@ 7:30 PST
38-26-11, 87 points		44-23-9, 97 points
9th in Western Conference		3rd in Western Conference

Been awhile since the bullet points got brought. Feels good to do away with those pesky transitions.

• According to David Pollak a win tonight would clinch a playoff spot. To do so against Dallas, especially with all of the festivities that occurred during the team’s last meeting, would be a nice story considering the history between the two organizations. Furthermore, a Sharks regulation win could end up being a very harmful blow to the Stars postseason chances. They’d lie three points behind Chicago with six games left to play and the Hawks have the wins tiebreaker.
• Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be Marc-Edouard Vlasic. When he pours himself a bowl of cereal in the morning I bet he isolates each corn flake, pushes it out to the side of the bowl, and scoops it up with the grace of a swan. Seriously though, I don’t think there is a player on this team I enjoy watching more than Vlasic. He’s phenomenal.
• I take that back. Pavelski is my favorite Shark to watch.
• The Sharks have the best shot differential in the entire NHL right now, and as we looked at earlier in the year, it’s been something that has been consistent all season long. That’s a great sign heading into the playoffs– if you dominate the territorial play you can grind away at teams over a seven game set. And with the penalty kill hurting right now, any advantage you can get in respect to drawing penalties vs. taking them is a big plus.
• Detroit has really been struggling down the stretch (5-3-2 in their last ten) and lost dropped were defeated were absolutely smashed last night by the St. Louis Blues by a score of 10-3. It was the first time in 17 years that a team has put up double digits against the Red Wings. With a win tonight the Sharks would reach second place in the Western Conference– even if a playoff spot is all but locked up at this point, establishing as many potential home-ice advantage situations as possible is important to a club. A win tonight puts the Sharks in a position to control their own destiny for the rest of the regular season.
• Hopefully we get to see Justin Braun out on the ice tonight. Getting experience in big games like these are important for him, especially if McLellan is expecting to use him during the postseason. In terms of depth defenseman, I’d rank the three as follows: 1) Braun 2) Wallin 3) Huskins.
• If HP Pavilion really wants to rachet up the Stars hate, I highly recommend everyone start booing when they announce the 3 Stars of the Game. The National Anthem is just the beginning, people.
• FTF reader PNK has done a real bang up job organizing a Sharks game watching event for Friday April 8th at High Five Pizza in San Jose. This post has all the details— hope to see you all there.
• The Fins are coming up (April 11th) so make sure to vote if you haven’t already.

Prediction: Sharks win 4-2. Goals by Heatley, Pavelski, White, and Braun. You boo your pizza.