Opposite Day
October 24th, 2009, 8:09 pm
So the Sharks accomplished their first mission- starting the game strongly against Atlanta. Previously on this road trip, they’ve been horrid in the first period, or even the first half of the game, before trying to mount a comeback. It worked in New York against the Isles and Rangers, no so well Thursday night against the Lightning.
Tonight, they switched the whole plan around. Joe scored in the first minute, then Heater added one, and Patty scored in the first minute of the second. After a digustingly bad call that should have given Marleau another goal, Todd White scored on the next shift to make it 3-1, and I started to have a bit of a bad feeling. I did feel much better when Patty scored again about halfway through the second. I started to breathe easy again.
But then the wheels basically fell off, and it was a freakin’ miracle they escaped 4-3. The stats don’t tell the story- 10-7 in shots the third period, but there were so many times the Thrashers were in the Sharks zone for over a minute I lost count. It felt like the Sharks were on the kill for the entire third period. And though Kovalchuk left the game in the first with an injury (like Devin Setoguchi did) the Thrashers had more than enough jump to make the Sharks look like a bumbling lower-echelon team. Since Atlanta only had seven shots, I guess the Sharks managed to neutralize many of the scoring chances, but the low cycle seemed to go on and on and on.
I’m trying to decide which is worse, come out well and slowly piss it away, or come out flat and fight to get back in it. It’s a hobson’s choice, but actually, I’ll choose the ugliness we witnessed tonight. It’s easier to hold onto a lead than come back against a team that doesn’t care about scoring anymore, as the Sharks clearly didn’t in the final period. No word on Seto’s injury yet, but if he’s out, that’s a huge blow. I’d probably put him as the second best Shark so far this year, behind only Marleau. 9 goals in 11 games, at this rate Patty’ll score 8671 goals by New Year’s. Check the math on that one, I may have forgotten to carry the two. Just to be safe, are there any other letters we can take off of his sweater? I think the Mike Aldrich should have him skate tomorrow night with a M RLE U jersey, just to make sure everyone knows he doesn’t deserve an A.
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It’s amazing how the Sharks can make a win feel disheartening. Like you said, “it was a freakin’ miracle they escaped 4-3.” I guess it wouldn’t be our beloved Tiburones if they didn’t give a sloppy, half-hearted effort, eh.
You asked whether it’s worse to start flat or to piss a lead away. Aren’t both approaches equally bad since either would ultimately lead to another 1st round demise in the playoffs?
It’s quite sad, actually, that this team doesn’t understand that their window of opportunity for winning a Stanley Cup is THIS YEAR. Cuz if they don’t win it all, this roster will undoubtedly get blown up whether it’s Doug Wilson’s doing or whether it’s the UFAs simply signing elsewhere. Marleau’s been their best player and you know some other team’s going to give him a Hossa-esque contract that Wilson will not match.
In regards to Seto, according to http://blogs.mercurynews.com/sharks/2009/10/25/setoguchi-and-vesci-out-couture-and-mcginn-in-plus-a-second-look-at-atlanta-post-game-quotes/#more-2242 Setoguchi and Vesce out, Mcginn and Couture in. Both day-to-day.
Good win to end the trip. Happy to see Griess step up. Maybe I was wrong about him.
On a separate subject… dudes, how do you feel about the Richards hit on Booth? It sure looked dirty to me. I think the NHL is going by the way of the other major sports in their approach to handing out punishments; stars get a free pass. The Ovechkin slew foot was borderline, but Richards left his feet. And he was running around a little tonight, too. If Ruutu gets 3 games for his hit on Tucker, the same should have gone to RIchards. If Booth’s last name was Crosby, it would be even more. Your thoughts?
Looky what we have here – a (somewhat unexpected) win against a tough Philadelphia Flyers team on the last leg of a 6-game East Coast roadie. Funny thing how the Sharks can beat just about anybody when they put in an energetic and committed effort.
I loved how they buckled down after Darroll Powe tied the game 1-1. I loved how they played with urgency and physicality, especially when Dany Heatley took out Scott Hartnell. I loved how they seemed to rally around Thomas Greiss’ first start and picked up the slack with Devin Setoguchi and Ryan Vesce injured.
Hopefully, this is something they will build upon as opposed to just furthering their ‘ol “we can turn it on whenever it suits us” mentality.
Dudes – did you notice game the first penalty that Ferriero drew (where he split two guys and drove the net) that he actually reached down, grabbed the d-man’s stick, and pulled it up into his mid-section? I loved that play. Was surprised Randy and Drew didn’t comment on it given that they showed the replay a few times.
Of course, if somebody did that against the Sharks I’d be livid and hold a long-term grudge against that player (like how I still hate Roloson for when he deliberately shook his mask off in the Edmonton series a few years ago).
Patrick,
I did notice, but I think it was a bit of both. I think the guy got his stick up around Ferriero’s chest, and Benn locked it in his armpit himself.