Sharks Take Two: Weekend Sweep

Last weekend, the Sharks won two games to stop their slide. This weekend, they won two to take over the league’s top spot overall.

Once again, it came at a price: Rob Blake and Marcel Goc were added to the injury report just as Christian Ehrhoff and Ryane Clowe came off of it. Goc had just recently returned from injury, and the Sharks now have an injury report nine players long.

Tod McLellan deemed the latest setbacks “ouwees, not injuries,” and has insisted for some time that all players will be back for the playoffs. But one has to wonder at what point this may be their undoing, as players need time on the ice to get their rhythm back with their teammates.

McLellan has also called his team fragile for some time, and always in the context of their psyche. Perhaps he should look into their physical fragility.

It is at this point that I must apologize to all Sharks fans for also being a fan of the greatest franchise in professional sports, the only non-profit team owned by its fans, the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. I make this apology because the Packers were ravaged with injury this season, and I may just be the carrier.

There are only three people I know of who are fans of both: Joe Pavelski (born a Cheesehead, so this is a certainty), my wife, and me. My wife is only a fan of either team because of me; thus as her connection to each, transmission would be through me. Pavelski has not suffered the injury bug himself, meaning unless he is a carrier who does not succumb to its effects, I am the most likely source. And I have suffered from back spasms over almost nothing once in each team’s season…

First up for the Sharks was the Dallas Stars, Saturday afternoon at the Shark Tank…

Dallas came out strong, generating eight of the first ten shots and scoring 7:30 into the game. But the Sharks bounced back to put 10 of the next 12 on net, including a power play goal by Joe Thornton with just under seven minutes left, and another on the next shift by Devin Setoguchi.

The second period featured only 15 shots total (five by Dallas) and no scoring until the final six minutes. At the 14:17 mark, Joe Pavelski stole the puck back after a faceoff in the Dallas zone and handcuffed Marty Turco with a quick shot off his arm. Once again, the Sharks got another on the next shift, when a centering pass from Milan Michalek ricocheted off the skate of Brad Richards past Turco.

(In an ironic twist of the two most injured teams in the NHL, Richards had returned for the first time from a hand injury, then broke his other hand during the game. I cannot take credit for Dallas’ injury problems, however; there is not one Dallas sports team I like in the least.)

The Stars pushed back in the third period, registering a 10-9 edge in shots, and scoring on Stephane Robidas’ slap shot a little more than five minutes in. But the Sharks Patrick Marleau iced the game with a minute left when he put his fifth shorthanded goal in, off a breakaway and into an empty net.

Dallas finished with a 14-10 edge in blocked shots, but the Sharks had the edge in hits (38-21), takeaways (16-7), and faceoffs (34-27). Both teams had four power plays, but the Sharks were the only team to score in either.

My three stars:
1. Joe Pavelski was +4 with the game winning goal, two assists, three takeaways, a hit, and 10 of 15 in the faceoff circle (.667).
2. Devin Setoguchi was +3 with a goal and an assist, plus three hits.
3. Brad Lukowich got his first NHL team with an assist, a +3 rating, and three hits.

In the second game, at 5pm PST at the Tank, the Sharks hosted the last-place Colorado Avalanche. Once again, McLellan started Evgeni Nabokov. I have been very critical of this move because in the previous four time Nabby played on a second day in a row, he was 3-1 but had given up over three goals against and had a save percentage under .850 despite a shutout in his last effort.

Fortunately, Nabby has now made this a success two games in a row. I still think back-to-back games are bad in the long run, and the plethora of them last season contributed to Nabby being worn down and having a save percentage under .900 before the epic four-OT thriller. I think it is all the more foolish when you have a quality backup who has better stats than your starter.

The Sharks also got off to a slow start in the first period of this game, but it was because they spent seven minutes of it killing penalties, including a five minute major and game misconduct for boarding by Jonathan Cheechoo. Coming from behind Lawrence Nycholat, Cheech tried to get his elbow around to the front side of his foe but failed, driving him awkwardly into the boards while also holding his stick dangerously high.

The Sharks announcer complained that this should not have been a major because there was no intent to injure. Perhaps this is correct as the rules read, but since a referee does not know intent (granted, it’s pretty easy to read when Chris Pronger stomps on a guy’s foot), I would prefer these calls be made any time an action recklessly endangers a player. This was one of those times: Nycholat was unprotected, had his back turned, and was near the boards. Cheech went in hard and did make contact on the back half of the opponent. Not that whether a player actually is injured or not should matter, but Nycholat did not return.

The penalties did keep the Sharks from getting more than five shots on goal in the period. Nevertheless, the Sharks penalty kill was outstanding, not only keeping the Avs off the board, but holding them to two shots (they managed eight in the entire opening stanza). As early as it was in the game, this was probably the turning point.

The Sharks came out and established play in the second period, out-shooting the Avs 13-7. When Marek Svatos took the Avs first penalty at the 7:25 mark, San Jose took advantage…just barely. Alexei Semenov, on the ice because the team was so short between injuries and Cheechoo’s ejection, one-times a D-to-D pass from Mar Edouard Vlasic that Jamie McGinn (who started the game on the first line) deflected for the goal with less than three seconds left in the power play.

On an odd-man rush sprung by a good headman pass from Milan Hejduk 99 seconds later, former Shark Scott Hannan took a pass from Wojtek Wolski and wristed it past Nabby for his first goal in 85 games. But San Jose bounced back when Pavelski’s outlet pass to Semenov turned into a give-and-go (and give-and-go-they passed it back and forth) from the neutral zone to the crease between he and Michalek, eventually resulting in a goal as Semenov’s pass deflected off Michalek’s skate.

Between the short roster, busy weekend, and the desperation of the Avs, the Sharks were dominated in the third, being out-shot 17-10, but Devin Setoguchi’s empty-net goal with 22 seconds left sealed the win. With two empty-net goals in two nights, the Sharks may have helped their playoff position, as the second tie-break between them and the Detroit Red Wings is goal differential, and may well come into play.

It is still a bit disconcerting that the Sharks again failed to score more than two goals against a goalie who me in with less than a .900 save percentage, but there is no problem with their effort or defence. They won 35 of 62 faceoffs (.565), out-hit them 19-16, and had more blocked shots (17-16).

My three stars:
1. Alexei Semenov had only his second two-assist game and created both goals, was +1, had two blocked shots and one hit.
2. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 31 of 32 shots (.969) to hand the Sharks the win.
3. Scott Hannan not only had the only goal for Colorado, but he had two blocked shots and played over 27 minutes to lead all skaters on both teams.