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Great effort means great result for Sharks |
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San Jose played their most complete game of the month as they beat the Boston Bruins in an exciting 2-1 battle with the game winner coming on Daniel Winnik’s first goal as a Shark.
“That’s probably our most complete game in a long long time” said Joe Thornton after the game “It was just a great effort tonight.”
The Sharks showed the desperation and tight checking hockey that we have expected to see for the last couple of weeks. They held the defending Cup champions to just nine shots through two periods and seventeen on the night. The Sharks who wore their third black colored jerseys limited the number of Bruins scoring chances and should be proud with this win. When Boston did get a decent opportunity Antti Niemi stood tall and squared off against shooters and controlled the rebounds.
“They should feel good about themselves tonight” said coach McLellan after the game. “They didn’t feel good coming back from LA. If they want to continue to feel that way they have to perform the way they did tonight. The secret right now is playing free.”
It was a sound effort on all fronts by the Sharks and it makes one wonder where this effort has been for all season, but particularly the last six weeks. The Sharks didn’t let Boston get any momentum whatsoever. They fore checked hard and didn’t allow the Bruins offense to develop.
The Sharks got Tommy Wingels back from injury Thursday. Michael Handzus and Jason Demers also made their return from the healthy scratches list last game in place of Jim Vandermeer, Brad Winchester, and Colin White. Wingels had been a nice addition to the line-up prior to his upper body injury bringing a physical element to the game which is a requirement when playing the Bruins.
Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture switched spots in the line-up which is strange considering the second unit has been the team’s best line the last two games. That unit’s success has come from the sticks of Havlat and Clowe, but if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.
Colin White’s absence was somewhat of a surprise considering they played one of the more physical teams in the league.
Jim Vandermeer also brings a physical element to the game and isn’t shy to drop the gloves when need be. The Bruins boast a number of players who are comfortable throwing the fists so Vandy’s status as a healthy scratch was also surprising.
At this point in the season winning the battle on the scoreboard is crucial which may be why the Sharks filled a more skilled line-up than a physical one.
Joe Thornton started his career as a Boston Bruin and although he now plays in a different conference it was easy to see that he enjoys playing against his old team. Joe skated as well as he has all year long and the jump in his step was easy to see. He had to contend with the NHL’s tallest man, Zdeno Chara who stands at 6’9 for most of his shifts tonight.
The Boston Bruins are as good as any team in the league at line matching. They did a great job of making sure Chara was out against the Thornton line most of the night. It doesn’t who matter who Chara was paired with but usually it was Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk. Even though the Sharks had last change at home the Bruins are practiced at getting their shut down D-man out against the opposition’s top line.
Scoring details
1st Period
SJ – 3:57 –EV – 8 J.Pavelski – assists – 12 P.Marleau(31), 19 J.Thornton(53)
2nd Period
No scoring
3rd Period
SJ – 2:17 –EV – 34 D.Winnik(6) – assist – 69 A.Desjardins(11)
BOS – 15:45 –EV – 33 Z.Chara(11) – assists – 23 C.Kelly(16), 12 B.Rolston(12)
The turning point in this game was the shifts after Sharks goals were scored. That 0:60 after San Jose lit the lamp have killed momentum for this team but on Thursday it wasn’t a factor.
Joe Thornton was asked about the shift after scoring “Yeah it’s been talked about and we realized that we’d been giving a lot of goals after scoring so tonight we bared down and made sure we were ready.”
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Daniel Winnik – is the first contender scoring his first goal in a Sharks uniform. He sniped a clutch goal for his team and he looked like a goal scorer doing it. Winnik has played some pretty good hockey for the Sharks since joining the team but his efforts have not shown up on the score sheet, until Thursday night against the Bruins. What made it even more special was that it came against a Vezina trophy winner in Tim Thomas.
Joe Pavelski – got his team going early by scoring the game’s first goal and he did it while Norris trophy winner Zdeno Chara was on the ice. Pavs also drove the net hard on the game winner opening things up for Winnik finishing the game at plus -2.
Zdeno Chara – was on the ice for almost every shift against the Thornton line and at the end of the game stood tall for a marathon two minute plus stint. He is a rock out there and with his massive reach is a beast to play against.
Pretenders
Milan Lucic – wasn’t a factor Thursday against the Sharks and was almost invisible out there. He was on the ice for both San Jose goals and needed to make his physical presence known if they were going to win this one.
Justin Braun – got caught holding onto the puck too long in his own zone against the B’s and it almost cost his team. As a result he got pummeled a couple of times and was slow going off the ice on one occasion. Move the puck quicker and you won’t find yourself on the pretenders list Justin.
The Sharks really needed these two points against Boston because most teams they are chasing that played Thursday night earned points. Phoenix and LA won their games, Calgary lost in a shoot-out earning a single point and Dallas lost.
This sets up a great game for Saturday night when the Coyotes come to town and they will be without their captain Shane Doan who will be sitting the second game of a three game suspension for an elbow to the head of the Star’s Jamie Benn.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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