Game 2 Wrap Up: "Puck Luck"

You know what? I thought it was a good game. Sure, it didn’t have the result I wanted, but the Sharks looked good and played well. That post Ehrhoff hit could have easily been the tying goal. The Sharks looked good, they just were unlucky. That happens in the playoffs. It happens in the regular season. That happens in sports. That’s just how it is.

It boils down to this: Whatever this season is meant to do, it will do.

I enjoyed the ride we had this season and I’ll be back next year regardless. So I’m go to sit back and enjoy as much of this as we have left because it’s be silly not to.

Go Sharks!

He’s the difference in this series. It’s as simple as that. I liked what I saw out there tonight from the Sharks, they played a good game and had lots of chances. And I have to agree about all the bitching. I got serenaded for most of the game to a chorus of profanity laden cries of “shoot the puck” and “Sharks suck.” Fortunately the persons responsible for it showed they knew very little about hockey by declaring that a shot that was right at Hiller was “it.” I got a couple things to add to TCY’s list here.

1) Get more bodies in front of the net. The Sharks are getting shots off, but most of them are going straight at Hiller or he’s got no problem seeing them.

2) Go top shelf. Hiller’s gobbling up every puck that comes in on the ice. Clowe and Cheech got the puck up and past him.

This thing ain’t over until it’s over.

I liked how the Sharks played, it’s just too bad this was game 2. But like I said in the Game thread I’m looking foward to 2 more games from my favorite team, and hopefully more than 2

I agree, it ain’t over til its over, but considering the Sharks’ playoff history, I’m not feeling too optimistic. They played well, but they just can’t seem to take advantage of chances. Yeah, Hiller is playing great, but the Ducks just seem more confident out there while the Sharks are playing not to lose.

I hope the Sharks can do to the Ducks what the Ducks did at HP, but like I said, I’m not too optimistic. This is the Sharks’ best shot at a Cup ever and it isn’t looking good.

If I could make one critique of tonight, it would have to be puck retrieval during the power play. The problem is, in order to get bodies in front of Hiller (which I thought the team did an excellent job of doing), you have to jam guys in the slot and take them away from the circles.

Live by the sword die by the sword. Extremely frustrating.

I’m not making excuses, but I would bet two dollars (which, admittedly, is all I can afford right now) that Patty is still injured or just mailing it in. It’s numero uno. He just doesn’t have that pop he did all year before going down in the Phoenix game. I said then that it didn’t look like much, but it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong. Whatevs. Injury speculation is just idiotic anyways.

In terms of the obvious, Hiller is a demon from Hell and needs to be banished. One thing he has done extremely well is kicking out rebounds away from the net. We put 44 shots on him tonight. Forty-freaking-four. That’s not even counting how many Anaheim managed to block. I hate to say it, but they’ve done an excellent job of doing that, especially with Rob Blake. I’d have to look at the quantitative totals to see if they make sense with my qualitative analysis, but damn have they ever shut down that big blast.

I’m cautiously optimistic for going into Anaheim and taking two. It can be done, but that’s one helluva tall order for any team, no matter how well they played tonight.

What did we do to piss off the Hockey Gods?

Go Sharks.

:)

Seriously, the first few PP’s went exactly like this:

go into the zone, give the puck to Ehroff at the point, shot misses wide, Ducks clear the zone.

Once they got away from that, they weren’t doing too bad.

Everyone throwing around ridiculous and tired old excuses that don’t even apply.

“where was staubitz! we need more GRIT”
“where’s the heart!!!”
“Sharks show no passion, again”

come on, it’s getting old, it doens’t even really apply to this series

Expect me to post something tomorrow about the lame fans we have attending these games. Sure, the Sharks have some problems they have to fix, but there is one thing we can address as fans… and that’s the lame f*ckers clogging up these precious seats at the tank…

More venting to come tomorrow…

Keep hope alive people!

If the goals were a few inches wider and taller, if the refs would call things more consistently, if the occasional pass was just a little faster or slower, the Sharks would have won tonight, and would have at least tied it up last night.

But they are not doing what we all know they can do. Sure, they’re hitting the shit out of the Ducks, they’re peppering Hiller with shots like he’s a speed limit sign on a country highway*. But they’re losing races to loose pucks, they can’t clear their own zone, they rarely recover dump-ins, they’re making bad passes, they’re making passes badly. They look confused and tired. 30 seconds into each shift, most of the guys were dogging it. They hardly tried to pick up rebounds, there was barely any off-puck movement.

Also, whatever Anaheim’s doing is very effective. They’re stifling the Sharks from one end of the ice to the other, particularly at their own blue line. I’m no rules expert, but they seem to be dangerously close to interference and delay of game penalties all the time.

But, to end on a positive note, the Sharks are still the better team. They’re not playing well, they’re being shut down, and Hiller has turned into some sort of black hole, yet they could’ve tied it up twice last night and once tonight if it wasn’t for those damn crossbars. If the Ducks need to rely on inanimate objects to win (disregarding and Chris Pronger’s elbows and Corey Perry), then the Sharks can easily take this one back. It’s all on them.

*or a quadriplegic in a paintball match, or a junkie with a full-service dealer, or a hot chick at a frat party.

From the game, fabulous seats in Section 219. My son and I had a very engaging conversation on the way home for 4 hours about the game, our challenges, etc. Here’s our take on things (some of which has already been said):

1) Tonight was the tale of two teams. We had flashes of brilliance, followed by flashes of complete and utter incompetence.

2) There is still no doubt we are the better team. Hiller is the Devil Incarnate. He is reminding me of bad juju days with Turco, Kipper and some older guys playing three steps above their level.

3) Someone made a comment about Lemieux’s ice team. Hear, hear……He was sharp, he brought energy, and I think we needed to see way more of him than we did.

4) One of the power plays, we actually held the zone for a full minute and a half. The others were pretty much useless. The Ducks are employing a New Jersey Like neutral ice trapping style that is bottling up the Sharks. The way around it is speed, speed and speed. On a couple of occasions, we actually used speed and trapped the Ducks in odd man on the power play, but we got trapped a second time at their blue line and wasted it.

5) I also agree with the comments about Patty and Cheech, both negative and positive. I’d like to add that I watched Big Joe tonight and, while he is definitely bringing effort, he’s frustrated and it shows.

6) Our D and individual efforts (Clowe and Cheechoo) kept us in the game. And while Nabby made some nice saves, his puck handling skills left a little to be desired.

7) If we continue to outhit and outskate this bunch, and lose the series, then Detroit will owe us a big Thank You for potentially softening them up for the Wings.

8) The best thing for this team right now is to get the hell out of San Jose and play on the road. We are still way in control of our own destiny. Two wins on the road, and then it’s a best of three.

Thank you all for letting me share……I don’t remember there being that many crazy drivers in San Jose though…….

you guys are overanylzing….if caryle brain-farted and started jiggy..you guys would be up 2-0….you guys had fire….and tenacity…and i wouldnt change too much…maybe try dumping the puck instead of carrying in on the PP and get jumbo joe the puck more..

the pressue is off you guys and youve done well in our building…id feel confident if i was you guys….

The wind is being sucked out of me. I feel tired. I feel like I skated in 82 games. I feel like Captain Stampy has put the stamp on me.

But I still have hope. I know that picking up a win in Anaheim would be the perfect catalyst.

GO SHARKS!

Also, Hiller. Stop showing off. You’re making Giggy look really bad.