The spotlight game of the day was the Detroit Red Wings hosting the San Jose Sharks and by doing so the Wings were attempting to continue their home win streak and the NHL record to twenty-three. Although the game was close in a 3-2 Detroit victory the record was never in jeopardy.
The Wings continue to cement their reputation in the NHL history books with the streak and they did so today by beating a team who has had their number lately. The Sharks had won the previous two meetings this year and finished Detroit’s season the last two years in the playoffs.
The goaltending match-up saw the struggling Antti Niemi against the Red Wings third string goalie Joey Macdonald. Macdonald has spent most of this season in the AHL but was called up when Jimmy Howard went down with a hand injury. Joey Mac, as he is referred to by team mates came in for relief of Ty Conklin six games ago and hasn’t relinquished the starting role since. We saw today why Detroit hasn’t missed a beat with their starting net minder on the side lines.
On the other side Antti Niemi has struggled as of late and was called out by his coach after his last game against Tampa Bay. Coach Todd McLellan has been fairly diplomatic when speaking of Niemi’s short comings, but after his last he game he didn’t hold back stating “He wasn’t any good. I protect him a lot and I talk about the team but he has to be better.”
Niemi showed some signs today that he was re-gaining the confidence that he had last year prior to the playoffs began but he also let in two weak ones; the last ended up being the game winner for Detroit. I know where the fans confidence is regarding Niemi’s play and ability to be a Stanley Cup contending goalie, what is important is how his team mates feel about the second year Shark.
The Sharks Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Pavelski both went down in the third period after being hit by pucks. Vlasic took one in the visor but was still cut badly and didn’t return. Pavelski took a Nick Lidstrom slap shot off of the helmet and was shaken up, but he did return.
The Sharks Douglas Murray is out indefinitely with a fractured adam’s apple. The big Swede took a puck in the throat against the Lightning and his physical play will be sorely missed. Nobody on the Sharks depth chart matches Murray’s presence on the ice and in his absence opposing players will feel free to wheel into the offensive zone knowing that the Cranshaft won’t be out there to slow them down.
Jason Demers was ready to go today in place of Murray and quietly played a real good game considering he has missed the last nine games with a knee injury.
It was again a case of the Sharks opposition wanting the two points more. The Wings have been playing great hockey and today it was their depth players who got the job done. Drew Miller, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm all contributed on the scoreboard. These aren’t the usual suspects you think of when Detroit is successful, however during the Red Wings recent run they have had contributions from the whole line-up.
The Sharks had their chances to score but couldn’t beat the Red Wings Joey Macdonald. They threw 19 shots on Macdonald in the middle frame and beat him once on the power play. The Wings weathered that storm in the second and came out hungry in the third by extending their lead to 3-1 after Darren Helm beat Niemi from the high slot with no screen.
The turning point today was the Helm goal at 7:01 in the third period. It was the second weak goal of the game let in by Niemi and the Red Wings are too good of a team to give a two goal lead with less than thirteen minutes to play.
Scoring details
!st Period
Det – 6:30 –EV – 40 H.Zetterberg(13) – assists – 52 J.Ericsson(9), 51 V.Filppula(29)
2nd Period
Det – 10:40 –EV – 20 D.Miller(12) – assist – 8 J.Abdelkader(11)
SJ – 14:33 –PP – 39 L.Couture(25) – assist – 19 J.Thornton(40)
3rd Period
Det – 7:01 –EV – 43 D.Helm(6) – assist – 20 D.Miller(10)
SJ – 15:16 –EV – 12 P.Marleau(23) – assist – 88 B.Burns(19)
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Joey Macdonald – was the first contender today after stopping 31 of the 33 shots he faced. Macdonald has been all over the NHL and knows the train to and from the minors as well as anybody, so to see him succeed isn’t a bad thing.
Drew Miller – was an impact player today and has helped pick up the slack for the Red Wings when their stars have faltered.
Joe Paveslksi – makes the list today for blocking a shot with his melon and returning to the game and contributing on the scoreboard with an assist.
Pretenders
Antti Niemi – is on top of the list and probably isn’t going too far until he starts playing up to his potential and shows more consistency.
Torrey Mitchell – was sub-par today and makes the pretenders list. He usually contributes with a hard fore-check and uses his speed to create turnovers and draw penalties. Today we saw nothing like that from Mitchell. To his defense he was on the fourth line and didn’t see as much ice time as he usually does, but that may not have all been because of the addition of Dominic Moore.
The Sharks continue their marathon road trip on Tuesday in Columbus.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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