Pacific Division rivalry heats up; Sharks win 3 straight

Coming off of losing five straight games, the Sharks bounced back with three

Photo Courtsey of MLSFAN 20

wins. Prior to the Christmas Break San Jose played two road back to back games where they were dropped by the Stars in Dallas 4-2 and the Blackhawks in Chicago 3-2.

After the Christmas break they took on the Anaheim Ducks at home winning 5-2. Even though they pulled out a win against the Chicago Blackhawks last week they are still 3 pts behind them in the Western Conference standings.

Key players in the past 3 games are surprise surprise forwards Patrick Marleau(4G), Dany Heatley(2G, 5A), and Jumbo Joe Thornton(1G, 5A). These players are proving to be hard to stop even if they are put on different lines.

Tonight the Sharks face their PAC division rival Phoenix Coyotes. The past two meetings between these teams had the Sharks getting the short end of the stick with a SO loss October 12th and a 2-1 loss earlier this month. This will be the 3rd meeting of the season for these two Pacific giants.

If the Sharks want to win this one Nabakov will have to be sharp in net, they will need to watch the penalties, and create more offensive. The Coyotes are no push over team. They have been great on the PP and with Captain Shane Doan playing one of his best seasons the Sharks will have to fire on all cylinders.

The action starts at 7:30 PST

Pacific Conference Standings:

Pacific		GP	W	L	OT	PTS	GF	GA	HOME	AWAY	L10
	San Jose	38	23	8	7	53	127	99	10-2-5	13-6-2	5-2-3
	Phoenix	39	24	13	2	50	103	87	15-5-0	9-8-2	7-2-1
	Los Angeles	38	22	13	3	47	113	111	10-4-2	12-9-1	6-3-1
	Dallas	38	16	11	11	43	111	117	9-4-5	7-7-6	3-3-4
	Anaheim	38	15	16	7	37	105	122	10-8-2	5-8-5	5-3-2