Good To Be Home
February 18th, 2009, 8:24 am
The Sharks celebrate their return from their longest road trip of the season by beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 last night. And grier and I are back from our own east coast trip, a very successful one. You can hear all about our various exploits on our new podcast episode.
A lot of this podcast talks about the Sharks’ third line, which underwent an overhaul for the Oilers game- Marleau centering Cheech and Grier, with Kaspar moving up to the first line to play with Joe and Seto. The Kaspar move didn’t seem so great save for one excellent backhand pass into the slot, but the third line was serendipity. With three good lines that can score, and the Oilers missing two good defensement in Grebeshkov and Vishnovsky, there was going to be a very favorable matchup for one of those lines, and the newly created third line was the lucky winner. They drew Jason Strudwick and Theo Peckham several times.
It’s a good start to a short homestand, with the Kings in town Thursday and the Thrashers Saturday. The Sharks need at least three points in those two games to be well positioned for another tough road trip next week. It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility for the Sharks to have another one-win road trip there- Dallas, Detroit, Ottawa, and Montreal.
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Loved that third line. Kaspar did ok, I think Plihal would be a better fit. I’d be willing to give him a few more games to try to fit in, though. Heck, maybe even throw JR out there on the first line when he comes back, Marleau double shifts on the first line anyways to keep JR’s ice time low.
Ive said it before, but if the lines are like that, there is no “3rd” line. I also like that Marleau is proving he is not going through a “Cheechoo” effect playing with Thornton, he is legitimately playing outstanding hockey.
Good podcast guys…
So, what’s the deal with Mitchell? You’re talking about trades for a 3rd line center, well that’s his role. Last I heard he isn’t skating, though he didn’t suffer any structural damage in his latest injury. Did I miss something, or is everyone just counting him out?
“Guys and Dolls”… hehehe
Ruben, good point about Marleau not just being great on Joe’s line. I wonder if his outstanding offensive production will put him out of the running for a deserved Selke bid.
As far as Mitchell goes, the way I think of it is no news is bad news. If he’s not even skating, that means he’s a long ways away. He’ll need to skate for a while, then practice with no contact, then practice with contact, then the minor league conditioning stint, and only then would he be back in the lineup. Myself, I’ve sort of written him off for this year.
This should say everything about the Selke… Marleau’s best chance is if he leads the league in SH goals. A defensive award that hinges on offensive production. Thankfully, the Norris rewards defense…oh, wait…