Simple plays and hard fought battles were the themes of the Sharks double header that I traveled down to see. After a long losing streak that lasted six games, the Sharks got back to the basics and I had the fortunate timing of being there when they regained their winning ways.
The Vancouver Canucks were the first to roll into San Jose on Saturday, March 27th. As I took my seats in the stand, the Tank was buzzing. It had been six games since the Sharks were back home and with only a few weeks left of the regular season, the fans were eager to see their team play. Of course, the Nuck fans were not to be outdone and had a large attendance. As the puck was dropped and the game started, I noticed one major thing right off the bat - the lines! There are four offensive lines and three defensive lines (blue line pairs) in hockey. An offensive line consist of a left winger, centerman, and a right winger while a defensive line consists of two defensemen. The four offensive lines usually have a specific role with the first line being made up of the top scorers, the second line consists of some additional scorers, while the third line is primarily a checking line (physical, often defensively focused), and the fourth being acting as an energy line (gritty and strong skating abilities). McLellan decided to break up the big three (Marleau, Thornton, and Heatley) and shuffle players around to form four vary different looking lines. At first, I didn't think it was working because the Canucks scored halfway through the first period.The Sharks stayed strong defensively and were able to make it out of the first period with just the one goal allowed. Douglas Murray made some great defensive plays including a few great picks as well as flattening a few Canucks who were running around. One of the newer Sharks, Niclas Wallin, made a horrible play by not challenging for a loose puck which resulted in a great scoring opportunity for Vancouver. Number 7 ended up making up for that mistake by some hard backchecking and a big hit, to stop the breakaway later in the second period. Just three minutes into the second, the Sharks found themselves with the man advantage and found themselves in a shaky position when the Canucks came attacking Nabokov, trying to get the shorthanded goal. But Nabby was able to make the save and lanch the Sharks forwards quickly up the ice, catching the Canucks in the middle of a line change. Once over the blue line, Heatley ripped a shot that beat Luongo to tie the game up.
The Canucks immediate began pushing back, dominating in the Sharks zone for some time until a great stick lift sent Marleau up the ice on a breakaway, and once Patty starts to skate, no one can catch him. All that was left to do was deke and back hand the puck into the net, making it a 2-1 game. Less than two minutes after Marleau's goal, Pavelski rushed down the right wing, shot the puck, got his own rebound back, and scored. One of the two players I picked to be key in these back to back games, Joe Pavelski was playing great all night so you knew it was only a matter of time before he scored. Unfortunately, my other pick, Joe Thornton, was unable to fully shine in this game. Jumbo was playing great, shooting and passing but a hard check sent him flying into the boards awkwardly and he remained laying on the ice for a few minutes before being helped into the dressing room. Thornton's injury ended up keeping him out for three games, the first time he has ever missed playing a game in his career as a Shark.
It would be touch and go throughout the third period as the Canucks scored to bring them back within one. As the period began to wind down, Canucks' goalie Luongo was pulled for the extra attacker as Vancouver tried to tie it up. Another Shark ended up going down with an injury as a shot hit Manny Malhotra in the face (he doesn't wear a visor). Though Manny would not return to the game, he didn't sustain any major injuries and was back playing the next day. A great steal resulted in the empty net goal by Clowe which sealed the win for the Sharks, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-2. While it wasn't an easily won game, the Sharks showed that they could keep it simple, fight back, and maintain the lead. With such a great physical game played, I wondered how well the Sharks would fair against the Avs when they came in for a early game the next day.
It would be touch and go throughout the third period as the Canucks scored to bring them back within one. As the period began to wind down, Canucks' goalie Luongo was pulled for the extra attacker as Vancouver tried to tie it up. Another Shark ended up going down with an injury as a shot hit Manny Malhotra in the face (he doesn't wear a visor). Though Manny would not return to the game, he didn't sustain any major injuries and was back playing the next day. A great steal resulted in the empty net goal by Clowe which sealed the win for the Sharks, beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-2. While it wasn't an easily won game, the Sharks showed that they could keep it simple, fight back, and maintain the lead. With such a great physical game played, I wondered how well the Sharks would fair against the Avs when they came in for a early game the next day.
Hockey games usually don't start until 7:00pm or 7:30pm so a 5:00pm start can really mess up a player's game day routine. Especially when that 5:00pm start time is for the last game of a back to back double header. Luckily, the Sharks weren't the only ones who played the night before, the Colorado Avalanche also had a game the night before which had me thinking that this was going to be a very dull game - I was very wrong. The pace was fast, the hits were big, and there was a lot of action going on everywhere. Six minutes into the first period, a fight broke out and while it wasn't much of a fight, you could tell that these two teams were serious. Without Joe Thornton, the lines once again looked different but they all were firing and working hard. With 9 minutes to go and on the Power Play, Boyle ripped a shot from the point and Setoguchi was able to tip it past Avs goalie, Anderson, for the lead. Back up goalie, Thomas Greiss was in net and was able to keep the lead through the first period. In the second, the Avs came back strong scoring both an even strength goal and a Power Play goal to give them the lead. With the period winding down, it seemed like the Sharks would be going into the third down a goal, but no one told that to Jed Ortmeyer who was able to score the game tying goal on the rush.
This back and forth game continued with the Avs and Sharks fighting for domination of the puck. Greiss was stellar and helped to keep things close as the Sharks defense sometimes left him all alone with a shooter in white. With the start of the third period, the Sharks found themselves pelting Anderson with the puck and one finally went in when Boyle shot a sneaky pass that was deflected in. Five minutes later, the Avalanche answered back with a goal of their own, once again tying the game up. With five to go in the period, Pavelski rips a shot from the high slot and Setoguchi was on the back step, able to tap it past Anderson for the go ahead goal. But the Avs weren't going to go down easily and pulled their goalie to get the extra attacker in the waning moments of the game. Greiss was the one to have the last word on the matter with a game winning save on Liles and kept the Sharks on top with the 4-3 win. Hard fought back and forth game with a ton of action and excitement - definitely the best game I went to this 2009-2010 season.Oh, and there's more. The Sharks were able to clinch not only the Pacific Division title for the third year in a row, but the best regular season record in the Western Conference for the second time. Seeded number one in the Western Conference, the Sharks will be facing the eighth seeded Colorado Avalanche in a round one seven game series as both teams try to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. This is going to be an amazing match up with both teams being very familiar with each other. This is also the first time this playoff match up has happened since I've been a Shark fan. The last time the Sharks and Avs met in the playoffs, I was wearing the Av's colors as I watched the Sharks upset my favorite team. Now that I'm a true teal blooded hockey fan, I can only hope that the Sharks can pull off another victory over Colorado and I'm predicting that they are going to do it in six games. The playoffs start in a few more days and I will definitely be glued to the television as I watch the 16 best teams in the NHL battle it out for Lord Stanley's Cup.
