- Score effects played a role in helping the Sharks establish that gaudy shot differential number but, for the most part, they were territorially dominant from puck drop. If there’s reason to be concerned with their performance (apart from, of course, the fact they lost the game) it’s that they were unable to convert their advantage in territory into a similar advantage in the chance count.
- Glen Gulutzan matched the Jamie Benn line, who ran roughshod over the Sharks last Sunday, against the newly constructed Marleau/Couture/Havlat line. Benn was dominated as Havlat in particular had one of his stronger efforts of the season. On the other hand, despite all of their zone time, that line was only able to register attempts from the scoring area twice.
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun continue to establish themselves as one of the Sharks’ most reliable even-strength pairings. Braun was excellent moving the puck last night and made several wise decisions to aggressively pinch in the offensive zone. Based on his performance over the past week, perhaps he’s finally beginning to fully recover from the hamate bone fracture he sustained in Finland during the lockout.
- It’s remarkable how thoroughly Adam Burish kills any hope of offense when he’s on the ice. It may not make a huge difference in the long run but I’d really prefer to see James Sheppard occupying that spot in the lineup over Burish. On a related note, in case you remain unconvinced that Jamie Benn is really good at hockey, he scored 7 goals at even-strength last season while Burish was on his wing.
- T.J. Galiardi just keeps showing signs of developing into the player Doug Wilson presumably thought he was acquiring last February. There was one sequence in particular where he gained the blueline and used Trevor Daley as a screen while firing a shot from the top of the right circle through the defenseman’s legs that was almost Ovechkin-esque for lack of a better term. He’s finally being used alongside talented centers instead of Michal Handzus and it’s working wonders for his game./
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