John Klingberg will re-enter the San Jose Sharks lineup for the first time in seven games on Wednesday with multiple chips on his shoulder.
The first is that he is playing against his former team, the Edmonton Oilers, in the middle of a playoff push. While that story has played out a couple of times this season already, the San Jose Sharks d-man is just happy to get back in the lineup. Although he’s had a healthy season, he knows he needs to produce to make it stick.
“It always sucks to be out of the lineup, but it is what it is,” Klingberg said. “We’ll get back in today and try to do the best out of it.”
Klingberg hasn’t run from his shortcomings on the ice this season. At 33 years old and with hips that require a lot of attention, the Sharks veteran knows he’s not what he used to be. But the flip side of that thought is that Klingberg understands what he can do to produce the most for his team.
“I think just moving the puck and having lefty-righty out there,” Klingberg said about what Ryan Warsofsky’s message is to him. “I mean, I’m going to play my game. Try to be really solid two-way, but obviously, my role is more on the offensive side. Just let the game come to me and take it from there.”
It is interesting to note that Klingberg mentioned he’s a right-handed defenseman entering the San Jose Sharks lineup. Warsofsky told reporters that part of his thinking in getting Klingberg back was to get Mario Ferraro back on his strong left side.
“Helps having a righty, so we get Mario off his off-side,” Warsofsky said. “He can get the puck through on the offensive blue line. He can move the puck, [and] he’s been out for a while. We want to get him back in.”
Klingberg will man the second power-play unit for the Sharks, which has shown signs of life with a 31.6% success rate over the past six games. The penalty kill is something the Sharks will want to improve down the stretch, but Klingberg won’t be utilized there.
Klingberg understands that, although his role with the Sharks is more offensive, he still needs to play good defense. Against Connor McDavid and the Oilers, the 33-year-old talked about how to defend the opposition.
“It’s always defending five-man. Just can’t be the D, the center, or the winger. It has to be all five out there. That’s how you take time and space away,” Klingberg explained. “By having a good system and doing it together with defending a good play like that. We all know they have a lethal power play, so staying out of the box. With that, I think if you keep the puck most of the game, you’re gonna draw penalties instead of taking penalties. So being good with the puck and then defending as a five-man unit out there.”
Edmonton’s power play is missing Leon Draisaitl, but it still ranks first in the NHL this season at 29.7%. Puck possession will be key to limiting the Oilers’ chances, something Kiefer Sherwood knows very well.
“If you can control teams with possession, then eventually you’ll have some looks,” Sherwood told SHD. “Trying to wear teams down over the course of the game.”