Sharks can learn from past mistakes against Hurricanes in second showdown

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SAN JOSE – The Sharks may only see the Hurricanes twice a year. But after already facing them back on October 26 in Carolina, San Jose is well aware of the tough task they have ahead of them when they face the young and speedy Eastern Conference squad on Wednesday evening.

“Ton of speed, a ton of pressure,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said Wednesday morning. “You’re going to get stepped up on in every situation. They’re going to pinch on every puck, they’re going to step in the neutral zone.”

In the previous matchup, the Sharks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first frame. But the determined Carolina squad rallied back behind a 41-shot attempt and a 61-percent victory in the faceoff circle to defeat the visiting Sharks 4-3 in the shootout.

San Jose knows if they’re going to win this time around, they’re going to have to win those battles.

“We’re going to have to win the support races,” DeBoer continued. “We’re going to have to control their speed. They’re a good team. They’re a difficult team to play and they’ve always given us a hard time.”

While they’ve regularly been a challenge for the Sharks, Carolina visits the South Bay on the start of a skid. They’ve dropped their last two contests, including a 2-0 shutout at the hands of the Kings in LA on Sunday.

The Sharks, for their part, are coming off a 3-1 road win over the Montreal Canadiens – a much-needed victory after four straight losses away from SAP Center. After Tuesday’s full-team practice, Kevin Labanc said he thought the win over the Habs was a turning point in the early part of the season.

“We were in a little bit of a tight spot,” No. 62 said. “But you know what, we had the right mindset going into that game (in Montreal) of ‘we’re going to be smart, we’re going to be that team that everybody was talking about at the beginning of the season’. Now, we’ve got to carry that throughout the (rest of the) season.”

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