Bonafide Slump
February 8th, 2009, 10:47 am
The Sharks are in their first and only bonafide slump of the season right now, losing (in the shootout) to Carolina at home, and losing last night (in OT) to Columbus. Of course we’ve already talked about the home loss to Chicago and the lackluster games against Phoenix and Vancouver that preceded these.
So what’s the deal? For me, there are two possibilities- a) the Sharks have not been as vigilant in carrying out McLellan’s playbook as they were early in the year with speed, tons of shots, puck recovery, and crashing the net; b) opponents have read the playbook, and are creating systems to break it. Myself, I think it’s more a) than b), because when the Sharks do break into the offensive zone, there are missed opportunities to shoot, not as much hunger in the corners, and lots of delays with the puck instead of driving to the middle.
Such was the case with Columbus last night, where the Sharks seemed to dominate the game in some areas, but were playing from behind almost the entire time. After winning the first two matchups of the season, the Sharks have now dropped the last two meetings in overtime, both in disappointing fashion. You’ll remember the Boyle giveaway on 12/17 right to Nash, which ended up in a bang-bang play to Michael Peca and a goal.
Looking at the last few Columbus losses by three or more, they all had the Columbus giving up two goals or more in the first. The Sharks just have to convert early in the game, maybe that’s why their plays got “prettier” as the game went along- making the extra pass to create even more time and space, as opposed to banging it into the slot and collecting garbage. Columbus plays with the lead better than most- they are a hard back-checking crease-collapsing team when they get the lead, and plenty of times Sharks at the point were looking at 5 defensive players in front of them.
I’m sure this is part of my always-there pessimism showing, but my feeling is if the Sharks and the Blue Jackets play in the first round, starting tomorrow, the Sharks lose the series. Out of Vancouver, Minnesota, Edmonton, and Columbus, the current 7-10 seeds, Columbus is clearly the worst draw for the Sharks.
Update: I swear I didn’t steal PJ’s opening line. Great minds think alike, I guess.
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I don’t think Sharks would lose a playoff series to BJs if they started tomorrow. Not with BJ’s third string in goal. To me it was the most embarrassing aspect of the whole game. Dude has his first start in the NHL game and beats no. 1 team in the West right off the bat. Players said it last night – they should have shot more, but it didn’t help that BJs had four people right around their goalie for whenever we had the puck in their zone.
But if Mason is healthy and is in goal, I’m smelling trouble.
However, there will be no easy opponents on the road to the Cup in the West, so personally I’m not worried who we play in the 1st or 3rd round – they will all be tough opponents. I’m afraid the road to the Cup lies through Dallas and Detroit, and they’re a bit tougher than BJs no matter how you look at it.
I agree, Mike. I think the problem is that the team seems to be losing its faith in the system. I’ve said it before, but when the players say “we need to simplify our game” or “we need to chip it in and get pucks deep”, I see that to be the exact opposite of what made them successful in the first part of the season. The Sharks played a beautiful, creative, complex brand of hockey (at least compared to the current dump and chase) and opponents were at a loss to stop it. Maybe that’s why someone like Ehrhoff was looking so bad. Early in the season, he was allowed to skate and try to beat defenders with speed and shoot and all the things he does well, and the mistakes were allowed because everyone was making them in the name of this puck possession style. Now, he and Boyle are the only ones really still doing it, and he doesn’t do it as well as Boyle, so his mistakes are magnified since he is the only one making them.
And I know I get on him, but big faceoff win by Goc that lead to the tying goal. I’m still skeptical whether he is the best the Sharks have for his spot, but it is nice to see him contribute, and I would love for him to prove me wrong again and again.