Hot Streak Ends as the Devils Outlast the Sharks 2-1
by Ivano M on Feb 11, 2011 10:34 PM PST
in Sharks Game Recaps
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PrintWho would have guessed a month ago that the two hottest teams in the middle of February would be San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils?
And yet it is today's reality. The Sharks earned 19 points in the last 10 games before arriving to New Jersey. During the same stretch, the Devils earned 17. Someone's streak had to end. In the game that saw equal chances for both teams, the Devils prevailed, as they outlasted the Sharks 2-1 in one of the less memorable games of the season.
The game itself turned out to be just what we got used to seeing whenever Jacques Lemaire is behind the bench - a defensive struggle. With the Sharks paying also more attention to defense nowadays, the first two periods are almost gone from my memory - and for a good reason. I'll be brief - not a whole lot happened then. The Sharks did appear to shoot the puck more, as they dominated in that category after the two periods, 22-11. But that was about it. There were not a lot of scoring chances, they were no fights and virtually no big hits.
As the pressure continued to rise, it was in the third period when the action began to happen. With six minutes into the third period, Patrick Marleau drove to the net, and with nifty a tap on defenseman's back, he got him confused for just long enough to get wide open in front of Johan Hedberg and to redirect a pass from Niclas Wallin into the net.
Just a minute later the Sharks had another chance to increase the lead, as Henrik Tallinder was sent to the box to give the Sharks another power play in the game. But instead of capitizing on it, the Sharks took a penalty of their own - this time it was Joe Thornton who got penalized for hooking.
If the Sharks have one consistent weakness this season, it is their 4-on-4 play. The pace of the game changes, and the team doesn't adjust too well in these situations. This is what happened once again tonight. As the Devils kept the puck, the Sharks were falling behind, and it resulted in another costly error when Logan Couture tripped Anssi Salmela near the Sharks' net. It is almost as if the team begins to panic in these situations, and all kinds of bad things happen.
In this league, 4-on-3 power play is essentially a 5-on-3 power play with all that skill on the teams and with all the extra space. If the defending team wants to survive, it needs to win faceoffs. That the Sharks failed to do, and less than half a minute later, the Devils tied the game on a shot by Brian Rolston.
At this point the momentum of the game changed entirely, and only Niemi could have saved the Sharks from conceding another goal. The Devils were winning faceoffs, they were winning the battles in the corners, and they took over the puck. Niemi was sharp all night, but with four minutes left he allowed a goal he'll likely want to quickly forget. Ilya Kovalchuk - the player who was resurrected with the coaching change the Devils made - saw that there was quite a crowd in front of Niemi, and sent the puck towards that pack ala Kent Huskins. Except he's still Ilya Kovalchuk and his puck flies 73 mph faster on average. The Finn didn't position himself too well, and probably didn't see the puck heading towards him. But it did go in, and the Sharks fell behind in the game they were leading not so long ago.
The four minutes left in the game was still enough to tie the game, and the Sharks looked determined to do just that. Perhaps they would have, if not for the untimely and a rather unwise penalty taken by Torrey Mitchell. Fighting for the puck in the offensive zone with skates and his body, Mitchell didn't pay too much attention to where his stick was, and it ended up in the face of Dainius Zubrus. The Lithuanian Hockey Treasure fell to the ice and left the game with blood on his face, giving the Devils four minute power play at the most important time in the game.
That penalty pretty much ended the Sharks comeback we were all hoping for. The Devils went on to preserve the win and to continue their amazing rise in the standings. Wouldn't that be something if they actually made playoffs this spring?
Overall, the Sharks played a good defensive hockey once again, but the offense has to step up if they want to continue winning games. They won't win too many scoring just once. They also did not look great on faceoffs - Pavelski, for example, won just 2 out of 12. Finally, Joe Thornton's zero shots on goals and general invisibility all night is something that must change. What a different kind of game for Big Joe from the game when he scored a hat trick against the same Devils earlier in the season.
