Sharks’ Evander Kane on Golden Knights: “We know they don’t like us”

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SAN JOSE — Sharks forward Evander Kane led the NHL with 153 penalty minutes this season. But on the eve of Game 1 in the first round playoff series between his team and the Vegas Golden Knights, Kane also noted that only 29 of those minutes came at SAP Center.

“I just want to be on my best behavior for my hometown fans,” Kane said with a smile Tuesday.

Kane, with 30 goals this season, will obviously be of better use to the Sharks in this series serving up points and hits than penalties.

Last season in his first postseason experience, Kane had three goals and an assist in the Sharks’ four-game sweep of the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. But as he battled a shoulder injury, he was held to a one goal in five games against Vegas in the Western Conference semifinals, when he was also suspended for Game 2 for a cross-check to head of Pierre-Édouard Bellemare.

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“We’re two teams that, we’re not going to be inviting each other over for Sunday night dinner,” Kane said. “We played them last year, they bounced us out of the playoffs. That gives us some motivation. For us, we know they don’t like us. They’re going to be ready to rock as well.”

Staying out of the penalty box as much as possible — for retaliatory reasons or otherwise — will obviously be a big key for both teams over the course of the series.

In their four meetings this season, the team that had more power play opportunities won three times. Vegas went 4-for-17 with the man advantage against the Sharks. San Jose went 2-for-13, including 1-for-3 in their last meeting on March 30, a 4-3 Sharks win in overtime.

For his part, Kane had 26 penalty minutes in the Sharks’ 6-0 loss to the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 24. In the three games since, he’s only had one minor penalty and collected a goal and an assist. His goal came in the March 30 win, when the Sharks only had to kill two penalties.

“We did a good job of that the last time we played them, so I’m sure it’s going to be very similar to that type of game in terms of the extra-curricular,” Kane said. “We’ve done a good job all year of staying disciplined, playing between the whistles and letting our play do the talking.”

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Perhaps a bit of gamesmanship between the Sharks and the Golden Knights also started in earnest Tuesday.

Asked about the three interference calls charged to the Sharks in games 4 and 5 of last year’s series, and whether that might be an issue again now, coach Pete DeBoer said, “It became an issue because (Vegas) complained about them.

“For me the biggest thing is just not changing the standard. We’ve been a clean team all year. We’re one of the least-penalized teams in the league. As long as the standard doesn’t change in the playoffs, I don’t think that’s an issue.”

The Sharks were shorthanded 234 times this season, 13th-least out of 31 teams in the NHL, and their penalty kill ranked 15th at 80.8 percent. Vegas was shorthanded 230 times, and ranked 14th on the kill at 80.9 percent.

“It’s part of the game, it’s part if the emotions,” Kane said. “The playoffs, there always seems to be, just off history, a slightly different set of rules. We’ll see how is shakes out tomorrow night, but there’s not much that’s going to change with me.”

HEALTHIER CAPTAIN

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said Tuesday he feels better now physically than he did last Tuesday when he returned from a lower body injury after seven games away.

Pavelski played in the Sharks’ final three regular season games, collecting one goal and winning 17-of-29 faceoffs. He played 16 minutes and 45 seconds April 2 against Vancouver, 18:09 against Edmonton on April 4 and 16:03 against Colorado on Saturday.

Pavelski is expected to start Wednesday’s game on a line Tuesday with Logan Couture and Timo Meier.

“That was part of the reason you wanted to get back into it, because you wanted to get one game, and not just one, you wanted three,” Pavelski said. “You feel a little bit more pop, just power and confidence. Just to get the timing and the game speed. It was nice to get a few extra games.”

KEEPING YOUR COMPOSURE

All indications are Micheal Haley will suit up for his first playoff game since 2013 and will skate on the fourth line with Barclay Goodrow and Melker Karlsson. Joonas Donskoi and Lukas Radil figure to be the scratched forwards.

The key for Haley is being aggressive without going taking unnecessary or retaliatory penalties, particularly as it relates to countering Vegas forward Ryan Reaves.

In the March 18 meeting between the Sharks and Golden Knights, Haley took penalties for interference and roughing, and Vegas scored one power play goal. In the March 30 meeting, Reaves put his team down a man with a first period roughing minor, to go with a 10-minute misconduct.

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Home sweet home? Giants, visitors at Oracle Park, tie franchise record in win “In our roles, you’ve got to walk the line, right? Sometimes, you’re the guy that crosses and sometimes it comes out that you’re the one that didn’t cross it,” Haley said.. “So, I think we’re going to try to do the same thing. Get our hits in and go play hockey whistle to whistle.”

Haley, claimed off waivers by the Sharks on Feb. 20, hasn’t played in the postseason since May 25, 2013 when he was with the New York Rangers and they were facing the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“Two months ago, there was no chance of getting in a playoff game,” Haley said. “This is something that I’m very lucky and fortunate to have. It’s going to be exciting.”

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