The Edmonton Oilers played the role of spoiler perfectly on Thursday night. The Oil Can Crew skated past the San Jose Sharks 4-1, snapping the six-game winning streak.
Andrej Sekera lifted his club with two big goals. The win extended Edmonton's point streak to eight games and pulled them even with the Sharks for first in the Pacific Division. Both teams have 64 points at the All-Star break, one more than Anaheim.
Logan Couture put San Jose on the board first, but Oiler goalie Cam Talbot was a beast in net going forward. He made several key stops and Edmonton's offense did the rest. Kudos to a Sharks team that wasn't about to roll over. They put on a big push at the end, holding a 16-3 shot advantage in the third and 33-21 overall.
Talbot stopped 32 of 33 shots to preserve the two points. Martin Jones made 18 saves in the loss.
***
Despite the setback, the Sharks enter the All-Star break with a healthy 31-17-2 record and a share of the Pacific lead.
The following are some of the random thoughts I had following the game.
- With four days between games, the Sharks will have plenty of time to stew on the loss. It doesn't get any easier once play resumes with a game against the Chicago Blackhawks waiting for them on the other sides. Six-game win streak could very easily between a two-game streak the other game and over a week between wins.
- Instead of increasing their lead in the Pacific they settle for a tie. Moreover, they are tied with the team lead by an old friend in Todd Mclellan. You don't think there's a little extra motivation there, do you?
- The one Sharks goal scored was the lowest since they were shutout by St. Louis Jan. 14. San Jose was averaging 3.7 goals per game - well above the season average of 2.7.
- Martin Jones .850 save percentage was his worst since the St. Louis game. His percentage had been a very positive .929 in his four previous starts.
- Patrick Marleau was held scoreless and remains stuck on career goal number 498.
- It was Doug Wilson's 1,000th game as Sharks general manager. He is the fourth person in NHL history with 1,000 games as a GM and as a player, joining Bobby Clarke, Bob Gainey and Bob Pulford.
- The Sharks franchise record for most wins in a row is 11 and they've done it twice. San Jose didn't win the Stanley Cup either time. So - no biggie.
- They lost but put forth a decent effort. That's really all you can ask. Now get some rest boys -a very tough stretch run is up next.
Thank for reading and enjoy the All-Star festivities., Steve