The Sharks conclude their five game road trip with a matinee in Winnipeg on Sunday.
It's been a busy week for the Sharks with two very good games sandwiched between a couple of real stinkers.
San Jose blew a three-goal, third period lead in Ottawa on Friday night. The Senators won the game 6-5 in overtime. Matt Duchene scored his second goal of the evening, seven seconds into the 3-on-3 frame . It put an exclanation point on Ottawa's big comeback. The Sharks had been 14-0 when leading after two periods up until that point.
It was an ugly loss, to a bad team. I have to wonder if the meltdown had less to do with Ottawa and more to do with sheer exhaustion. San Jose players won't admit it, but they flat out ran out of gas. After three games in four nights, including an emotional game in Toronto the previous night, they flat out hit a wall.
Aaron Dell took thIe loss, allowing six goals on 43 shots. The setback snapped a personal six-game winning streak for San Jose's back-up. Dell has been so good this season that he's drawing attention around the league from teams in need of help between the pipes. A quality back-up is a luxury the Sharks can't afford to give up.
It was a bitter loss, but at the very least- the offense was pretty good.
Thomas Hertl scored a pair of goals, Logan Couture collected three points, Brent Burns picked up two points, Joonas Donskoi got on the scoresheet for the first time in nine games, Tim Heed had an assist and Chris Tierney has goals in back-to-back games.
If fatigue is indeed a factor, an afternoon game versus the Jets will be a challenge. Winnipeg is 4-0-1 in their last five games. They've scored 20 goals during that stretch. Should be a real hoot.
Thanks for reading, Steve