@ 7:30 PST
10-1-2, 22 points		8-4-1, 17 points
1st in Western Conference		4th in Western Conference

Remember when we all chalked up the loss on opening night to Joe Sakic's retirement ceremony? Turns out he's been channeling his inner Brett Favre and re and un-retiring before each game, because the Avalanche are 10-1-3.

James Mirtle put his career on the line yesterday (well, at least a potential one in Denver) when he mused about how sustainable this torrid pace would be. Behind The Net picked up on it as well, with both coming to the conclusion that things might not be as rosy as they appear.

Obviously, none of that matters tonight.

• Good to see Clowe bang the twine even if it occurred during the skills competition. I was hoping McLellan would call his name with the initial three to serve as a sparkplug to get him going this season, but a sixth round appearance worked out just fine in the grand scheme of things.
• The injuries have been a minor annoyance thus far. However, it's nice to see management taking a very methodical approach in getting these guys back out on the ice. McLellan seems to have learned his lesson from last season and I couldn't be more pleased.
• Speaking of which, when did I miss the ol' "Pavelski Goes On IR, Mitchell Comes Off" update? Assuming the official site can be trusted, there's no reason to activate Mitchell now because he is not playing tonight nor does the coaching staff expect him to make a game appearance any time in the immediate future-- you're eating up cap space for no reason at all. Bizarre.
  Patrick Marleau is a beautiful human being.
• One thing to watch tonight will be how well San Jose's defenseman can control the cycle. Los Angeles did a helluva job pounding the puck down low on Wednesday, and that seems like it's going to be opposing teams M.O. going forward. They've had some issues in this department all season long.
• Useless fact of the day: San Jose has six games on Friday this season, and played all of five in 2008-2009./

Prediction: Sharks win 4-1. Goals by Setoguchi, Pavelski, Mitchell, and Vesce.

Go Sharks.