Sharks will close out 2018 against rapidly improving Pacific Division

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SAN JOSE -- Peter DeBoer read the preseason predictions, and he didn’t agree with them.

The Sharks coach knew the Pacific Division was projected by many to be the worst in the NHL, but that’s not how he saw things shaking out. 

“I knew the division was going to be good,” DeBoer said Friday at the Sharks’ practice facility. “Everyone was predicting that it was this, and it was that. I’ve heard that last year, and the year before too, and it seems like there’s always a Pacific team standing there at the end of the day in the Stanley Cup Final.”

Five of the last eight Western Conference champions, including the Vegas Golden Knights last spring, emerged from the Pacific. That looked far from a given through two months this season, however. 

From opening night until Nov. 30, only one Pacific team (the Calgary Flames) was among the top 10 in the league by points percentage. San Jose was the only other team in the top 15. 

But that changed once the calendar flipped to December. Six of the top 10 teams in December by points percentage were from the Pacific entering Friday. Those same six teams -- San Jose, Calgary, the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights -- have all won at least six games this month, more than any other division.

In all, the Pacific entered Friday 44-28-6 in December. As Yahoo’s Ryan Lambert noted earlier this week, the Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes -- San Jose’s next two opponents -- are responsible for a sizable share of those losses. Despite that, Pacific still has more wins than any of the other three divisions this month.

“I knew some teams were going to get healthy,” DeBoer said, “get their games rounded into form, and I think that's what you're seeing. I think it's gonna be a sprint to the finish line here. 

“I think for us, we're just trying to take care of our game, and the results and stuff will take care of themselves."

The Sharks’ 7-3-0 record in December is second-best in the Pacific, one standings point off the Flames (7-2-1). That was powered by a five-game winning streak, which ended Thursday in a 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. 

[RELATED: Sharks disappointed with outcome, encouraged by effort in loss to Jets]

San Jose’s underlying numbers are solid, too. The Sharks are middle of the pack in December in terms of controlling 5-on-5 chances (11th in scoring chance-for percentage, 17th in high-danger chances), but no worse than seventh in shot attempts -- unblocked ot otherwise -- at in December. According to Natural Stat Trick, their 5-on-5 shot metrics are the best in the Pacific.

That will be put to the test in the next five games, a stretch where the Sharks will play a divisional opponent each night. San Jose won’t see Vancouver or Vegas, but will face off against three teams in playoff position as of this writing -- including division-leading Calgary -- before the month ends. 

The stretch carries legitimate standings ramifications for the second-place Sharks, who were four points back of the division lead as of Friday afternoon. But, it’s end will only mark the official halfway point of San Jose’s season, and 16 of the Sharks’ final 41 games are against divisional opponents. 

In other words, it’s not quite “do-or-die” time yet, as DeBoer told reporters.

“We're not looking at it going, 'we have to win this game, or we're behind by two, or up by two,’” DeBoer said. “It's more about the process right now, and I find that if you do that, at the end of the year you look up and you're usually in a good place."

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