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Sharks are one game away from a disappointing season

April 20, 2012, 2:50 AM ET [34 Comments]
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Sharks fell to the St. Louis Blues by the score of 2-1 in another one goal game to fall behind 3-1 in the best of seven series.

It was a game that the Sharks once again had their looks and their opportunities to score but they were unable to capitalize. Overall San Jose played a pretty solid game, but this time of year that doesn’t count for much.

“It’s about wins now” said Joe Thornton after the game “and we didn’t win. Now we’ve put ourselves into a corner and now we have to fight our way back.”

The Sharks are 0 for 4 when trailing in a series 3 games to 1.

Missed scoring chances was the story of the game as it has been for the Sharks all year long. The Sharks had their chances to light the lamp in game four particularly in the second period. When you look back at the reasons why a team didn’t score it is often the little things that stand out.

San Jose had a great opportunity early in the second period with four Blues players on the ice for more two minutes and unable to get off with the long change and two icing calls. The Sharks put the Thornton line out but lost the draw and didn’t even get a good look.

In the first period Logan Couture wasn’t able to deke Brian Elliott on a break-away after a great save on Andy MacDonald in the other end by Antti Niemi.

Special teams played a major role again in this game and once again the Sharks were on the wrong side of the tally. The Sharks were unable to score on four power play chances and the Blues scored their eventual game winning goal with the man advantage finishing the game one for three.

The Sharks made some changes to the line-up for game four of the series hoping to infuse some energy and some size into the rotation. Brad Winchester suited up in place of T.J Galiardi and Michal Handzus for Dominic Moore. Both players bring added size up front but it came at the cost of speed and skill.

The team hasn’t had a great deal of success in games two and three so changing the line-up with the intention of winning more board battles isn’t a bad idea. Handzus is known for killing penalties which the Sharks could use the help on and his prowess in the face-off circle should come in handy.

They also made a major line change by moving Patrick Marleau to center on the second unit for Logan Couture. As a result the second line, which had some decent looks in game three were almost invisible at the Tank on Thursday night. The Thornton unit continued to pressure the Blues goalie Brain Elliott with the best scoring chances and netted the only Sharks goal with the goalie pulled late in the third period.

This is a move that I wanted to see down the stretch of the regular season. This line-up was changed to get Patty going and in the middle he has more room to move and get involved in the game. He is a streaky player and the Sharks needed him to be at the top of his game coming into the post-season.

“You’re able to keep moving as a centerman and keep your speed that way as opposed to being stopped on the boards sometimes” said Marleau prior to game four began about playing in the middle.

Marleau has zero points in this series and hasn’t been an impact on any level. The question is will we find out about an injury he has been fighting after the season is over, if any.

The sellout crowd at the HP Pavilion was nervous right from the start. They knew like most people covering the game that the Sharks needed to score first and they were unable to do that.

Scoring Details

1st Period

STL – 7:12 –EV – 26 B.Crombeen(1) – assists – 21 P.Berglund, 57 D.Perron(1)

2nd Period

No scoring

3rd

STL – 12:00 –PP – 10 A.MacDonald(3) – assists – 21 Berglund(3), 57 D.Perron(2)

SJ – 18:53 –EV-EN – 19 J.Thornton(1) – assists – 39 L.Couture(3), 88 B.Burns(1)

The turning point in this game was Marleau’s interference call that ended the Sharks power play in the third period. They finally started getting shots through to the net and the crowd was buzzing with anticipation as they came close to bulging the twine.

Contenders & Pretenders

Contenders

Brian Elliott – was the man to beat again on Thursday and he was only beat once. For that he is the first contender.

Patrick Berglund – has been a consistent producer for the Blues this series with a multiple point game again.

Andy MacDonald – had the game winner and may have put the dagger in the hearts of the Sharks and their season.

Pretenders

Patrick Marleau – is back in familiar territory on the pretenders list. He brought down the second line that had more looks the previous three games than they did with Patty in the middle Thursday night. He stalled the best looking power play the Sharks had all game with a minor penalty that the Blues scored on to take a two goal lead. It has been puzzling how a player with this much talent can disappear when they need him the most.

The Sharks power play – needed to come up with something in this one, even a momentum change would have helped but they drew a blank in this game.

Joe Pavelski – missed the best scoring chance of the night when Couture got checked into the Blues’ goalie Brian Elliott and there was an empty net that somehow Pavs failed to get some wood on the puck. He has missed numerous scoring chances this series and hasn’t found his way onto the score sheet.

The Sharks try to keep their season alive on Saturday night in St Louis.

Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
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