The Sharks continue to dominate the 2013 season after blanking the Colorado Avalanche 4-0. San Jose’s Patrick Marleau continues on his 96 goal pace bagging another two in this afternoon’s battle.
Thomas Greiss got the start for San Jose this afternoon and although he wasn’t tested a lot a shutout can never be undervalued especially when it is the first of his career. The Sharks play back to back games facing off against the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow evening so this was the ideal opportunity to get Greiss his first action of the campaign.
“I’m happy I got it” responded Greiss when asked about the shutout.
“It was more important to get the two points and the win. I just had to make the first save and the defense took care of the rest. They scored a couple of goals which made me feel good.”
The big story from today along with Greiss’s shutout was Matt Irwin’s first NHL goal.
“I slid out off the half wall and hit it as hard as I could and it found its way home” is how Irwin described his top shelf goal.
Irwin has been playing with Sharks Dan Boyle and the two have been able to create some chemistry which will make the coaching staff’s job much harder when Brent Burns and Jason Demers are ready to return and someone has to be scratched.
The Sharks came to life towards the end of the first period when they potted two power play goals just over a minute apart. The Avalanche’s Ryan O’Byrne targeted the Sharks Brad Stuart after he leveled Colorado’s young captain Gabriel Landeskog with a crushing open ice hit. Landeskog left the game limping, but returned in the second.
“I thought it was a hard hit. I haven't seen it (the replay) but I think it was a clean hit or felt like a clean hit, no elbow but it was hard, I'll tell you that much. I was kind of reaching for the puck and did brace myself enough and stepped up. That's the way with hockey, you give some and you take some and tonight I took a pretty big one” was Gabriel Landeskog’s perspective on the body check after the game.
O’Byrne can take pride in winning the fight but it came at the expense of a double minor and two power play goals. O’Byrne’s role on the Avalanche is to be an enforcer, however feeling shame in the box against a very potent and hot power play unit is not the smartest thing to do and the Sharks made him pay for preying on someone who delivered a clean hit.
The Avs came into this game riding the hot hand after downing the defending Stanley Cup champs on Tuesday night. They followed that effort up by shutting out Columbus on Thursday.
San Jose is also on fire as far hot teams go as they are yet to lose in this young season. The Sharks entered this afternoon’s game with a 3-0 record and they have won on the heels of the man advantage and the team’s top line.
Thornton, Marleau, and Pavelski are the top paid players on this club and so far have provided most of the team’s offense. At some point the depth lines are going to have to show up on the offensive scoreboard.
Scott Gomez made his Sharks debut wearing number 23 while centering the fourth line as well as seeing time on the second power play unit. James Sheppard was a healthy scratch making room for the Anchorage Alaskan native to suit up.
Gomez faired pretty well in teal showing some nice hands down low creating scoring opportunities and controlling the puck in tight areas. Gomez took the place of Michal Handzus on the second power play unit which makes a lot of sense since Gomez is known for his passing abilities.
“First of all it was a great win. It’s great to come to a team that is on a winning streak, you don’t want to be the guy who comes in and stops the streak.” was Gomez’ response when asked about his first game as a Shark.
Gomez commented about the transition to Sharks hockey and told us how it is “You don’t do it you don’t play. We have great coaches who are on you after shifts letting us know.”
Scoring details
1st period
SJ – 16:09 –PP – 12 P.Marleau(7) – assists – 8 J.Pavelski(8), 22Dan Boyle(2)
SJ – 17:27 –PP – 12 P.Marleau(8) – assists – 19 J.Thornton(9), 22 D.Boyle(3)
2nd period
SJ – 2:32 –PP – 19 J.Thornton(2) – assists – 29 R.Clowe(2), 12 P.Marleau(3)
SJ – 17:05 –EV – 52 M.Irwin(1) – assists – 9 M.Havlat(2), 29 R.Clowe(3)
3rd period
No scoring
The turning point in this game was the hit by Brad Stuart and the ensuing Ryan O’Byrne double minor for instigating and instigating with a visor. The Sharks took advantage on the power play scoring two goals at the end of the first twenty and never looked back.
After regrouping in between periods the Avalanche took another minor to start the second period, which the Sharks also scored on sucking the life out of the visitors from Colorado. The thirteen shots on net after two and twenty-four on the afternoon is a tough way to win in the NHL.
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Michal Handzus – makes the list today for retrieving the puck after Matt Irwin scored his first NHL goal. A small gesture like that goes a long way towards building good team chemistry.
Thomas Greiss – recorded his first career shutout and was solid as he often is. He had some help from the posts but any time you blank the opposition some luck is involved.
Ryane Clowe – showed up today and got on the score sheet with two helpers. Clowe has gotten off to a slow start this year and clearly missed not having a proper training camp.
The penalty kill – was solid for San Jose tonight going a perfect 3 for 3.
Pretenders
Ryan O’Byrne – is an obvious choice as his double minor was what sparked the Sharks to a two goal lead that they never relinquished after a slow start.
Avalanche stars – were not shining bright, in fact they didn’t shine at all. Colorado failed to create any consistent scoring chances or sustained pressure in the offensive zone. For that they can all share a spot on the contender’s list.
The Sharks go at it again tomorrow evening at 5pm against the Canucks who destroyed Anaheim in their season opener 5-0 on Friday night.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»