Scoring Chances: Game 51 v. Calgary

by The Neutral on Feb 9, 2012 9:00 AM PST in Statistical Analysis

SAN JOSE, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Benn Ferriero #78 of the San Jose Sharks looks to get a backhand shot pass Chris goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff #34 and Jay Bouwmeester #4 of the Calgary Flames at HP Pavilion at San Jose on February 8, 2012 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

For the second game in a row, the Sharks faced a team notorious for being defensively stingy and yet, for the second game in a row, the Sharks found themselves in something of a barn-burner. After trading a total of 38 scoring chances with the Coyotes on Saturday night, the Sharks and Flames combined for 41 chances last night with San Jose edging out Calgary in the chance count, 21-20, courtesy of a late surge but falling short on the scoreboard, 4-3. To break it down by game state, the Sharks outchanced the Flames 20-17 at even strength and 8-7 when the score was tied. All three games between these teams so far this season have been very closely contested both on the scoreboard and by the chances which isn't a point in the Sharks' favor considering that, at least on paper, these should be games San Jose dominates.

Best EV Forward: Joe Pavelski (+7)

Worst EV Forward: Torrey Mitchell (-4), Michal Handzus (-4)

Best EV Defenseman: Brent Burns (+8), Douglas Murray (+8)

Worst EV Defenseman: Jim Vandermeer (-4)

Period	Totals		EV		PP		5v3 PP		SH		5v3 SH
1	6	8	6	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	9	8	9	5	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
3	6	4	5	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	21	20	20	17	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	0

Team	Period	Time	Note	SJS						Opponent
CGY	1	18:27	Backlund	5	26	29	31	44	64	4	11	12	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	1	15:13	Marleau	5	12	29	31	39	44	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	1	14:48	McGinn	3	29	31	39	64	88	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	1	12:18	McGinn	3	17	26	31	64	88	4	10	19	34	44	93	5v5
CGY	1	10:31	Brodie	5	10	31	43	44	69	6	7	12	18	34	40	5v5
SJS	1	10:03	McCarthy	3	10	31	43	69	88	6	7	12	18	34	40	5v5
SJS	1	9:20	Ferriero	3	8	19	31	78	88	5	7	10	19	34	93	5v5
CGY	1	7:52	Iginla	5	12	29	31	39	44	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
CGY	1	7:32	Tanguay	5	12	29	31	39	44	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
CGY	1	7:30	Goal - Jokinen	5	12	29	31	39	44	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
CGY	1	7:01	Comeau	3	8	19	31	78	88	4	10	19	34	44	93	5v5
CGY	1	5:24	Iginla	3	17	26	31	64	88	5	11	12	23	34	57	5v5
SJS	1	1:24	Marleau	5	12	29	31	39	44	4	11	12	34	44	57	5v5
CGY	1	0:44	Comeau	3	12	19	29	31	44	4	10	13	34	40	44	5v5
CGY	2	18:34	Jokinen PP	2	26	31	69	88		4	12	13	34	40	93	4v5
CGY	2	18:20	Iginla PP	2	26	31	69	88		4	12	13	34	40	93	4v5
SJS	2	17:54	Thornton	3	8	19	31	78	88	4	10	16	19	34	44	5v5
SJS	2	17:53	Thornton	3	8	19	31	78	88	4	10	16	19	34	44	5v5
CGY	2	17:24	Goal - Jokinen PP	5	8	12	31	44		5	12	13	34	40	93	4v5
CGY	2	16:30	Bouma	2	17	26	29	31	88	6	7	8	13	34	57	5v5
SJS	2	15:25	Pavelski	5	8	12	19	31	44	5	12	13	23	34	40	5v5
SJS	2	13:31	Goal - Couture	3	12	19	29	39	88	6	7	15	16	18	34	5v5
CGY	2	13:02	Bouma	2	17	26	31	61	64	5	8	11	23	34	57	5v5
SJS	2	12:08	Goal - Pavelski	5	8	12	19	31	44	10	19	23	34	44	93	5v5
SJS	2	11:05	Ferriero	3	29	31	39	78	88	4	11	12	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	2	9:25	Thornton	3	8	12	19	31	88	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	2	8:53	Thornton	3	8	12	19	31	88	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
CGY	2	8:43	Goal - Iginla	5	29	31	39	44	78	5	10	19	23	34	93	5v5
SJS	2	8:16	Couture	5	29	31	39	44	78	5	10	19	23	34	93	5v5
CGY	2	6:49	Kostoupolos	2	29	31	43	61	64	4	7	11	15	16	34	5v5
CGY	2	5:39	Butler	3	8	12	19	31	88	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	3	19:11	Goal - Handzus PP	26	29	31	44	64	88	6	10	19	23	34		5v4
CGY	3	16:35	Goal - Jokinen	5	29	31	39	78	88	4	10	13	34	40	44	5v5
CGY	3	12:49	Kolanos	2	17	26	31	61	64	5	7	8	11	34	57	5v5
CGY	3	6:40	Brodie	17	19	31	44	61	64	4	7	8	11	34	57	5v5
SJS	3	6:23	Couture	3	29	31	39	44	78	5	12	13	23	34	40	5v5
CGY	3	3:23	Iginla	5	8	12	19	31	61	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	3	3:03	Pavelski	8	12	19	31	61	88	4	12	13	34	40	44	5v5
SJS	3	2:53	Couture	19	29	31	39	44	88	4	5	10	19	34	93	5v5
SJS	3	2:05	Pavelski	3	8	12	31	61	64	4	10	19	34	44	93	5v5
SJS	3	0:21	Marleau 6v5	8	12	19	29	39	88	5	12	13	23	34	40	5v5