But the road trip continues on Sunday, and San Jose Sharks will have a chance to redeem itself as they take on Florida Panthers - one of the many sinking ships in the Eastern Conference. Panthers won just two games in the last 10. After playing one hot NHL team after another, it'll be good for the Sharks to take on a struggling team.
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If we never play in New Jersey again, I'll be fine with that.
Unless we get scheduled there in the first half of next season, the next time we go there it will have been at least twelve years since the last time we won there. Over half the life of the franchise. To give some perspective on how long it has been: the last Sharks win in New Jersey happened during Nabby’s Calder season. That sounds worse than it is (only 5 games), but it’s still ugly.
Gotta let this one go and move on to Florida and get back on the winning road.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
Ugh. Late night math baaaaad. Eleven years, not twelve.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
If the Sharks and Devils make the Cup finals together, the commentators might explode.
Which I’d be okay with, I think. Randy, Drew, and Brodie replace Doc, Edzo, and McGuire after their heads burst!
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
I had to work so I missed the game
but just by looking at the box score I could tell that tonight was something very different. We lost to the devils (really?), our faceoffs were below average (pavelski was getting killed in the circle), and Kovalchuk decided to help out his team on the score board. Tough loss to take, but I think we’ll really see where this team is mentally the next game. Bounce back from taking a loss during a really nice streak is what I really want to see. Resiliency.
Also, the NYI scored 9 goals! What a weird night. And the freaking Blackhawks can’t hold a 3 goal lead so Dallas gets to be 2 points ahead of us with still a game in hang. Ugh
BLEED TEAL
The Devils has been playing the best hockey in all of the Eastern Conference since Lamaire returned. This is not the same team.
I really see them making playoffs, as crazy as that sounds. If that happens, all hell may break lose.
Fear the Fin - where Russians are underappreciated.
I suspect there’s no possible way the Devils make the playoffs…I think they’d have to win like all but 4 remaining games to get there…their early season hole was super deep. They’re going to have an effect on the playoff picture, though…that’s for sure.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
The Jody Shelley of FearTheFin's Mod Squad.
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by ZeroIndulgence on Feb 12, 2011 1:06 AM PST up reply actions
Yea, it is going to be one hell of an attempt but I agree. I think someone said on air they needed to win 23 of their next 28 to get in. I wish them all the best and hope that many of those points are earned from Western Conf teams. Gotta prevent those 3 point nights like what just happened Friday night! Stupid Chicago. Stupid Calgary. :-)
If they keep winning 8 out of each 10, they’ll be there. A stretch, no doubt, but not out of the realm of possibility.
Remember they’re playing in the Eastern conference.
More than anything, I’m just glad to see Kovalchuk doing well again. His contract aside – still one of the most exciting players in the league.
Fear the Fin - where Russians are underappreciated.
Remember they’re playing in the Eastern conference.
This is very true. The Eastern Conference is pretty terrible overall.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
The Jody Shelley of FearTheFin's Mod Squad.
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by ZeroIndulgence on Feb 12, 2011 11:33 AM PST up reply actions
Yea, it isn’t really a tough loss regarding who they lost to, after all, NJ is on an even longer streak than SJ was even before tonight.
It is a tough loss because the Sharks simply displayed a lack of effort and/or focus throughout the entire game. I seriously didn’t recognize the Sharks at all in the first and second. They may have been “dominating” on the shot clock, but of them only maybe 2 were genuine scoring chances. Most of them were soft chips to the net which resulted in a rebound that went (some were directed) straight to a NJ player who then immediately fed it into the transition to which would then result in 45 second to a minute or more in the SJ zone.
After struggling to get the puck out going through giveaway after giveaway the Sharks would then get into the offensive zone for another single weak shot and then be back on transition.
