- The most significant storyline that unfolded over the course of that game was Ray Whitney, Jamie Benn and Alex Chiasson’s dominance over the Couture line. That trio was hard-matched against opposing top lines by the coaching staff throughout the homestand and were generally able to play their counterparts fairly evenly with the exception of Minnesota’s Koivu line and the Benn line yesterday. They were smoked and it cost the Sharks on the scoreboard.
- Todd McLellan called Raffi Torres, Joe Pavelski and T.J. Galiardi the Sharks’ best line and the numbers certainly bear that out. They performed well enough through two periods that McLellan swapped them with the Couture line while matching against Jamie Benn in the latter stages of the third.
- Galiardi was a revelation throughout this homestand and capped it with arguably his best game as a Shark. Even if he hadn’t converted on that beautiful backhander, he had a terrific game on the forecheck (outdone only by Torres in that regard) and consistently created space for himself and his linemates in the scoring area.
- Stuart and Demers were the defense pairing asked to take on the Benn line for the majority of the night so it isn’t a surprise they were annihilated as well. Demers in particular had a very poor game but hopefully that isn’t used as justification for introducing Scott Hannan into the lineup. Demers has certainly been inconsistent over the past few seasons but Hannan has just been consistently bad over that stretch.
- They had their chances in this game but the Thornton line needs to do better territorially in the protected minutes they’re given. With the Sharks going on the road, it will be interesting to see what control McLellan is able to exert over matchups without last change. What’s still in his control is zone deployment and it’s very possible he continues to bury the Couture line, undeterred by some of their recent struggles./
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