Correcting those mistakes and leaning into their strengths, as Albert Johansson explained, is the focus for him and his teammates as they prepare for San Jose.
“We need to stay ahead of the other team,” Johansson said. “We got to try to get the puck deep in their zone and get our forecheck going. When we get our forecheck going and win some puck battles down there, we’re a good team.”
McLellan’s first NHL head coaching gig came with the Sharks from 2008-15, where he led them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his first six seasons behind the bench. To this day, McLellan remains the franchise’s all-time leader in games coached (540), wins (311), points (688) and postseason contests coached (62).
“I was very fortunate, as a young coach, to be leaving the Wings and coming here,” McLellan said. “Back then, there were a lot of similarities between the two organizations. [The Red Wings] had just won a cup. We were just trying to win one in San Jose. We had great players and an unreal support system going on within the organization, so a lot of parallels between the two. As a young coach, you don’t often get a team that’s pushing to win. You often get a team that’s rebuilding or retooling, and I was very fortunate that way.”