Granted, this didn’t happen every single time but for most. The ONLY line that was able to generate serious puck time that wasn’t just board cycling into a turnover was the Couture line.
The Sharks played well defensively outside of actually getting the puck out of the zone without turning it back over, and thus the game was kept close for the majority of the game, but to be quite frank, it seems like on the team’s Manhattan trip the day before every single player got drunk and took a day long tour that wiped them out mentally.
Outside of the Couture line, Boyle, Vlasic and Niemi, the team honestly played like zombies! This is a shame because NJ was just coming off a back to back game from which they were on the road. We had the opportunity to barrel out of the gate guns blazing, but instead had to be prodded out like cattle, or so it seemed.
Ok, that is enough negative talk. It is most definately not the end of the world. It was a close loss that more than likely happened because of severe momentum loss from taking 2 penalties in a row.
Wellwood played another great game and that line is generating some serious mojo. Unfortunately they didn’t connect (nor did they seem to get any PP time that game. The way the team was playing I’m surprised McLellan didn’t send them out as the top unit for the first PP), but they had a good amount of chances and were a delight to watch.
Hopefully they don’t get bummed in between now and Sunday, they didn’t play like garbage, but they didn’t play like they have blood in their veins either. Hopefully a little rest without a “day on the town” can recoup it a bit.
Tonight's game made me sadface...
Not so much that they lost (you can’t win em all) but how they lost. It’s like they had this gameplan this entire roadtrip, stuck to it and won some games, got ahead today doing the same thing…and then all had a simultaneous brain fart and started playing like the Senators. Brutal.
Hopefully they can rebound, but I’m going to be a nervous wreck until the game on Sunday…simply because this team has shown all season that they are a very up and down, inconsistent team. A bounce back win after a brutal, disgusting loss would go a long ways towards proving that they are, indeed, back.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
The Jody Shelley of FearTheFin's Mod Squad.
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It was a tough way to lose, especially after taking the lead – but it wasn’t a string of mistakes. It was really just two mistakes the whole game – a weird goal through the forest of players by Kovalchuk and then a very stupid penalty by Mitchell.
If Mitchell didn’t take that penalty, I was sure the Sharks were going to tie the game.
By the way – kind of surprised to see him back in the lineup. I was thinking he’s played his last game as a Sharks. Frankly, I’d rather see McGinn in there, or even Ferreiro. But the coaches see something I’m not seeing, so I won’t argue.
Fear the Fin - where Russians are underappreciated.
Eh, the stupidity started with the Thornton penalty while we were on the power play…which was set up by turning the puck ovr right before that and almost giving up a shorty…so they were all out of sorts. Led to Couture’s penalty. A couple goals, Mitchell single handedly killing our chances at a comeback (why was he even anywhere near the ice with 2 minutes left in the game and us down by one is beyond me…dude literally cannot score…whats the point?).
I had really hoped Mitchell would never be playing for the Sharks again. In my opinion, he just a huge, overpaid liability for us on the ice. He literally cannot score to save his life. He’s too small and gets bodied off the puck too easily. And he doesn’t make the smartest decisions. Basically, he’s fast, and he plays limited PK minutes. But Ferriero or McGinn can play on the PK just fine.
Mitchell needs to go. The fact that Ferriero is in the AHL for him, after having such a productive year, is really irritating me.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
The Jody Shelley of FearTheFin's Mod Squad.
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by ZeroIndulgence on Feb 12, 2011 11:38 AM PST up reply actions
Yeah Ferriero needs to come back, Mitchell...I'm not sure, considering it's his first game back
Mitchell might turn out okay in the next few, I dunno.
As long as Seto doesn't get traded, waffles exist, and Digimon remains silly, this 2012 zombie apocalypse thing predicted by *real, totally verifiable science* probably won't be that bad.
by YeahTommyB4ZGermansGetThere on Feb 12, 2011 1:55 PM PST up reply actions
That’s what they said the last several times Mitchell came back.
