SAN JOSE -- Home or away. Against lefties or righties. All in all, it hasn't mattered a bit.
Marcel Goc of the San Jose Sharks has been taking a waxing in the faceoff circles against whoever Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish has sent out to face him on the dot in this series. Goc is the first to admit that. Worse, he has no clue why.
"I looked at the numbers. I shouldn't have," smiled Goc. "Not very good."
Goc, 22, went into Game 5 at HP Pavilion last night with a 16-45 win-loss mark on the dot against Oilers centres. Overall, Goc began the night with a 28.3 winning percentage in the playoffs. That rated 83rd among 90 centres listed.
"I have to get better at that," understated Goc. "If you win the faceoffs you have puck possession right off the start and you don't have to chase the puck. Especially on power plays and penalty killing, it helps a lot."
Through four games, Goc was 3-18 against Shawn Horcoff and 4-23 on the draw against Jarret Stoll.
With Edmonton dominating the circles through the first four games, one explanation has been that visiting centres are at a disadvantage because they have to put their stick down first. The suggestion has seen the numbers even out on that basis.
"They seem to have a decided advantage when they've been putting the stick in last," offered San Jose coach Ron Wilson.
"I think it's a huge advantage. That's always discounted, in terms of what your centre can do on the faceoff, but when you're the road team you have to go in and put the stick down. We take advantage of it here. You'll always notice the home guy gets away with a lot more on a faceoff than he would if he's the road guy."
The home-away argument doesn't hold true with Goc. In the first two games at the Tank, he went 1-7 and 2-8. At Rexall Place he was 7-17 and 6-13.
"I'm the first guy in home or away," Horcoff said. "Even when I'm at home and have the advantage, I like to be the first guy in and have my body set. For me, it's just personal preference."
Goc, who was good on 47.9%t of his draws in the regular season, says he'll just keep poking along and doing his best.
"I don't know what they're going," shrugged Goc. "Somehow, the puck is always going the wrong way."
