Beating the Ducks isn’t quite as sweet as it used to be, now that they are at the bottom of the Pacific, and third worst in the West.  But given I think the last two wins against Chicago and Dallas were more of the lucky variety, I will certainly digest last night’s win with relish (ok, pun intended).  The Sharks beat Jiggy early and often, and staked themselves to a 5-0 lead before they took their foot off of the gas a bit.  It would have been nice to have a 5 goal lead going into the third; I admit a trace of doubt crept in when the Ducks scored a goal late in the second- that’s the kind of thing teams can build on.

One reason I thought the Sharks would press for another goal is Marleau had two already.  Lots of times I’ve seen a team make utterly ridiculous plays trying to get a guy a hat trick.  But last night, I can’t remember a decent hat trick chance.  This despite Ryan Getzlaf cutting himself with his own skate and leaving the game.  I guess they all try and pitch in when Pronger is gone.

Now that the ship has been officially righted, winning four in a row, the Sharks face this week arguably the toughest opponent in the NHL right now- the Washington Capitals.  This after a Monday night game against the resident pain in the ass Phoenix Coyotes.  Doug is back in town, so we will be attending and reporting on all the great games in the next seven days, complete with bonus material – a report on the Stockton Thunder game Tuesday night against Bakersfield.  I expect some good old fashioned minor league hockey, with die hard fans, cheap tickets, and some knuckle chucking.

Also tune in tonight to ChompTalk on KDOW 1220AM (or stream it) at 9pm- Chetan and I will be talking to the radio voice of the Sharks, Dan Rusanowsky.