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Blackhawks edge past Sharks in a close game |
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The Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks showed why they are two teams that are used as measuring sticks in the NHL. The Blackhawks won tonight’s game 4-3 in an exciting game with a great finish.
Chicago never trailed tonight, but the Sharks made it interesting by cutting the deficit to one goal with just under five minutes left in the game and came close to tying things up with a man advantage and the goalie pulled in the end.
Both teams played yesterday so the fatigue excuse cannot be used but the Sharks clearly didn’t have the same jump in their legs that the Blackhawks did. Back to back games are difficult enough but the home team has an advantage over the road team in this situation especially when the back to back games come at the end of the road trip versus the beginning.
“I thought their energy guys out energized our group.” Said Coach McLellan after the game “Nights like this when you are on the road where you need some guys who can get it going.”
Tonight’s game between the Sharks and the Blackhawks was more than just game 0661 of the NHL season. It was a game between two teams that are on top of their divisions, two teams that are both considered the class of the Western conference, two teams that play similar styles of hockey, and two teams that have grown to really dislike each other over the past couple of seasons.
This was the third meeting between the Sharks and the Blackhawks with one more coming at the Shark Tank next month. The home team has won all three games, and all have been by one goal.
The Blackhawks are a younger version of the Sharks, particularly when referring to the star players. The difference is that Chicago has tasted the joys of sipping from Lord Stanley’s Cup and they did it as recently as 2010.
This team beat the Sharks in the Conference finals two years ago and although they swept San Jose three of the four games could have gone either way. A meeting this spring in the post-season with the Blackhawks would be a treat for hockey fans everywhere.
The Sharks scored two goals in 0:28 seconds to start the second period and Tommy Wingels scored his first NHL goal in the city where he is from which made things pretty special for him and his family members in attendance.
The Blackhawks were the better team tonight and deserved the two points, however I liked the grit and the no quit attitude that the Sharks showed. They never quit on themselves which showed me that the character on this team has grown, but more importantly it looked as though they never stopped believing that they could come back.
The turning point for me in this game was the Jonathan Toews goal that put the Blackhawks up 3-2. It was a bad goal from the Sharks point of view because the puck was misplayed by Niemi behind the net. Before he could get back into position the puck was in the net. Those are hard to swallow and even tougher to come back from, especially on the road.
Scoring details
1st
Chi – 18:01 –EV – 36 D. Bolland – assists – 39 J.Hayes,15 A. Brunette
Chi – 19:39 –EV – 25 V. Stalberg – assists – 19 J. Toews, 8 N. Leddy
2nd
SJ – 1:42 –EV – 8 J. Pavelski – assists – 44 M. Vlasic, 19 J. Thornton
SJ – 2:08 –EV – 64 J. McGinn – assists – 17 T. Mitchell
Chi – 7:06 –EV – 19 J. Toews – assists – 88 P. Kane, 25 V. Stalberg
3rd
Chi – 2:37 –EV – 65 A. Shaw – assists – 16M. Kruger, 81 M. Hossa
SJ – 15:03 –EV – 57 T. Wingels – assists – 17 T. Mitchell, 22 D. Boyle
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
The Toews line – were great tonight and set the pace in this game early for their team. The line as a whole had five points and finished the game at plus -6.
Antti Niemi – was great tonight, he obviously likes playing against his old team. He saw 40 shots and stopped 36 of them, which numbers wise is O.K, but the level of difficulty of the scoring opportunities which he stopped was high. That is why Niemi is the second contender tonight.
Tommy Wingels – was great tonight and scored his first goal of his NHL career. He got promoted to the third line for a spell in the third period and had the responsibility that comes with playing center tonight versus the wing.
Pretenders
Murray & Burns – are the first pretenders tonight. These guys looked slow, especially Burns. The back to back games affected their play because they did too much puck chasing tonight. We didn’t see the Burns end to end attempts nor did we see him join the play the way he usually does.
The power play – needed to come up with a goal tonight and let the team down. They had some chances but were unable to bulge the twine.
The Sharks will fly back home for a Tuesday night battle with the Calgary Flames.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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