Let the Torture Continue
March 23rd, 2012, 8:29 am
After two terrible games against division opponents this week, the Sharks staunch the bleeding somewhat by edging the defending champs, the Bruins, 2-1. Just when you think the Sharks are ready to give up the ghost, they come back like a Monty Python sketch. “But I don’t want to go in the cart! I’m not dead.”
There are still several signs that are very troubling about this team, mostly in the scoring department. The last time the Sharks won a game by more than one goal was five weeks ago, against the Caps (thanks Kevin Kurz). That’s also the last time the Sharks have scored more than three goals in a win. The last time they scored more than three goals period was also five weeks ago, in a 6-5 loss in OT to the Lightning. That’s 18 games ago, almost a quarter of the season. In those 18 games where the Sharks didn’t score more than three, they scored three goals (supposedly the magic number) only four times. Let’s put that a different context. In the 55 games previous to that, the Sharks scored 3 or more goals 33 times, or 60% of the time. That doesn’t include wins like 2-1, 2-0, etc. Since, the Sharks have scored three or more goals only 22% of the time. That’s not a decline. That’s an anvil falling out of the sky.
The good thing about last night is they stayed step for step with the Stanley Cup Champions, and the 4th line was more than just a non-liability. They were an asset, matching up well with the Bruins very respectable fourth line of Dan Paille, Shawn Thornton and Greg Campbell. The bad thing is the Sharks still are not scoring in bunches. They score once, have some good quality chances not go in, then slowly fade. Whether they hold on or chip in another one seems to be a coin flip at best. Looking at the stat sheet, another bad thing was the return of Michal Hanzus. He was -1, and lost 5 of the 7 faceoffs he took. T.J. Galiardi can’t come back fast enough.
There’s no more time for the Sharks to turn this around. They have to be going in the right direction now. Another game or two of disappointing losses will put them in an ugly position to make the playoffs. Let’s hope the win against Boston was the turn, and now the Sharks are sailing in clear waters and strong wind to the finish line.
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8 games played last night, 7 of those decided by 1 goal (PIT/NSH game being only exception). 3 goals scored by one team in any of those 7 games would have guaranteed a victory.
3…is a magic number….yes it is….
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x46vci_blind-melon-three-is-a-magic-number_music
Great version, thanks for springing that memory…
You forgot the “d” in Handzus…then again, I think he has, too.
Man, that’s awesome. I’m not putting it back now, just for that.
I know this horse has long since been beaten dead and melted for glue, but Kyle Wellwood would look really nice on the bottom 6 right now.
Is there a stat for most goals scored in the first five minutes of a game this season? Because I feel like Pavs would be high on that list…
It’s great that the sharks are scoring first more in recent games. That might be more important than scoring three in a game.The sharks need to play excellent defense. They have not had a part of their game that has been special this year, but tight defense can set them apart.
Honestly i thought the Bruins looked horrible in their own end last night… Lots of turnovers and bad passes trying to exit the zone… That more than anything else seemed to boost our offensive domination…
Thomas was solid. If not for him I think this would have been a 4-1 or 5-1 win.
So, Im not that excited about the win. It seemed more of a factor that Boston looked bad rather than we looked good. Although, I will admit the Sharks looked better in the defensive zone…
All that to say, I fully expect this team to only play about .500 the rest of the way…
I agree that the Bruins looked terrible coming out of their zone, but I give a bit more credit to our boys for what went right last night.
Last night, our team looked fast. We aren’t fast. While this does point to Boston playing lamely, this means a number of good things for our boys: our legs were really pumping, our focus was on winning pucks instead of reacting to opponents winning the puck, our backcheck was impressive (though many of those takeaways were the result of lackadaisical sticks and play by Boston) especially at their blue line and in our slot, and the third man was staying high enough that the D could truly join the attack.
I know this last one probably feels like it’s on my mind because Drew was harping on it last night, but it’s actually because Comcast played game 3 vs Detroit from 2010 (the Patty OT winner, if I remember correctly) and I watched a bit of it. One thing that felt very different about that team was the way that the Dmen were always free to join the attack, thanks to the third man covering for them. Remember how dominant that used to be? Especially how amazing Boiler looked when he was allowed to join any attack? With Boyle, Burns, Demers, and Braun, that style is exactly what I want back.
So, I was pretty excited last night.