So the Sharks put down a Stanley Cup finalist for the second time in three nights.  First period was a hard-fought battle, mostly dominated by strong forechecking and neutral-zone turnovers.  Then Detroit broke the seal only moments into the second period with a nifty shot from Hossa.  But the Sharks didn’t panic, they knew they’d get their chances.   And then they hung three on Ty Conklin in the space of four minutes later in the second.

You could tell the Wings didn’t expect that.  Even though the Sharks are on everyone’s list to make the playoffs, and even a few to make the Stanley Cup finals, this team is surprising people.  It would be easy to write off the first 9 games a beneficial scheduling with a healthy diet of under .500 teams, but the last two might have been eye-openers for people that jumped off the bandwagon.

Plenty of time yet to get on that bandwagon.  No doubt there will be slumps and lean times this year, and we may just see a letdown on Sunday against Colorado.  But it’s the best start in Sharks history, and this team in clicking in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever seen here in San Jose.  Happy Halloween, people.  Go celebrate and eat a disgusting amount of candy.

Strangely enough, it’s a Duck-powered alignment. Just got this email from a good friend of mine, who happens to be a Ducks fan.

If your team is as good as advertised, they should beat the Wings 6-2 tonight.  The Ducks pounded the crap out of Motown last night.  You shouldn’t be getting Osgood in goal.  And the Wings ought to be second-guessing themselves after being up a couple, and losing. With your PP unit as good as it is, and with Detroit’s march to the box (at least 7 penalty kills in each of the past 5 games), your team better get some PPGs.  The Ducks burned the Wings with shots that were faked from the high slot, and instead were passed to the low circle for one timers.  I know your D is putting up a lot of shots, but it might not be the best strategy tonight.
Anyway… look out, because we might have found a little bit of a groove.

First of all, I think we have to admit the honeymoon is over for the Sharks.  Dallas just beat Minnesota last night, who were up until then the only team in the NHL that hadn’t lost in regulation.  And now the Ducks have beaten Montreal and Detroit in the past seven days.  Whatever funk the other Pacific powers were in at season’s launch seems to be over.

Second of all, I don’t care what Acts of God (or Ducks) have occured to make the Wings frustrated, tired, injured, or all of the above.  I’ll take it.  Beat those bastards.

Go Sharks.

The Sharks’ first major test of the season- the win over the Penguins- is the primary focus this week.  We’ve seen a lot of variation to the Sharks play over the past few games, and Mike and Doug break it down.

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That’s the title of the latest podcast, found here.  The Sharks continue to roll, this time beating a legit opponent in Pittsburgh, only allowing 11 shots en route to a 2-1 win.  Have to give the Pens credit: the most crucial shift is the one right after a goal, and they scored right after the Sharks scored in the third to keep the game close.  Crosby and Malkin are dangerous whenever they’re on the ice, but the Sharks new-found D managed to keep them mostly in check.  And for a great recap, I have to turn to the Pensblog, a regular read of mine, and one of the funniest hockey blogs on the tubes.

Of course this is only the first test of many this season, with the next one coming tomorrow against the Wings, but no one can say the Sharks are pretenders now, unless they get blown out 10-0 or something.  And even then you could still make a case the Sharks are for real; The Wings seem to be on a different plane than everyone else.

If any one is interested, the last ChompTalk radio show audio can be found here.

And I can’t pass up this LOLSHARX opportunity:

2-1 Road Trip. I called it….well, okay I got the Philly and Florida results mixed up – but it’s all in the result, right? Sure, it seems like we Sharks fans have some concerns about the amount of goals the Sharks are yielding. Playing Run and Gun can only work so long in the regular season and then fail you in the playoffs. BUT….you have to like the correction to the system last night in Tampa Bay. After a disappointing showing in Florida, coughing up a bounce back goal after the Sharks tied the score, San Jose limited this mirage of a Tampa Bay offense to only 22 shots. Another mark of a good team, learning from your current shortcoming and improving on them. The fact that the Sharks responded with a shut out after the Florida disappointment is another positive sign in this Grier’s book. Also, the five power play goals on this road trip shows that there’s some bite with the man advantage.