If you mention ending your life, or show signs of self-harm, I will take you seriously!
"Take a deep breath sometimes, a break, and play some hockey. Hockey is a great way to take a pause from day-to-day hard work." -- Lt Gen. D.H. Huntoon Jr. (paraphrased)
Shameless plug for my music.
Sharks, at 56 Games
Sharks should’ve won this game. But, then again, I say that about every game they don’t win.
Sharks, game 56 2010-11: 1-2 loss
game 56 2009-10: 2-4 loss
game 56 2008-09: 4-2 Win
Sharks, at 56 games, 2010-11: 30 – 20 – 6 / 66 pts.
at 56 games, 2009-10: 36 – 11 – 9 / 81 pts.
at 56 games, 2008-09: 39 – 8 – 9 / 87 pts.
Next 10 games, games 57 – 66 2009-10: 7 – 3 – 0
going: W, W, W, L, SOW, L, L, W, W, W
games 57 – 66 2008-09: 4 – 5 – 1
going: W, W, L, W, L, L, OTL, L, OTW, L
Will be tough to make up ground compared to last season, but should be able to do better during the next 10 games than 2 seasons ago.
These, the rest of the Sharkstistics, and the Magic # standings have been updated. Sharks slipped a little there. Added a short “How it works” note to the magic #s page. Hope it makes it more clear.
C’mon Sharks! Let one slip away, now come back and give us another winning streak!
Play like you want to win, every moment, every play, every game!
Win, Sharks!
If you mention ending your life, or show signs of self-harm, I will take you seriously!
"Take a deep breath sometimes, a break, and play some hockey. Hockey is a great way to take a pause from day-to-day hard work." -- Lt Gen. D.H. Huntoon Jr. (paraphrased)
Shameless plug for my music.
Tough loss
It’s one of those games you want to win, especially with Dallas and Anaheim picking up two points tonight. Ugh, looking at the pacific standings stresses me out. Hopefully the Sharks will get back on track against the Panthers!
Hockey is like a box of choclates. But not really, hockey is way better.
DO NOT DESPAIR
I would say something remotely hockey savvy in this comment, but I am too drunk and I just had to listen to my friend cry on my shoulder for 4 hours after he cheated on his fiance. Damnit, GO SHARKS GO. GO SHARKS GO FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
"Skillet, we just spent $64,000 in that bar. So we're gonna have to get jobs to cover up the fact that we rob banks" -Mouse Fitzgerald
What made this loss extra hard to take
Was the fact that 8 Western Conference teams picked up at least 1 point in the same night; 3 matchups went to OT / SO, and Detroit destroyed Boston. We were actually the only WC team besides Colorado to lose in regulation. Miraculously we still have 4th place… but we’re tied with Anaheim.
Cue the cliche… Florida is a must win. Go Sharks.
Fear The Fin = Man goes into cage... Cage goes into salsa... Shark's in the salsa... Our shark.
Technically we’re in 5th. Tied with Anaheim, but they have one more win.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
The Jody Shelley of FearTheFin's Mod Squad.
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by ZeroIndulgence on Feb 12, 2011 11:39 AM PST up reply actions
Oh, wait, forgot about the “excluding shootout wins” stipulation. That makes SJ and ANA tied in wins…moves onto the next tiebreaker, which I think we win. Skin of our teeth.
Doesn’t matter anyways…Sharks need to win, not worry about what everyone else is doing.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
The Jody Shelley of FearTheFin's Mod Squad.
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by ZeroIndulgence on Feb 12, 2011 12:17 PM PST up reply actions
What a boring style of hockey.
I thought they played well for the most part, matching the NJ style (which you have to do). Why does ANYONE buy season tickets in NJ though? As a sleep aid?
