By the numbers: Game 35 vs. Anaheim

Scoring Chances

San Jose

*Tye McGinn was on the ice for zero scoring chances this game*

Anaheim

Period-by-Period Summary

We mentioned it in our postgame recap, and the numbers really go to show it further, Thornton's line had an excellent outing last night, after giving up way too much in the defensive zone against St. Louis. Other than his line though, Vlasic and Braun were the only NHL level players who finished with positive scoring chance differentials (on that note: what would the Sharks have done in this game if they didn't have Scott on the ice for five minutes? Chaos probably would've reigned), though score effects clearly have an effect on the numbers here, as the Sharks were outchanced 3-1 the rest of the game after Karlsson's goal.

It's entirely possible that having Matt Beleskey as his winger had a lot to do with it, but Ryan Kesler was absolutely eaten alive in this game. He was responsible for the game winner for Anaheim, but during regulation, his line got hammered at even strength, as they lost both the scoring chance and Corsi battles, both by considerable margins. Other than Kesler's line, the Ducks had a pretty strong game, with Getzlaf specifically doing some impressive work, despite being without his usual pest linemate, Corey Perry.

Zone Entries

San Jose

Anaheim

Well, if anyone needed anymore reasons to show how not-actually-elite the Ducks are, just take a look at how often SJ managed to carry the puck in this game. A team who usually manages a ~40% carry-in percentage managed a 52% carry-in percentage last night. Now, 52% isn't a huge number by any means, but given how prone the Sharks usually are to dumping the puck in, hardly impressive work by Anaheim, allowing the Sharks to carry the puck in on a majority of their entries. Also, hail Joe Thornton.

Although quite a few Anaheim players had very good entry numbers in this game, I think what pops out to me most are the numbers for Getzlaf, Maroon, and Etem. Both Getzlaf and Maroon managed 100% carry-in rates, on 13 combined entries, And while Etem didn't carry the puck in nearly that much, the Ducks managed quite a few shots off of his entries. I've always been interested to see how Etem would develop, ever since he caught my eye scoring his first carer goal against the Sharks (now who would have guessed that?), and I've always been impressed with his work through the neutral zone whenever the Sharks and Ducks play.

Entry Targeting

San Jose

Anaheim

Another game with expected results on zone entry targeting on the San Jose side of things, as the Sharks' D did a good job of forcing dump-ins, aside from Tennyson and Burns, who thus far seem to be the most prone to allowing opposition carry-ins (which I still find odd, given that they are two of the best skating defensemen on the team). I generally don't read too much into entry targeting numbers for forwards (as they generally tend to just be targeted by defensemen on dump-ins), but nonetheless, good game by Marleau by this statistic, foiling two of Anaheim's four entry attempts against him.

It's not often you can say this, but Sami Vatanen's really one of those players where you feel Anaheim did a disservice to the league, not playing him more in the past couple of seasons. Vatanen's really fun to watch, and he's just another one of those defensemen who's "too small," yet manages to be very successful in this league. Not only are his 24 points in 35 games this season impressive, but his numbers here seem to indicate he also does some good work defending his own zone too (contrary to what many assume about "offensive defensemen"). Here's where I crack some joke about Cam Fowler being bad, right?

Zone Exits

San Jose

Anaheim

Although they didn't match their success from the St. Louis game, another somewhat-solid game from the Sharks' D on exits, as they all (Burns excluded) managed at least one successful zone exit. Jumbo's line also put on a show on zone exits, showing that their fantastic work isn't always just contained to what they do in the offensive zone.

Anaheim's D really struggled to exit the zone in this game, though forwards like Silfverberg, Getzlaf, Maroon, and Thompson really helped pick up the slack. The one Anaheim defenseman who did do well on zone exits was Sami Vatanen. I don't want to pump up Vatanen's tires too much, cause this is supposed to be a Sharks site, but man, is Vatanen impressive. He seems to do a lot of things right, beyond just producing offense, and given how young he is, one can only imagine what he'll be like in a few years, when he's in his prime.

Notes:

-The Sharks' top line was dominant last night, while Kesler's line was dominated upon

-The Sharks had a rare game of carrying the puck in on a majority of their entries, while Maroon and Getzlaf carried the puck in on 100% of their entries

-The Sharks' D did relatively well defending against zone entries, with Burns and Tennyson being the only notably unsuccessful ones

-Sami Vatanen was fantastic defending zone entries, and did well on zone exits as well