The Sharks came away with one point in Calgary after Matt Stajan scored in overtime with 0:40 seconds remaining in a 3-2 win to end the Sharks four game road trip.

“One is better than none” quipped Todd McLellan after the game “but that’s not what our goal was. I thought we played well enough to get two but we’re not going home with them.”

The battle that took place in Calgary had a playoff feel to it as both teams are still looking to lock down a post-season position. All the players who participated in tonight’s game played with their hearts on their sleeve.

Both teams played hard and the game could have gone either way, the trouble for the Sharks is that they have come up on the wrong side of the stick in too many of these close games. It seems for San Jose this year that when the game is on the line in OT they can’t find a way to win as their record in the fourth period now drops to 1-5.

The special team’s numbers at the end of the day won’t look bad as the penalty kill was perfect on three attempts and the power play scored one goal on five attempts. Twenty percent for the game with the man advantage isn’t bad, unless one of those penalties was a five minute major that the Sharks did very little on. Calgary gained momentum against the Sharks after that kill and scored to tie the game shortly after.

“I thought our power play took us out of the game and then allowed us to come back into the game” said Coach Todd McLellan. “We had enough minutes and enough talent on the ice that we should have at least been able to gain some momentum from it (referring to the five minute major penalty)”

San Jose got off to a great start again with a goal less than a minute into the game by Logan Couture. Couture found a soft spot in the slot and positioned himself in a great position for the rebound. This was another second chance goal which the team has improved on in the last few games.

Couture scored his second marker of the night in the third period and with that he became the first Shark to ever score thirty goals or more in their first two seasons in the NHL. It took Logan a couple of games to perform the way he can after returning from injury but it now appears that he is back to his goal scoring ways.

Many Sharks fans everywhere are saying it is about time the coaching staff sat Colin White. We know he has been a regular on the pretenders list so I am also on board with that decision. It is the second game in a row that White has sat and the pairing has been Jason Demers playing alongside Justin Braun in his place. Demers and Braun are both young, and will be a key to the future of the blue line for the Sharks if they are able to limit the mistakes that make young inexperienced defensemen make. Their play the last two games should justify the team staying with this combination.

The goaltending battle tonight saw former Shark Mikka Kiprusoff against Antti Niemi. Niemi will most likely play the remainder of the games for San Jose and likes playing against Calgary and his fellow country man Kiprusoff. Niemi wasn’t bad tonight and can’t be blamed for the loss; however he was once again outplayed by his opponent.

Scoring details

1st Period

SJ – 0:53 –EV – 39 L.Couture(29) – assists – 88 B.Burns(22), 19 J.Thornton(50)

2nd Period

CAL – 5:46 –EV – 47 S.Baertschi(2) – assists – 51 R.Horak(8), 27 D.Smith(10)

CAL – 18:27 –EV – 12 J.Iginla(30) – assist – 5 M.Giordano(14)

3rd Period

SJ – 1:22 –PP – 39 L.Couture(30) – assists – 12 P.Marleau(28), 19 J.Thornton(51)

Overtime

CAL – 4:20 –EV – 18 M.Stajan(5) – assist – 10 B.Comeau(8)

The turning point was been beaten to death in the post-game show but it is worth mentioning. The five minute power play that San Jose didn’t score on nor did they create any momentum killed the Sharks tonight and sparked the Flames.

Contenders & Pretenders

Contenders

Logan Couture – was great tonight scoring both goals for the Sharks. The way this kid plays with such great composure and poise at such a young age is impressive and his team mates should pay more attention and take a page from the book of Couture. He is the game’s first contender.

Jarome Iginla – is a Shark killer but he is a killer of many teams. His 30th goal of the season marked the 11th straight year he has hit that marker and he has proven to be the model of consistency. Jarome was a contender tonight.

Mikka Kiprusoff – played well enough to earn the win and only let one past him in the third period when his team was outplayed and outshot 9-2. The goal that got by him was on the power play and one of his team mates went for a new stick which made it a 5 on 3 for the moment when he was scored upon. Kipper deserves mention on the contender’s list tonight.

Pretenders

Dan Boyle - gets the first nod for chipping the puck into Matt Stajan’s shin pads which started off the game winning play for Calgary. Stajan scored the game winner after Boyle made an uncharacteristic play, and for that he is the game’s first pretender.

Tom Kostopoulos – thought he had cleared the puck when he went for another stick when his team was killing a penalty which resulted in the game tying goal for the Sharks. That bad move puts him on the pretender’s list.

The referees – were inconsistent all night and absolutely blew an easy obvious hit from behind call on Matt Stajan who ended up scoring the game winning goal. Nobody deserves to be on this list more than the refs tonight.

Things don’t get any easier for the Sharks as they face-off against the stingy Nashville Predators Thursday night back at the Shark Tank.

Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore

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