Send Mitchell to the AHL and leave him there
He will probably get injured before they get a chance to do it but how is this guy still on the team? Mashinter showed more heart then the malingering blight that is Torrey Mitchell. Same with McGinn for that matter, and considering that McCarthy got the team hooked up with cool tours in D.C. he’s already had more of a positive effect then Jamie. Cut the dead weight before the team catches what they have again. Heatley can be included in this group, but it’s more of a reverse jinx thing so he will pull his head out of his ass.
Go Sharks
by Montyburnz!...1 on Feb 12, 2011 10:14 AM PST reply actions
I agree
That guy is a waste of space. Not sure what Tmac sees in him by putting him on the top line. Tmac can sometimes get on my nerves due to his mindless line juggling.
His frantic play led to a careless high stick which basically took all our chances for any possible chance to pull the goalie and possibly tie the game.
Have to agree,
I don’t get it. Why is he on the team? Because he can? I was really surprised, like Ivan above, that Mitchell was in the line up and DW sent McCarthy down. And when will Ferriero and McGinn be back? They add way more than Mitchell.
Here’s Mitchell’s stats from last night—
17 T. Mitchell 0 0 0 0 4 0 10:15 0:00 0:00 10:15
I don’t think I have to put the headings because they are zeros anyway (like Torrey).The only thing column he has a number is PIM. Nice. Way to contribute. The only other player with similar stats was Jumbo (2 PIM) but I’m pretty sure I could make a case for Jumbo’s contribution to the team. And those were fluke numbers for Captain J, not a fluke for Mitchell.
The guy from Destination Truth needs to come and root out this urban legend
And what’s the advice (Murray’s grandfather, Lars [Lasse] Bjorn) gives him?
"Hit more people."
Take a chance. Bleed Teal.
GO SHARKS
by MiniMiteMom on Feb 12, 2011 10:55 AM PST up reply actions
True
All Mitchell has been doing is to be in and out of the line up and in doing so he disrupts the chemistry of the team. And when he is playing all he does is get into to penalty box.
Trade him, please!! Either way, bring up McCarthy, Ferriro or McGinn. Anyone of them will be an upgrade!
I agree that he’s not a good fit for the team’s needs right now and I’d prefer to see McCarthy, Ferriero, or McGinn. Especially because Torrey is paid more than those guys and we need cap space.
But Mitchell isn’t screwing up the chemistry of the team by being back for one game. If the other 19 guys can’t handle one returning playe rfor 60 minutes, we’ve got way bigger problems than Mitchell’s performance.
And saying that all he ever does is take penalties is unfair. He has 28 PIM (so 14 penalties) in 40 games. That’s a lower pace than Heatley and only slightly more than Thornton or McGinn. Mitchell took an awful penalty and deserves some punishment for that. But that doesn’t excuse the rest of the team or make penalties all he does.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
Disappointing loss
But we’re still 9-1-1 over our last 10.
Hopefully we’ll get out gameplan set and put it to use against the Panthers. They’re a team that, unlike the Devils, have been struggling.
Honestly, losing to the Devils sounds like an awful thing, but they’re the hottest team in the league right now. Now time to fix this loss and win more games in a row. It seems like it’s 4 wins in a row, loss, 5 wins in a row, loss, so… 6 wins in a row?
"Logan Couture is a dirty, filthy man. Tell all your friends" - Mr. Plank
*Proud to be a Nabby apologist.*
Bad Things
While Sharks 5 on 5 has really improved their PP and PK has been very awful.
Also, what is wrong with JT. Yes, he’s having a sub par year but, he was really really bad , on Friday.
Oh, and welcome back Torry Mitchell!! Not!!! What’s he doing on the top line?
Yeah i’ve noticed justin timberlake’s numbers haven’t been that great too
BLEED TEAL
by FinAdic on Feb 12, 2011 11:33 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
As was expected...
