Sharks fans were treated to two great games with the Sharks facing off against Detroit and Philly. I was treated because both games were televised on Versus, a national sports channel, which allowed me to watch both games in glorious HD. These two games proved two major points - that every second counts and that the Sharks weren't going down without a fight. Proving me wrong in almost every way, I almost feel as if I should just delete my previous blog and start over. While it was only two games, these two games showed why the Sharks are playoff contenders and reminded me of what they are truly capable of. Let's hope the Sharks have finally found their way back to their winning ways.The first game found the Sharks in Hockey Town, ready to face the number one team in the West - the Detroit Red Wings. As the first period got under way, the Wings dominated the Sharks, putting on the pressure and keeping puck position for what seemed like most of the game. Actually, the Sharks didn't touch the puck once in six minutes at one point in the first period, six minutes! Detroit by far is one of the best puck moving and best puck controlling teams. If you ever want to see how skilled they are, all you have to do is check out a few game highlights on NHL.com to see their talent. The puck barely stays on any Red Wings' player for more than a second before he passes it on to another skilled player. The shear speed of movement had the Sharks spinning in their defensive zone, figuratively and literally. It was only a matter of time before the Wings would strike and they found the opportunity when rookie defenseman Derek Joslin took a penalty in his own zone. They quickly capitalized with a shot from the blue line that was redirected past Niemi. The Sharks were also guilty of taking some seriously bad penalties in the first which had them playing defense for most of the first period. Some good stick work and a lucky bounce launched Heatley and Thornton on a shorthanded two-on-one opportunity. Jumbo of course did not shoot the puck but opted to pass it to hot handed Heater. As the play quickly developed, Heater faked the shot and passed the puck back to Jumbo who was able to lift it past the sprawling Detroit goalie to tie the game up with a shorthanded goal. With minutes left in the first period and once again on a power play, Detroit found the back of the net to give them the go-ahead-goal.
Completely dominated by the Red Wings, coach Todd McLellan would later refer to it as the worst first period the Sharks have ever played. I'm sure they were reamed out pretty well for their lack of commitment and effort because the starting of the second brought new life to the Sharks. With puck control and a great cycle going in the Red Wings' zone, the Sharks were able to get the puck to the point where Wallin was waiting to power one through and tied the game. With barely enough time to catch their breathe, Clowe protected the puck and was able to feed it to Logan Couture (#39, pictured above) who made it 3-2 only eight seconds later. The Red Wings got their scoring chance when the puck trickled past Niemi, but Nemo was able to see it and stop it with his glove before it crossed the line.
A sloppy turnover in the neutral zone came back to bite the Wings when the puck found its way onto Dany Heatley's stick. Heater, with a great rush down the right wing, was able to just blister the puck past Howard for a little more insurance: 4-2 Sharks. The third period found each team with equal opportunities but the icing on the cake came when Couch redirected the puck into the net (play pictured above). Because it went off his skate, the goal had to be reviewed (puck cannot be kicked in) but was deemed a good goal making the game a 5-2 victory for the Sharks.
Two days later, The Sharks found themselves in Philly facing the number two team in the whole league, the Flyers. Calder Trophy hopefuls Logan Couture and Flyers goalie Bobrovsky (pictured above) would face off numerous times in this insane game. Again, the Sharks seemed to come out of the gate flatfooted with the Flyers dominating play in the first. This time it was Niittymaki in goal to help keep the Sharks alive while they tried to find their game. The sluggish first period seemed to be over with the last faceoff draw in the Flyers zone but Thornton was able to win the draw and throw the puck back to the D who blasted it towards the net where Ryane Clowe was waiting to tip it past Bobrovsky. Four seconds to go in the period and the Sharks had a one goal lead.The second period was all orange as the Flyers came back to brutalize the Sharks with three quick goals that found Nitty all alone with the rest of the Sharks just trying to find the puck. One such goal found rookie defenseman Justin Braun watching Nitty make the save rather than trying to tie up a Flyer's stick. This mistake allowed Giroux to gather the rebound and bury it for the game-tying goal. Things would not get better for the Sharks as the Flyers were able to score two more quick games when Nitty was left out to dry by his D-men who seemed to not know where they were supposed to be. The Sharks almost got one back when John McCarthy deflected the puck in off of his skate, but unlike Couch's goal against Detroit, it was ruled to be a "distinct kicking motion" and the goal was disallowed, the game remained: 3-1 Flyers.
The Sharks came back to work in the third period but the Flyer's were the ones to capitalize with a great shot-deflection that made it 4-1 Flyers. The game seemed all but over, after all a three goal deficit in the third period is not something easily overcome. The newly returned Jason Demers had something to say about that when he skated the puck into the slot and beat the Flyer's goalie top shelf to try and get the Sharks back into the game. Minutes later, the rookie leading-scorer, Logan Couture, buried the puck past a scrambling Flyer's goalie to get the Sharks within one and there was still time enough on the clock for a spectacular comeback. Then on a beautiful, and I mean beautiful set play (I mean it, click the picture above to watch the replay if you don't believe me) Jumbo Joe found an offensive zone faceoff and was able to chip the puck right to a streaking Pavelski (#8, pictured above) who ripped it past Bobrovsky's glove to the game at 4-4. With a few more chances, the Flyer's tried to end the game in regulation but Nitty said no and sent the game into 4-on-4 overtime.
With the abbreviated 5 minute overtime period, both the Sharks and the Flyers had their fair share of looks but solid defensive work kept both teams alive. Then, matching minor penalties made things really interesting as the last two minutes of play became 3-on-3. A neutral zone turnover sent the Flyers racing into the Sharks zone and Flyer's forward Richards was able to beat Niittymaki just before the buzzer sounded (play pictured above) . . . or did he? If you look closer at the photo above, you can see that the little black speck did not cross the red line before the clock hit zero, robbing the Flyers of an overtime victory and sending the game into a shootout. With Nitty standing tall, he was able to beat Briere with a great pad save. Couture was up next and with a nifty head deke, he was able to go five hole and score. Giroux tried to beat Niittymaki but shot it wide, with Clowe ready in the wings, if he scored he would win the shootout and the game. For being such a big guy, Clowe has some serious stick skills and showed it off by deking and backhanding the puck up stairs past the Flyer's goalie to cap off a crazy game with a Sharks victory.Both games were well played and the game against Philly was just crazy. Niemi and Niitymaki really kept the Sharks alive as both first periods were played poorly for the other Sharks players. A few rookie mistakes almost cost the Sharks their wins but being able to find the offensive pressure helped to elevate them over two prominent opponents. It was nice to see that the scoring was spread around a little bit more evenly as well with Couture, Clowe, and Heatley really making a huge difference for their team. The Sharks have one more game to go before they return to San Jose to face the Stanley Cup champs. Now it's time to see what the Sharks a really made of.
