Remember the Ana-Mo
October 3rd, 2009, 10:55 pm
Putting memories of the less than memorable opening night effort behind them, the San Jose Sharks laid it all on the line tonight, killing the Ducks 4-1 and spoiling their home welcome by limiting the Ducks to two shots in the 2nd period in one of the most dominant periods of hockey I can remember the Sharks playing in a long time. Everything was clicking on all four lines and we caught a glimpse of what’s in store for the top line when they finally figure everything out. Perhaps we the fans make more out of sticking it to the Ducks to avenge the playoff loss, but it sure felt damn good to see the boys shove it up the Ducks rears tonight. I hope the players had that one their minds and it provided a little extra bite towards this solid performance – they should never forget the disappointed of last April.
It was over by the middle of the second period, but the Ducks were intent on making their physical and pesky style known, even without Chris Pronger – but the Sharks are better equipped to handle the Ducks now with Ortmeyer, Nichol and Malhotra and they all proved their worth tonight. Ortmeyer got Ryan Whitney to take a penalty after he finished a rough check on Whitney in the corner, Nichol got into two fights with Mike Brown and was in the middle of any tense moment possible – it’s like this guy lives for that stuff. Manny Malhotra punched Getzlaf in the face in another “roughing” penalty that sure looked like two guys with gloves off ready to dance. It’s amusing to see how each ref has a different gauge of what’s a fight and what’s a roughing without gloves involving punches to the face.
I don’t have much critical to say – it was entertaining and the Sharks never really took their foot off the gas. We’ll probably see some performances like Colorado and then some performances like tonight in the coming weeks, but let’s hope it’s more of the later and by the time the wins really matter in the playoffs – they will be operating like tonights team on a regular basis.
As for the ex-Shark update: I wouldn’t say Michalek and Cheechoo had a great debut for Ottawa in their 5-2 loss tonight based on the numbers. Now I didn’t see it for myself, but Cheechoo played 10:45 and got four meaningless seconds of PP time – sounds like Ottawa has him primed for that third line role we already know he can’t do. Michalek struggled in 18 minutes, gathering a -2 with two shots and four hits. Now he’s skating with Alfredsson and Spezza, so you know the points will come but I’m sure Ottawa fans are feeling the same way I was on Thursday night after Heater’s Shark debut – disappointed. I hope Cheech and Milan can bounce back like Heater did tonight, I really won’t get any pleasure seeing them fail.
Loading ...
Thought I would share:
“I have only been here for one season but I am sick of talking about the Sharks choking in the playoffs.”
~Dan Boyle
Just to add to Doug’s post, but did anyone else love the fact the Murray jumped in as the 3rd man. In previous years, the Sharks would have just backed away from mixing it up in a game that was already decided. But I love that Murray not only was the third man in, but went in with an attitude like “oh no you don’t, not this year”. GO Sharks!
Yes sir, I loved that as well – and I wish there had been more of that from the Sharks on Thursday night. I will give the Ducks credit for this, they were getting hammered but they kept fighting, literally.
I’ll add what else has to be said – Nabby had a great rebound of a game too. Not sure what to think of Whitney’s goal, so I’ll just not worry about it, but he had several spectacular saves, and was well composed, confident and focused last night, especially in the 1st period when the game was still even.
Much of our success this season rests on his shoulders. Nice to see him pull a strong performance like he did last night.
Douglas Murray should be the team’s captain!
Pavs out two Sharks weeks, which in real time is actually 5-10 weeks. Now we’re one injury from becoming the Worchester Sharks. Yikes!
I don’t think it’s dire yet. Pav’s is a big loss, but it could have been much worse.
Wow. This one is brutal…..
Apparently Alexi Semenov’s wife won’t let him play hockey for the Rangers. He told Sather all emotional and crying his wife wong let him play.
Sather was like “I’ve never seen anything like that before”??
I know he was our whipping boy, but damn I really feel for the guy right now.
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NHL&id=1172&line=91275&spln=1
We need a goaltender. Nabby is shaky, and has been since the all-star break last season, and Griess is clearly not ready for the NHL. If we can’t score enough goals to give us a comfortable lead, I don’t think we can count on our netminder to keep us in the game. This isn’t a knee-jerk reaction, it’s a observation of the last 50 or so games.
On another note: YEAH HEATER!!!!
While I’m not quite ready to throw Nabby under the bus, I definetly share your concern. The only good in this is the timing, better now right at the start than in March…
I think were gonna see Stalock a lot sooner than expected. That is the real next step with this issue. Greiss might not be ready but Stalock should get a shot. Plus it gives Nabby time to settle in. If after that time the organization doesn’t like what they see, they yeah, Mike’s crazy prediction could come true and Nabber could be gone…
3 of the goals that Nabokov let in were not his fault. The first two he made 2 saves before they finally managed to jam it passed him. He had no support whatsoever. The 3rd one the guy redirected out of mid air, again, alone in the crease.
The 4th one was all Nabokov and was very soft. Same with the 5th and Greiss.
Frankly I’m more worried about the Sharks looking like headless chickens in their own zone, being completely unable to clear the puck, pass it, or generally play hockey for over half the game.
Still, I’m looking at the positives. 4 for 4 on the power play, Heater got his first goal and another assist. Hopefully we figure out this defense thing and everything starts to gel.
I don’t believe that losing Error and Luko is really that important to the defensive side of our game, I don’t know what’s up with the current defense, but they need to get it together.