Scoring Chances: Game 47 vs. Washington

Complete scoring chance summary

On-ice scoring chances for and against

Team scoring chance totals

Head-to-head scoring chances

• Usually, getting out shot-attempted and outchanced by a below-average possession team is reason for concern but with all the injuries the Sharks are nursing right now, the fact that they were able to steal two points here seems like the headline. Ultimately, San Jose just doesn’t have the forward depth right now to ensure game-to-game consistency in performance level. They’ll have encouraging games, like the ones against Detroit and Boston late last week, but great teams are able to replicate those types of outings on a fairly consistent basis. With four top-nine forwards, including Logan Couture, still out of the lineup, the Sharks just aren’t a great team.
• The most pressing question facing the Sharks right now, though, isn’t about injury return dates. It’s about Dan Boyle. Specifically, what’s going on with him lately? He’s played with a variety of partners over the past dozen games and has struggled to generate anything offensively while simultaneously being as porous in his own end of the rink as I’ve ever seen him in his Sharks career. Is this some sort of delayed response to his concussion (I maintain that he was fine for the first month after returning from injury) or the start of his overall decline? San Jose is in serious trouble if they can’t count on Boyle for twenty effective minutes a night.
• Luckily, the other two defense pairings largely picked up the slack for Irwin and Boyle’s failings. Jason Demers in particular continues to have an excellent season while Brad Stuart and Justin Braun did a really solid job of shutting down Alex Ovechkin at even-strength outside his sharp-angle goal that I’m not sure either of them could have done much about anyway.
• Speaking of Ovechkin, he’s a pretty decent player. Washington outchanced San Jose 8-2 when he was on the ice last night, including a 6-2 margin at even-strength. I know Nicklas Backstrom is his usual pivot but Mikhail Grabovski looked fantastic alongside him, especially on a neutral zone regroup and rush late in overtime that nearly won the game for the Capitals as Ovechkin fired wide.