#	Player	EV			PP			SH
2	J. VANDERMEER	15:13	0	4	0:00	0	0	1:05	0	2
3	D. MURRAY	18:56	12	4	0:00	0	0	0:50	0	0
5	C. WHITE	15:21	5	8	0:00	0	0	2:02	0	1
8	J. PAVELSKI	18:07	10	3	0:00	0	0	1:40	0	1
10	B. WINCHESTER	4:54	1	1	0:00	0	0	0:00	0	0
12	P. MARLEAU	20:32	10	6	0:00	0	0	0:55	0	1
17	T. MITCHELL	13:48	1	5	0:00	0	0	0:00	0	0
19	J. THORNTON	20:05	11	5	0:00	0	0	0:50	0	0
26	M. HANDZUS	12:50	1	5	0:05	1	0	1:21	0	2
29	R. CLOWE	20:11	9	9	0:05	1	0	0:00	0	0
31	A. NIEMI	53:45	18	17	0:05	1	0	4:15	0	3
39	L. COUTURE	17:38	9	5	0:00	0	0	1:51	0	0
43	J. MCCARTHY	6:31	1	2	0:00	0	0	0:00	0	0
44	M. VLASIC	21:49	7	8	0:05	1	0	2:19	0	1
61	J. BRAUN	17:43	2	5	0:00	0	0	0:22	0	0
64	J. MCGINN	13:10	3	6	0:05	1	0	0:00	0	0
69	A. DESJARDINS	5:39	1	1	0:00	0	0	1:53	0	2
78	B. FERRIERO	14:45	6	3	0:00	0	0	0:01	0	0
88	B. BURNS	21:03	13	5	0:05	1	0	1:51	0	2

Head-to-head scoring chances:

Benn Ferriero began the night on the top line but McLellan was quick to swap him with Patrick Marleau once things headed south on the scoreboard. Marleau and the Joes came out ahead in the chance battle against the Jarome Iginla line as the Logan Couture unit ended up being most frequently victimized when Olli Jokinen decided to do his best Sam Gagner impression. McLellan also began double-shifting the top line with the Sharks trailing late in the game so they were able to beat the Blair Jones line into a pulp as well. For the stat-nerds, Thornton and Pavelski each finished +15 in Corsi on the night and although some of that is obviously the result of score effects, it's still mighty impressive.

The third line continued their Jekyll and Hyde season (more Hyde than Jekyll lately) by getting creamed against the Mikael Backlund line for Calgary. It's a shame Frans Nielsen is now off the trade market because he's exactly the type of possession monster that unit could use (although I imagine most teams around the league could use a guy like Nielsen).

