@ 5:00 PST
3-2-1, 7 points		4-3-0, 8 points
11th in Western Conference		8th in Western Conference

I woke up this morning in a daze, still beaming from REM sleep enjoyed three winks before. Last night the San Jose Sharks had laid a licking on the Oilers, showcasing the talent that we knew was prevalent amongst their forward groups. The third line had finally notched the goal that they deserved to get together, off a great forecheck nonetheless, and Logan Couture‘s teeth shined brightly through the murky abyss. It lit up my subconscious like a firecracker on the fourth of July. The math had finally made sense.

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Taylor Hall looks like he weighs about ten pounds. He’s a good kid and is going to be a helluva player someday, but I just don’t understand why the Oilers are going to keep him up with the big club for the duration of the season. They’re a far reach from a playoff team right now, and their window to finally start legitimately competing for a Stanley Cup probably lays, at the very least, three years down the road. Keeping him up the entire season will burn a year off his entry-level deal eligibility, which makes keeping him out of the bigs a pretty big factor for me if I was GM in Edmonton. I’m sure Copper & Blue has covered this before considering they’re the best hockey blog on SB Nation and privy to exceptional analysis, but it’s worth mentioning this morning.I thought he had a pretty good game for a kid last night despite his team getting shelled, and giving him another year to grow and mature in a winning atmosphere could pay off bigger dividends than throwing him into the fire playing against grown men. It’s not like sending Hall down would impact the Oilers bottom line either considering they’ve had consecutive home sellouts since 2005.

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Seriously, helluva effort from the Sharks last night. I don’t really care about the San Francisco Giants, so hockey is all I have going for me right now besides Rocky Road Ice Cream and the stellar programming on FX. That being said, congrats to all the Giants fans out there. Pulling for the Bay Area to bring home a title for the admittedly selfish reason that maybe some of that mojo splashes down south of San Francisco. And the fact that Buster Posey is pretty much Joe Pavelski in disguise.

The Flames will miss the playoffs for the second straight season, and a little part of me will die inside as Jarome Iginla gets a step slower and two steps farther away from getting the Stanley Cup he deserves to hold above his head.

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Houses of The Hockey is an awesome website, and I highly suggest everyone go check it out. The name is awesome because it references Led Zeppelin, the logo is awesome because it references Led Zeppelin, and they have two of my favorite hockey writers Kent Wilson and Jonathan Willis on board. Highly recommended on a Sunday where the majority of folks frequenting the site are die-hard hockey fans. This one’s for you.

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I hope Antti Niemi gets the start tonight. Back to backs are a golden opportunity to showcase your goaltending tandem, and although Niittymaki has clearly shown he’s the number one guy in San Jose right now, you can’t bail on Niemi and get into a rhythm where you’re playing a guy two nights in a row. That’s an issue I had last season with McLellan’s handling of Evgeni Nabokov. Give Niemi the keys tonight, and no matter how he plays, you go with Niittymaki on Wednesday against New Jersey.

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Saturday night, 10:13 PM (via text)

TCY: Couture on pace for 41 goals.

Plank: Taylor on pace for 13.6 moronic stats. Also, I’m watching on tape delay, so shut your penis flytrap.

TCY: LOL

Reader: This is the worst gameday writeup ever.

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Prediction: Sharks win 3-2. Goals by McGinn, Demers, and Heatley. Olli Jokinen requests a trade following the game.

Go Sharks.