SAN JOSE — Let the games begin!



The National Hockey League is always mindful during the playoffs to stagger practices, in this case so that media can cover San Jose’s 10:30 a.m. morning skate at their practice rink southeast of downtown, and then make it to the SAP Center for the Edmonton practice at 11:30 a.m.



But the Sharks appear to be using that mandate to mess with Edmonton’s playoff routine.



The Oilers, like every team (including the Sharks), would normally trickle out of their dressing room any time after 11 a.m. to conduct some early individual practice — shooting pucks, tipping pucks in the slot, practising faceoffs, etc. But at the SAP Center, the lights are out and there are no nets on the ice until exactly 11:30.



Over at Solar4America Ice, where the Sharks practice, Joe Thornton had already skated and was off the ice at 10:10 a.m. Tuesday morning. Meanwhile Joe Pavelski is usually out 30 minutes before practice diligently working on drills.



For some reason however, the SAP Center was dark and net-less until exactly 11:30 a.m. for Edmonton prior to the morning skates before Games 3 and 4, and also before its off-day practice on Monday.



“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Sharks GM Doug Wilson said. “Hopefully the ice was ready for them when they were scheduled to skate at 11:30.”



Todd McLellan, would you care to comment on that? “No.”

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Personally, we smell something funny going on here.This sounds like the same playoff subterfuge that saw the Detroit Red Wings paint the visitors dressing room every series, so the smell lingered. Or Oilers GM Glen Sather making sure the coffee available to visiting teams was decaffeinated. Or the time Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix had the visitor’s bench at old McNichols Arena pushed so close to the boards that it was almost impossible to hop in and out while changing on the fly.“Practices at different rinks in the same market are supposed to be staggered, so media can get to both if they wish,” confirmed the NHL’s vice-president of communications, John Dellapina, in an email. “What we don’t want is teams jumping on so early that media miss covering a practice.

“That said, I’ve never heard of us being in charge of lighting at an arena until the Final. And when nets are put on the ice normally has more to do with the ice crew and their need to flood or make required adjustments before teams jump on.”



Frankly, if the Sharks are resorting to these kinds of tricks, they’re halfway beaten already. This is really minor league stuff, though we’ll admit, it makes for a fun story.



Oilers winger Zack Kassian took it in stride.



“It’s a little different,” he said. “I don’t mind it, because we have a couple of ugly guys on the team so we don’t have to look at them.”





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After Oilers coach Todd McLellan shuffled his lines in the second period of Game 3 — moving Leon Draisaitl to centre between Drake Cagguila and Zack Kassian, and putting Anton Slepyshev on Connor McDavid’s right wing — the Sharks only had eight shots on net the rest of the game.The question becomes, does McLellan start Game 4 tonight with Draisaitl at third-line centre, or first-line right wing? Of course, he wouldn’t divulge everything.“Coaches, we’re not brilliant by any means. I can tell you that,” he said. “You go with your gut during a game. You move players around how you think it will help your team.“With Leon going to the middle, he’s going home. He’s going back to where he’s played his whole life. It’s not a dramatic move.”Patrick Maroon, McDavid’s struggling left-winger, endorses the move.“You have two of the best players in the league together and they’re getting (San Jose’s) best D pairing every time,” he said. “Leon’s proven he can be a good player in this league — this gives us more offence, more creativity. Putting him with Kass and Drake, our lines only go deeper.”Our bet? McLellan starts Game 4 with the same lineup from Game 3, and makes the same switch if things aren’t working offensively. He’ll keep the card up his sleeve, rather than start the game that way.San Jose is pretty happy with the way they’ve corralled McDavid in this series, but they’re trailing the Oilers 2-1 and haven’t scored a goal since Game 1.“When you’re a defenceman you want low scoring. You feel like you’re doing your job,” said Justin Braun, who gets the McDavid assignment nightly with partner Marc-Edouard Vlasic. “But, it would be nice if we bang a few home.”This is the lowest of the eight Round 1 series, a fact no one saw coming.“There aren’t a lot of goals out there. If they don’t come, you just understand the details have to be tight,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. “You can’t back off of that (ideal) just because you want a little more for yourself. We won’t press, but we can definitely get to the net a little harder.”Pavelski watched the Chicago Blackhawks fall behind Nashville 3-0 on Monday night, and took some solace in the fact his team is only trailing 2-1.“You understand the good teams that are out there, and our position isn’t as bad as theirs right now. It’s an opportunity for us to kind of look in the mirror, try to have the start we want and go from there,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter what’s happening over there if we don’t take care of our business.”