More stats from the game: Corsi/Fenwick, Shift Charts, H2H Ice Time, Zonestarts, Play-By-Play, Box Score

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Comments

Jim Van

Is pretty garbage I dont care if he’s considered an enforcer; he is slow, has no offensive talent and should be replaced with Nick Petrecki, get him in the mix. You dont see teams like Vancouver with a Jim Van on their team and the Sharks don’t need his Jim BS.

by Andrew DeNike on Feb 9, 2012 10:41 AM PST reply actions

Well, Vandermeer is a #8 defensemen. He is not bad for that role. And CHI has Sean O’donnell, so other teams do carry these kinds of players. VAN’s Andrew Alberts isn’t exactly Bobby Orr, either.

Don’t know whether they are turning a corner or rideing the coattails of Pavs/Marleau/Jumbo, but at least Burns and Murray had a good night. Burns only had one bad read and otherwise created a lot of offense. Little disappointed in Braun’s numbers, he looked very explosive in the 3rd period and I thought he was the best offensive dman at the end of the game.

I am wondering who gets kicked off the 3rd line if the Sharks pick up a forward and Havlat returns. McGinn seems safe, but both Handzus and Mitchell have not produced as expected. Unless TMac puts Havlat on the 3rd line to mesh with Handzus, I would have to think that Handzus gets demoted, no?

by ruben398 on Feb 9, 2012 10:55 AM PST reply actions

^ This

Neither White or Vandermeer are game changers but they provide appropriate depth for the bottom line.

by Briceratops on Feb 9, 2012 11:22 AM PST up reply actions

Yes

3rd pairing defensemen are what they are – if they were better they wouldn’t be 3rd pairing defensemen.

GO SHARKS!

by jMoneyBrah on Feb 9, 2012 1:05 PM PST up reply actions

I agree with all of this, right down to Murray/Burns having an exceptional night aside from the error on the Iginla goal and Braun doing a lot of good offensive work in the third period even if his chances and possession numbers didn’t exactly reflect it.

Based on merit, I would give Handzus the boot but it obviously doesn’t make much sense to pay a guy $2.5mil to play on your fourth line. I don’t know if that would weigh into McLellan’s decision-making process or not.

by The Neutral on Feb 9, 2012 2:11 PM PST up reply actions

Don't understand the Handzus hate

He’s got 21 pts, good for #6 forward on the team. He has also been a major factor, if not the primary reason, for McGinn’s breakout year. He’s great at cycling the puck down low, wins 52% of his draws, and is 2nd on the team (16th in the NHL) among forwards in blocked shots,

I’d say that he’s doing just fine.

by BillytheSid on Feb 9, 2012 4:23 PM PST up reply actions

He hasn't been as good defensively as advertised.

Especially on the penalty kill. He was supposed to be our leader in ice-time on the PK but he has not.

by Briceratops on Feb 9, 2012 4:40 PM PST up reply actions

Actually

Handzus is 2nd on the team (among forwards) in SH TOI/g behind only Pavelski, who really should be our PK ice time leader. And I’m pretty sure he leads the team (although I’m just eyeballing the numbers) in ratio of SH TOI to ES TOI.

by BillytheSid on Feb 9, 2012 5:00 PM PST up reply actions

I’m glad he’s picked up points but I have very little reason to believe those will continue to come. I disagree about his performance on the cycle or really his ability to keep the puck in the offensive zone at all – his possession numbers have been by far the worst on the team among regular players which isn’t great when you consider that he’s mostly being used against other third-liners. His chance ratio was decent for a while there but has gone steeply downhill and is below .500 over the past twenty games. The biggest reason he has so many blocked shots is that he spends more time in his own zone than any other Shark. He certainly doesn’t have the greatest linemates but IMO his lack of speed has really hindered that entire line’s ability to drive the play north.

He’s also been one of the team’s worst penalty killers (among Sharks who have averaged at least a minute a game on the PK, only Colin White has been on the ice for more shots against per minute or more goals against per minute than Zus) although some of that is McLellan giving him a lot of minutes against #1 units earlier in the season which hasn’t happened a ton over the past few months. I do like what I’ve seen from him on the power play but he just doesn’t spend enough time playing on it to compensate for the rest.

by The Neutral on Feb 9, 2012 6:28 PM PST up reply actions

Zus

I’m quite happy w/ Zus’ point production as well as his f/o and ‘leadership’, where he’s not playing up to expectations is on the D side of the puck. None of Zus, McGinn or Mitchell are very good at puck possession and that line has not been good at keeping the puck out of their own zone (or in the offensive zone) and away from the other team.

by milanahalek on Feb 9, 2012 4:32 PM PST reply actions