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Statistical Analysis

Scoring Chances: Game 70 v. Nashville

For the second consecutive game, scoring chances were hard to come by for both the Sharks and their opponent. And for the second consecutive game, the Sharks earned the lion's share of the opportunities that were created. Nashville came on strong in the third period but rarely touched the puck for much of the first two. To their credit, the Predators were able to prevent the Sharks from turning their massive possession advantage into a similarly overwhelming advantage on the chance count. Still, things were ugly for Nashville after forty minutes, with the Sharks having outchanced them 10-4 at that point. San Jose went on to win the chance battle 15-7 en route to a 2-1 victory via coin flipping.

Holding your opponent to 12 scoring chances in a game is usually something to be proud of. The Sharks have held their last two opponents to a total of 12 chances. As much as randomness is probably going to dictate whether or not the Sharks make the dance, it's hard to imagine they'll find themselves out of the top eight if they continue to play as well as they have these past two contests.

Best EV Forward: Martin Havlat (+4)

Worst EV Forward: Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Andrew Desjardins, Benn Ferriero (all +0)

Best EV Defenseman: Dan Boyle (+4)

Worst EV Defenseman: Douglas Murray (+1), Jason Demers (+1)

Period Totals EV PP 5v3 PP SH 5v3 SH
1 5 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
2 5 3 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
3 2 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 15 7 11 5 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0

Team Period Time Note SJS Opponent
NSH 1 6:42 Goal - Hornqvist PP 3 8 12 31 88 6 10 12 20 27 35 4v5
SJS 1 5:37 Boyle P 9 12 22 29 31 44 11 27 35 38 46 75 5v5
SJS 1 5:22 Boyle PP 8 12 19 22 31 39 6 13 20 28 35 5v4
SJS 1 5:15 Pavelski PP 8 12 19 22 31 39 6 13 20 28 35 5v4
SJS 1 3:24 Couture P 8 19 22 31 39 44 6 13 20 28 35 46 5v5
SJS 1 2:08 Mitchell F 3 17 18 31 34 61 13 22 33 35 38 75 5v5
NSH 2 11:48 Legwand P 8 18 31 39 44 88 11 27 35 38 46 49 5v5
NSH 2 8:30 Legwand R 9 12 29 31 44 61 6 11 20 27 35 74 5v5
SJS 2 6:31 Thornton P 8 19 22 31 39 61 6 10 12 20 35 74 5v5
SJS 2 5:42 Havlat P 9 12 29 31 44 88 11 27 35 38 46 75 5v5
SJS 2 4:40 Marleau T 9 12 22 29 31 61 15 18 28 35 38 75 5v5
SJS 2 4:21 Winnik P 9 18 31 34 44 88 10 28 35 38 74 75 5v5
NSH 2 3:15 Legwand PP 3 17 18 22 31 6 11 20 27 35 74 4v5
SJS 2 0:41 Moore R 8 18 22 31 37 61 10 12 35 49 51 74 5v5
SJS 3 19:05 Goal - Thornton PP 8 12 19 22 31 39 12 20 35 74 75 5v4
SJS 3 16:16 Boyle R 17 18 22 31 34 61 12 22 33 35 51 75 5v5
NSH 3 12:27 Legwand O 8 19 22 31 39 61 6 11 20 27 35 46 5v5
NSH 3 8:37 Spaling T 17 18 22 31 34 61 13 22 33 35 49 51 5v5
SJS 4 3:42 Marleau P 9 12 31 44 88 11 20 35 51 74 4v4
SJS 4 2:56 Boyle O 22 29 31 39 60 6 12 35 38 46 4v4
NSH 4 0:26 Smith P 8 19 22 31 44 6 12 15 35 38 4v4
SJS 4 0:01 Marleau PP 8 12 19 22 31 12 20 35 75 4v3

# Player EV PP SH
3 D. MURRAY 13:29 1 0 0:00 0 0 1:43 0 2
8 J. PAVELSKI 18:38 3 3 2:52 4 0 1:53 0 1
9 M. HAVLAT 16:29 5 1 2:18 0 0 0:00 0 0
12 P. MARLEAU 18:25 4 1 2:38 4 0 1:51 0 1
17 T. MITCHELL 10:58 2 1 1:03 0 0 0:43 0 1
18 D. MOORE 12:23 4 2 1:15 0 0 1:23 0 1
19 J. THORNTON 17:36 2 2 2:52 4 0 0:00 0 0
22 D. BOYLE 22:45 7 3 2:52 4 0 1:21 0 1
29 R. CLOWE 18:01 4 1 2:18 0 0 0:00 0 0
31 A. NIEMI 55:50 11 5 5:10 4 0 3:55 0 2
34 D. WINNIK 11:36 3 1 0:00 0 0 0:38 0 0
37 T. GALIARDI 7:44 1 0 0:00 0 0 0:00 0 0
39 L. COUTURE 15:31 3 2 2:48 3 0 0:41 0 0
44 M. VLASIC 24:59 5 3 0:14 0 0 1:31 0 0
60 J. DEMERS 13:11 1 0 2:18 0 0 0:00 0 0
61 J. BRAUN 18:17 5 3 0:00 0 0 1:22 0 0
69 A. DESJARDINS 7:12 0 0 0:00 0 0 0:41 0 0
78 B. FERRIERO 8:21 0 0 0:00 0 0 0:00 0 0
88 B. BURNS 19:09 3 1 2:18 0 0 1:53 0 1


Chance Types

Team Transition Odd-man Rebound Forecheck Possession Steal PP SH
San Jose 1 1 2 1 6 0 4 0
Nashville 1 1 1 0 2 0 2 0


Head-to-head scoring chances:

H2hg70_medium

Thornton's ice time was more or less evenly distributed between the Mike Fisher and David Legwand lines for Nashville and you can see how he, Pavelski and Couture fared in those respective matchups. Nashville has had their struggles with puck possession this season and, in my humble opinion, I think a lot of that has to do with Barry Trotz inexplicably misusing his lineup.

Far be it from me to criticize the strategic decisions of one of the longest-tenured coaches in the league but he's absolutely thrown Mike Fisher to the wolves this season while giving David Legwand generally easier matchups. Fisher's two-way play has always been rather overrated while Legwand has a proven track record of success against the toughs. Presumably the addition of Paul Gaustad should help ease the burden on Fisher but simply swapping the roles of Fisher and Legwand at least seems like it could improve the club's woeful underlying numbers. Doubly so if Alexander Radulov ends up coming over - you definitely want him to get protected usage and it seems like Fisher makes the most sense as his center.

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

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