm not worried. I know he'll excellent," Joe Thornton said on March 24. "I don't know what the numbers say. I don't care. I just know he's going to be great."
Paul Gackle
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