It was early in the 2015-16 season when the Sharks hosted the Nashville Predators, a team they were destined to meet several months later in the playoffs on their way to the Stanley Cup Final.



Trailing 1-0 early in the third period, Joe Pavelski went to the area of the ice that he’s made a living in, setting up between the circles and in front of goaltender Pekka Rinne. He had company in the form of bruising defenseman Shea Weber.



Weber didn’t want company. He promptly let Pavelski know it, too, in the form of a vicious cross-check to the lower back. Pavelski crumpled to the ice, taking a moment to get back on his skates — a moment that was interrupted when Eric Nystrom gave him yet another shove from behind.



No matter. Pavelski eventually did get upright, just in time to hammer in a rebound to tie the score.



The Sharks went on to lose that October game, 2-1, but the sequence was representative of how Pavelski has established...