It was the second game of the home and home series against Dallas and the Sharks looked confident in a 5-2 win as they took five of the six games they played this season.

The Sharks got contributions by everybody and every line and thirteen different players hit the score sheet in the win. The depth players got the team started which was a nice surprise and when that happened and by the way they played you knew the well paid players were going to earn their money in this one.

“Everybody stepped up” said Dan Boyle. “Our goalie played good and made a huge save at the end. Third and fourth line guys were producing and we got a couple of big goals from our top guys.”

Daniel Winnik got the team started on the fourth line. The third line stepped up to the plate next with T.J Galiardi netting his first goal as a Shark, and what a snipe it was going roof on the glove side from in tight. Galiardi displayed some sweet hands on that goal that makes you wonder where that has been for the last few weeks.

“They gave us valuable energetic minutes” commented Coach Todd McLellan when asked about the depth lines “They ended up rewarding themselves with a goal. We had enough confidence to play all four lines and it paid off in the end.”

Logan Couture got off the shnied with a power play goal which turned out to be the game winner and the first from the list of players who are expected to step up. Joe Thornton’s goal was also a great show of quick hands as he got the puck off in a hurry to beat Stars’ goalie Kari Lethonen high to the glove side.

Ryane Clowe hit the score sheet with an empty netter to seal the deal and hopefully get his confidence back to where it needs to be.

Antti Niemi played a great hockey game with a huge save on a breakaway stopping Jamie Benn a Stars’ sniper. The play then turned around and went the other way resulting in a Sharks goal which essentially was the end of Dallas’ season.

Scoring details

1st Period

SJ – 12:09 –EV – 34 D.Winnik(8) – assists – 69 A.Desjardins, 88 B.Burns(26)

DAL – 17:47 –EV – 10 B.Morrow(11) – assists – 63 M.Ribeiro(45), 28 M.Fistric(2)

2nd Period

DAL – 11:10 –EV – 33 A.Goligoski(9) – assists – 14 J.Benn(37), 36 P.Larsen(8)

SJ – 11:42 –EV – 37 T.Galiardi(9) – assists – 18 D.Moore(20), 44 M.Vlasic(19)

SJ – 17:24 –PP – 39 L.Couture(31) – assists – 9 M.Havlat(18), 22 D.Boyle(38)

3rd Period

SJ – 15:10 –EV – 19 J.Thornton(17) – assists – 8 J.Pavelski(28), 12 P.Marleau(33)

SJ – 18:56 –EV-EN – 29 R.Clowe(16) – assists – 39 L.Couture(31)

There were a couple of turning points in this game and they were pretty easy to spot, but here they are in case you missed them. The first one was T.J Galiardi’s first goal in a Sharks uniform. It was big because it was the shift after a goal. The Stars went ahead 2-1 but San Jose weren’t phased one bit as they came back and stole the momentum away from the home team. That was big for a team whose confidence still isn’t where it should be.

The other turning point was the Niemi save on Benn and the Joe Thornton goal the other way to seal the win for the Sharks.

Contenders & Pretenders

Contenders

Antti Niemi – gave his team the confidence they needed with some big saves after letting in a soft first goal of the game. He stopped 29 of 31 attempts on net and will need to continue his strong play if they are going to beat the Kings.

The third line – was definitely the third and not the fourth unit tonight. They were strong on the puck and fore checked hard. The Galiardi goal was huge and their contributions were instrumental in the win.

Logan Couture – gets the third contender for scoring a goal and an assist but he was also good in his own end. The blocked shot at the end of the opening twenty while down two men and without a stick won’t show up on the score sheet; but was a detail that made a difference in this game.

Pretenders

The Ribeiro line – I thought didn’t play up to the occasion in a due or die game. Ribeiro himself appeared disinterested at times and played as though their season was already over.

Kari Lethonen – wasn’t great Tuesday night with a .840 save percentage and he let in 4 goals past him on 25 shots.

The Sharks move on to the biggest game of the year…seriously this time it is the biggest game of the year as they travel to LA to face the Kings on Thursday night.

Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore

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