Game Forty-Nine Wrapup: San Jose Sharks 4, St. Louis Blues 1

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1		4

Sorry about taking so long to get to this; I was on an All-Star break.  (Actually I was busy with the NASCAR blog, but the maintenance and other work I was doing over there is done.)

Speaking of All-Star breaks, the first period of this game gave every appearance that both teams had already started theirs, with indifferent play and no one really doing much of anything.  Then the second period rolled along, and the Sharks decided it was time to show up.  Milan Michalek's goal was funky -- a semi-muffed shot followed by a backhanded flipper over Manny Legace's shoulder -- but the overall tenor of play was dictated by Los Tiburones de San José.

The third period was all Sharks.  It was sweetness in the extreme to see Jonathan Cheechoo pick up a couple of goals the old-fashioned grinding away way, and St. Louis' frustration over the game spiraling out of their control spilled into some attempted goonery and cheap shots, finishing with a post-game shouting match between Blues head coach Andy Murray and Sharks assistant coach Rob Zettler.  Those next two Sharks-Blues games (March first there, March fourteenth here) could get mighty interesting...

Anyway, as mentioned the best aspect of this game was seeing Cheechoo on the scoreboard.  Hopefully this is a sign he's about to rekindle the magic he and Thornton enjoyed in the 2005/2006 season.  If the Sharks can start scoring while maintaining their current defensive level, very good things will start happening.  Very good indeed.

Some thoughts on the All-Star weekend and the stretch run tomorrow.