Yeah, the Canucks are pretty banged up. Bobby Lou, Morrison, and various other players were out last night. But a team that lost to the Kings without Cammaleri and Frolov beat the hell out of Vancouver last night. And when their grip on Vancouver’s neck loosened a bit when the lead was thinned to one goal, the Sharks squeezed harder, got quick goals by Jumbo and Bernier, and coasted to a 5-2 victory. The Sharks are 3-0 against the Northwest leader this season.

The story of the evening was clearly the blinding speed shown by Patty and Michalek en route to their mirror-image goals. Michalek turned the jets on down the right side, and Marleau the left. Both cut to the middle and beat the goalie far-side high.

I can’t imagine what ran through Drew McIntyre’s head when he saw Big Joe barreling down on him on a breakaway in the third period. He probably could have used a diaper when Joe wound up for the slap shot. Welcome to the NHL, meat.

In other news, Semenov went out of the game in the 2nd with a hand injury. I don’t pay that close attention to who is getting ice time when, so I didn’t discover that until this morning. But I admit, my first thought was, “There is a God.” Not very nice of me. I wouldn’t actually wish an injury on him, but I take favors when they come. Hopefully it will give my boy Carle an opportunity to work himself back into the lineup for good.