So, 7-2-0 heading into the biggest benchmark of the season. A head to head showdown with last years Stanley Cup finalists, Pittsburgh on Tuesday night and the Champion Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. The Sharks have yet to play a team with a winning record. The best team on paper so far are the Florida Panthers, at 4-4-0, and they beat the Sharks. So…. can the Sharks topple two of the undisputed best teams in the NHL? I think it’s going to be another high octane affair, with two high powered offensives trading punches all night against the Penguins. For some reason, I think the Pens are going to get the better of San Jose on Tuesday and out slug the Sharks by a score of 4-3 in overtime. San Jose could get caught looking ahead to the most anticipated match up, one that has been on McLellan’s calendar marked URGENT all season – the toe to toe with Detroit on Thursday. I love the Sharks on Thursday night in a major league statement game to their big brothers, the Red Wings. Sharks beat Detroit convincingly 4-1.

I would take 8-3-0 going into Colorado on Sunday night. What do you Sharks fans think?

The good news is a Sharks team that struggled offensively last year has scored 15 goals in the last three games.  The bad news is they’ve given up 14.  Makes for exciting games, but play is littered with bad turnovers and giveaways in inopportune areas of the ice.  Such was the case against Philly, where they managed to pull it out in a wild one, 7-6, but not so last night, en route to only the second loss of the season against the Panthers, 4-3.

Florida is a young team that skates very hard every single shift.  They have a vigorous low cycle in the offensive zone that the Sharks were fairly adept at cracking.  That cycle will give many other teams fits.  However, the Sharks were not very good at clearing pucks out, and keeping possesion at the offensive blueline- a critical area of the ice for springing odd-man rushes against.

Am I worried about this team’s recent sloppiness on defense?  Only mildly.  Keep in mind the Sharks only gave up four goals in their first four games, and they are implementing an entirely new system with new players.  Common wisdom says the a team needs the first 15 or 20 games of the season to really get it’s identity, and this team is no exception.  Some of the chemistry between players like Thornton-Boyle is really flourishing.  But other coordination on the ice between O and D, or between the D partners, is a bit off.  The Sharks have proven to me that they can win games in decisive fashion-  now it’s time to pay out a little rope and let them get their bearings.

We could easily see more of the same tonight against Tampa.  Tampa has been lauded for their high-flying offense but poor defense- will the Sharks again try to trade body blows?

There’s been some sort of glitch on this site the past few days, I’m not sure what is causing it.  Some posts that we published are not appearing on the home page of the blog, and some comments too.  Hopefully you are seeing this now, and if you experience any more problems, or see posts disappearing again, please email us at questions@dudesonhockey.com.  I guess you’ll have to remember that, because if posts disappear, you won’t be able to read this…

Update: an issue was found with the way the blogging platform was caching pages, so hopefully all issues have been resolved as of now.  Please let us know if any issues persist.

As I attempt to keep the streak alive, I go out on a limb to predict the Sharks outcome on the road trip.

SHARKS @ PHILADELPHIA
San Jose runs into a buzz saw again. This team is desperate, at home, and dying for a victory. A repeat of the Ducks game last week could be the result. The Sharks outshoot the Flyers, generally outplay them but get stonewalled by a Flyers goalie and Nabby continues to be plagued by odd man rushes. Sharks lose 4-2.

SHARKS @ FLORIDA
I watched the Panthers vs. Montreal on Monday night and this team plays with a motor that doesn’t seem to quit. They had the youthful enthusiasm that I expected under their new coach…but the veteran leadership on the Sharks will kick in and not allow the team to drop two in a row. Maybe a big game from JR and Marleau gets it done on the road, and Nabby will step up and match the outstanding play of Vokoun. Sharks catch Florida looking ahead to their flight to St. Louis and win in overtime 3-2.

SHARKS @ TAMPA BAY
Brian Boucher leads the charge and the Sharks ambush a bad Tampa team. They outshoot TB by 20 shots and beat this collection of fantasy hockey players. Matt Carle will be a -2 and Dan Boyle will be one of the three stars of the game. Sharks win 5-1.

So, I’m saying San Jose will return home to face the Penguins a resounding 7-2-0. Let’s see how this blogger does. GO SHARKS!

After a 5-1 start, it’s time to enjoy the view, if only for a moment.  Even though the Sharks are playing well and winning games, that doesn’t mean every aspect of their game is firing on all cylinders.  Mike and Doug try to examine where the room for improvment is, and look at other issues around the NHL, as well as the upcoming schedule.

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New DOH podcast here, and latest radio show here.  If you listen to the podcast, I’d appreciate it if you’d answer the poll question on the DOH site.  Thanks.