Playing this currently ‘confident’ Devils team under Jacques Lemaire means you will either win or lose by one goal, only with an overwhelmingly grinding effort, usually by way of a 2 – 1 or 1 – 0 score. Yes, flashbacks of the mid to late 90’s were alive and well – congratulations Lemaire on your 601 terribly tedious victories, can you imagine watching paint dry for all that time? People paid to watch it dry live too! Partially kidding of course, it is a good accomplishment, though his implemented style of hockey is really bordering on immoral.
Anyway, It was terrible to be a Sharks fan last night – the boring loss, every other team concerning the Sharks gaining points (bloody three-point games are killers, especially in the ultra-competitive West), and the fact that a couple teams have chances later today to grab more points.
I know hot streaks have to end, but man, finally so close to Dallas, and then the Devils and the Blackhawks coincide with brutal efforts to soften that aspiration!
If San Jose can’t rebound and defeat the always below average Panthers, I have a bad feeling that another kind of streak will manifest – an icy slippery slope leading to a puddle of nothing come spring.
Don’t let it happen boys – Go Sharks Go!
We have been swimming these wintry depths for years, succeeding at survival by feeding only upon perennial minnows of sustenance... will we ever get to sink our great white teeth into this so-called Stanely's feast, so that we may finally slay our insatiable hunger in frenzied celebration?
Potential Trade Targets
Dreger mentioned that Carolina could be willing to part with several defensemen including
Joe Corvo
Joni Pitkanin
Ian White
Also, since they suck… what about the Oilers and Foster (ignoring potential hatred of the Sharks and Mitchell)
Thoughts…?
"Douglas Murray is a humongous human being." – Drew Remenda
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I’d take Pitkanen in a heartbeat.
"If you can accept losing, you can't win." ~Vince Lombardi
The Jody Shelley of FearTheFin's Mod Squad.
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by ZeroIndulgence on Feb 12, 2011 7:01 PM PST up reply actions
Pitkanin or White remain on my list.
Pitkanin would be a good long-term part, I think. I bet he stays at about a 4mil-4.5mil cap hit. A little pricey, but dropping Huskins and Wallin and using a Worcester defenseman on the bottom pair makes it livable.
Believing in the Sharks, one photoshop at a time. GO SHARKS!
I love Pitkanen. Though I worry about age and injury. I still like White and I’m very curious about Foster in Edmonton.
"Douglas Murray is a humongous human being." – Drew Remenda
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Pitkanen gets injured a lot. But I’d take him. White – always wanted this guy to be the Sharks. Young puck moving d-man – should be a good pickup.
Fear the Fin - where Russians are underappreciated.
Shake it off boys...
So before the road trip, I predicted 11 out of 14 points the Sharks would take home. They could still do that or slightly more. The fact is, we’ve gone 9-0-1 before coming into New Jersey. We can’t and aren’t going to win every single game. We just need to brush it off and I think we’ll be back on tomorrow in Florida. Getting another two points. I’ll take 10-1-1 wouldn’t you? ;)
GO SHARKS!!!!!
As I said before, I don’t think losing is bringing people down. It is how it was lost, with just a boring game overall that seemed like the team had no focus/drive/commitment etc. No worries, hopefully its a kick in the butt to restart the engine for Sunday.
Besides, I very very much prefer a loss to an Eastern Conf team than to a Western, which is why the last 8 games of the season are going to be super tense!
Wait, there was a game?
I thought it was a skatefest ;-)
If you mention ending your life, or show signs of self-harm, I will take you seriously!
"Take a deep breath sometimes, a break, and play some hockey. Hockey is a great way to take a pause from day-to-day hard work." -- Lt Gen. D.H. Huntoon Jr. (paraphrased)
Shameless plug for my music.
BEAT FLORIDA
Go Sharks.
As long as Seto doesn't get traded, waffles exist, and Digimon remains silly, this 2012 zombie apocalypse thing predicted by *real, totally verifiable science* probably won't be that bad.
by YeahTommyB4ZGermansGetThere on Feb 12, 2011 11:21 PM PST up reply actions
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