Joe Pavelski scores big goals. It's what he does.

The San Jose Sharks forward led the NHL with 11 game-winning goals during the regular season, and he was up to his old tricks in Game 1 of the playoffs, scoring two goals to lead his club to a huge 4-3 road win over the Los Angeles Kings.

"He's our captain for a reason," Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said after the game, according to Yahoo Sports' Josh Cooper. "He scores a lot of key goals ... he's been clutch like that for us all season."

The "captain" comment is interesting for a couple of reasons. Joe Thornton was stripped of the captaincy after the 2013-14 season. No one wore the "C" in 2014-15, and Pavelski was named captain ahead of this season, with Thornton named an alternate, in DeBoer's first season behind San Jose's bench.

The returns suggest it's all worked out for the best. Thornton had his best statistical season since 2009-10, becoming a point-per-game player again and finishing second in the NHL with 63 assists. Pavelski had 78 points, one off his career high, but if you take his 11 game winners into account, it's not a stretch to say 2015-16 was the best season of his career, at 31.

Making things even more interesting: The decision to go with no captain last season was made after the Sharks won 51 games in 2013-14, but blew a 3-0 first-round series lead to the Kings, losing in a heartbreaking seven games.

Pavelski admitted he felt nervous before puck drop, describing the vibe in the Sharks' dressing room as "loose ... not overly loose, not overly excited." However the Sharks prepared, it worked, as they erased deficits of 1-0 and 3-2 to earn the win.

Pavelski's second goal - at 17 seconds of the third period - was the eighth game-winner of his playoff career, and the earliest a Sharks player has ever scored a goal in any period in the playoffs.

San Jose was the NHL's best road team this season, winning a remarkable 28 games. They lived up to their road warriors status Thursday.

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