Joe Pavelski faces captaincy test in Game 7

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Joe Pavelski isn’t putting much extra pressure on himself in advance of the San Jose Sharks’ Game 7 showdown with the Nashville Predators.

Even if it’s the first Game 7 situation as team captain for Pavelski, the nerves and the questions about his leadership will abate shortly after the opening faceoff and it’ll just be about playing hockey

“It feels like the other Game 7s, you come in and you’re excited to play them,” Pavelski said. “You can’t wait for the game to get going. There’s a lot of wait time for these. Everyone gets to break them down. You go out there and establish your game, establish the puck and feel good with it and you want one of those games where you’re around the puck all night and it’s coming to you. You’re just working for your opportunities. You know you’re going to get a couple of good looks. It’s about finishing when you get them.”

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In this series, when Pavelski has played well, the Sharks have been the better team. When he hasn’t, the group has struggled. In Games 1 and 2, Pavelski notched four points total and the Sharks took a 2-0 series lead with wins. He was held pointless in Games 3 and 4 and the Sharks were beat in Nashville.

In Game 5, he was San Jose’s best player, scored two goals and helped his team grab a 3-2 series lead. In Game 6 he was held without a point and San Jose lost in overtime. 

Even in the Sharks’ first-round series against the Kings, San Jose won all games where Pavelski got on the score sheet. The only game they lost was the only game he didn’t pick up a point.

Sharks coach Peter DeBoer noted a lot of Pavelski's energy comes through the team's top players as well. 

"I don't just look at him. I think our leadership group sets a great tone,” DeBoer said. “Their enthusiasm is contagious, they love the game, they're excited to be playing at this time of year. I think they recognize the opportunity. They were loose this morning, which is a good sign."

After the Sharks blew a 3-0 lead to the LA Kings in the playoffs in 2014, the leadership group went into transition. Joe Thornton was stripped of his captain’s ‘C’ and the Sharks went with all alternate captains in 2014-15. The team missed the playoffs and this leadership trouble was seen as a reason why. Before the year San Jose gave the ‘C’ to Pavelski in the belief he would set a different type of tone with a more serious structure.

Thursday night will be the biggest test of his captaincy so far – to push the Sharks back into the Western Conference Final and continue their tour of redemption this playoff. 

“We went to conference finals back-to-back there a while ago and we haven’t really been that close since,” Pavelski said. “It’s one of those moments everyone needs to show up and you need everyone in this to play their game. Stay together out there, support each other. No one go out on their own and try to turn it into a one-on-one game. If we play a solid game we’ll give ourselves a chance to win.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper