Second comeback attempt in two games successful, Sharks win 3-2

Awesome recap…is this going to be a regular thing now? Also I don’t think we were ever down by two. It was a trading blows sort of night.

As we look to Saturday’s game against Columbus, I worry about Scott Nichol. His injury could go either way, but if there’s any doubt about his health expect Logan Couture to be called up sometime soon.

That’s the diamond in the rough, really. It’s going to hurt to lose Nichol if it is anything serious, but that makes calling up Couture an even easier decision. And look where he slides in? Poof! The third line.

McLellan’s been really good about managing injuries this season, so I think they play it safe with Nichol City. His injury history is a bit concerning, but on the same token (get it? okay, nevermind) those have been mostly concussions and groins.

Good to see Mitchell get back into the groove.

I really hope Nichols injury isn’t serious. He’s really perfect to center that 4th line with Ortmeyer and Mitchel. Ideally Nichol will only be out for a few games, enough time to give couture a shot alongside Mcginn and Clowe on the third line.

Randy Hahn stated on Facebook that Lapierre “should absolutely be suspended for his hit on Scott Nichol”.

Good game tonight. There were a crapload of Habs fans there. Those in my section were pretty civil, but they were all definately pretty loud all night.

The hit on Nichol was dirty dirty dirty. Couldn’t believe it went uncalled (and I think Clowe got the only penalty in the resulting scrum…just terrible officiating). I hope he’s alright, and that his shoulder’s not separated. He seemed more than willing to go stand up for himself…you know, when he could stand again. If that doesn’t get the league’s attention, we’ll know they’re ignoring San Jose.

Marleau’s shorthanded tip in was sweet, and that chance was created off his own play in the D end, and him carrying the puck up the ice. Heater was solid all game, creating chances for himself here and there. Mitchell’s pass to Malhotra was pretty awesome. Nice to see them bounce back.

I actually thought Huskins had a good game. At least from my vantage point in the nosebleeds, I seemed to notice him for good things tonight, which is a nice change. He had a few blocked shots. I distinctly remember him backchecking on a potential two on one and getting his stick on the puck and sending it to the corner to end that chance. Just all in all I thought he was really solid. If he keeps playing like that, I won’t be nearly as terrified about our blueline going forward.

And, finally, it was nice to see Nabby get back on track after a few speedbumps. We’ll need him confident and in top form next month.

I hope Nichol is alright. After watching the game, if there are two things that give me hopes for this post season, it is Malhotra and Nichol. Both are essential in too many ways to describe.

And I agree on the lack of payback. I’m not sure what Staubitz was doing, but I expected him to drop the gloves. I know Leach wanted to, but if Stauby wants to have a job in the NHL, he better not sit there and watch dirty hits unfold one after another.

PS – I’m glad to see this team has character to come back and play so confident in the 3rd. We started to doubt it not that long ago.

Even the TSN announcers, who were obviously pulling for the Canadians a little bit, were absolutely irate about the Maxim Lapierre hit. They were both pretty vocal about how fucked up it was.

Hopefully he gets the book thrown at him. That was was complete nonsense.

What an awesome, awesome ending. It was nervousness the whole time and if they lost I would have cried…

One of the Canadiens and Blake had an altercation. The Canadien found out what it’s like to mess with an old man.

Scott Nichol is awesome and I hope he’s okay. I didn’t see the play where he got hit from my angle, but it was scary to see him down on the ice. It was awesome to see him get back up and skate to some Canadiens and try to talk to them before the refs split them up.

Malhotra’s goal was pretty. Got a nice pass from Mitchell and just beat Price.

The refs were bad… as usual.

The problem with the NHL disciplinarians is that they too often consider the seriousness of the resulting injury in considering whether a suspension is warranted. That Scott Nichol (what a warrior) was able to skate off the ice under his own power should be irrelevant— but isn’t.

Refs last night absolutely fucked it up on several of the non-calls; the most blatant being the obvious to Helen Keller cross-check on Nichol that happened right in front of Chris Lee.