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Sharks pepper the Wild’s third string goalie but can’t solve Matt Hackett |
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The San Jose Sharks sent 42 pucks to the net and the majority of them were stopped by Minnesota’s third string goalie Matt Hackett who made his first NHL appearance in relief for the injured Josh Harding.
Josh Harding got the start for the Wild tonight against Antti Niemi, but he didn’t last long. He took a stick to the head from his defenseman Nick Schultz and joined the team’s starter Niklas Backstrom on the shelf making room Matt Hackett. Hackett’s uncle played in the NHL for a number of teams, the Sharks being one of them. Hackett looked like a sultry veteran in between the pipes tonight by stoning the skilled Sharks forwards. He came out past the blue paint when he had to and protected the wrap around attempts. Hackett was the story tonight coming in relief in his first NHL game and stealing the show. He stopped everything he saw (which was most shots) and even those he didn’t see making 34 saves on the night.
The first period was from the Sharks point of view was exactly what the doctor ordered, except for the score of course. San Jose came out like they had something to prove, like they were disappointed with their effort last game. They scored on Josh Harding a minute into the contest and outshot Minnesota 23-10 in the first period, and were up 16-0 on the shot clock seven minutes in. They had four minutes in power play time and some great opportunities but could not find the back of the net.
Coach Todd McLellan commented about the start “Execution was much better than it was the other night. We felt really good about our start; we finally got what we wanted from everybody. We were playing in their end; you could feel the energy on the bench and in the building. We came out of our end a lot better.”
The Minnesota Wild came into tonight’s game as the NHL’s top team and even though they have played four more games than the Sharks it was easy to see why they have been successful. Scoring opportunities in the slot were hard to come by for San Jose. The Wild protect the house as well as anyone in the league and take their chances on shots from the point. The few rebounds that were there were swallowed up by defenseman or forwards who are coming down low and collapsing in front of their net.
The Sharks were unable to score a dirty goal tonight and after Hackett settled in to the game it appeared that was the only way they were going get one past the rookie. The Sharks had plenty of shots but rebounds were hard to come by.
Logan Couture echoed those sentiments after the game “We have to find a way to score goals and win games and we’re just not doing that right now. Their goalie played well, but we have to get to those areas where you can score dirty goals and unfortunately we didn’t do that.”
The Sharks still outshot the Wild in the second and third periods, but play was not nearly as lopsided as it was in the first. Former Shark Dany Heatley took a boarding call with just under two minutes to go in the middle frame and San Jose had some chances to score, but once again they just couldn’t pull the trigger. The best opportunity came when Logan Couture sent the puck through the crease to Havlat and an empty cage but he whiffed on a chance to tie the game and score against his former team.
The Sharks were without their bruiser and toughest hitter in Douglas Murray. Murray was hurt blocking shots last game with his hand. This means that long time defense partner Dan Boyle had to adjust to playing with Ready Eddie. Marc-Edouard Vlasic was paired with Boyle, Brent Burns with Jim Vandermeer, and Justin Braun who was called up from Worcester played with Jason Demers.
The turning point in this game came when Josh Harding was hurt and Matt Hackett entered at 1:11 of the first period. The Sharks solved Harding, they couldn’t solve Hackett.
The youngster spoke afterwards about his debut “It was nice to get those first few shots right away, it kept me in the game.
“It was tough it was my first NHL game, I was shaking the whole time I’m still shaking. It’s an unbelievable feeling. It’s a tough building to play in, but it’s also a fun one.”
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Matt Hackett – came into the game and shut down the high powered offense of the Sharks and for that he is the game’s first contender. Often when back-up goalie comes into the game it spells trouble, but for the Wild tonight it was the prescription they needed.
Minnesota special teams – won the battle tonight and that played a major role in this game. The Sharks outshot and dominated the first period, but came away trailing 2-1. The Wild fended off four minutes in the first period and two in the second as well as scoring on one of their two power play opportunities. They showed great discipline by taking only two penalties.
Jim Vandermeer – was solid in his role tonight for the Sharks. He was defensively responsible allowing Brent Burns to join in the rush. He has continued to improve in a Sharks uniform.
Pretenders
Sharks special teams – let the team down tonight and the penalty kill was 50%. This crutch must be fixed before this team can make noise in the post-season. They are the first pretender tonight.
Martin Havlat – had some prime chances to score tonight none better than with the man advantage late in the second. He started off well with team teal but lately has been a disappointment. If you can’t get up for a game against your old team than when can we expect to see him play to his full potential.
The Sharks prepare for the Dallas Stars who come to town for a Thursday night showdown at the HP Pavilion.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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