San Jose was dealt the fate they deserved last night. The Devils largely outplayed San Jose for the majority of the game.
The Devils came out hungry to avenge some embarrassing performances of late and the Sharks weren’t ready for it. The better team won the game, there isn’t much else to it. New Jersey got a few favorable bounces on some goals but that’s hockey.
Rather than write a new assessment of the first period – which was the biggest disaster – here’s my twitter assessment of the first during the intermission of last night’s game.
The #SJSharks first period after the Pavelski goal: pic.twitter.com/keDmAvJgGg
— Tim Chiasson (@chiassontb) January 20, 2015Accurate, no?
The final score was 5-2 and the Sharks have bigger problems ahead.
The Devils are allowed to have good games and they’re allowed to outplay opponents. Expectations were higher for them at the start of the season let’s not forget.
While it’s not the end of the world, last night’s loss definitely hurt in the standings. The Flames and Kings had a three point game, with the Flames taking two of the points. That brings the Kings within two points and the Flames within one. Both have a game in hand.
San Jose now faces the Kings, Ducks and Blackhawks in their next three games. That is an unfavorable stretch of games for any team let alone one trying to hold on to a playoff position.
Alex Stalock
Yesterday we talked about Niemi. Let’s talk about Alex Stalock today, if only because people are writing him off illegitimately.
Is he a legitimate starter in the NHL?
The real answer is: no one knows.
You cannot accurately answer that question yes or no at this point. What the Sharks have in Stalock is a goaltender who has seen limited action in sporadic fashion while playing well in the majority of those games.
Last season, Alex Stalock out-performed Niemi in the statistics category by a significant margin. This season, he’s below Niemi. So, which Stalock is the real Stalock? The one who played at a very high level over 24 games last year, or the one who has struggled through 13 this year? A true assessment of his value and future as a 1, 2 or worse can’t be legitimately decided based on the small body of work he’s put in.
For as much as he’s struggled this year, his totals from last season and this season put him at 92.37% 5v5 save percentage – which places him directly below Jonas Hiller/Kari Lehtonen and above Jaroslav Halak and Ryan Miller. That doesn’t mean he’s a future star, but it doesn’t mean he should be written off as well. There is a significant difference in amount of games played between Stalock and the goalies mentioned – so the save percentage could change on a large scale – but that’s not Stalock’s fault, nor can the change be predicted.
His fundamentals are there. Compared to Niemi he tracks the puck better, has better puck handling skills and he’s more athletic. Injuries have set him back this season and he hasn’t been given a chance at ringing 5 or 6 straight games off to gauge any consistency. Because of that, the Sharks are in a pickle with regards to their goaltending situation beyond this season.
Niemi shouldn’t return and they’ve left Stalock in the unproven and question mark category. The goaltenders that are available in free agency are nothing spectacular.
If the Sharks want to find out more about Stalock’s abilities to carry a heavier workload they’re going to have to play him more. It’s that simple. With how the goalie situation has been handled you have to believe the Sharks thought there could be a future with Stalock moving forward – but that future will remain unknown until he plays on a more consistent basis.
The point is this: Stalock hasn’t been given a chance to prove to anyone what hard expectations can be for him moving forward. He’s still an unknown variable in the Sharks organization and until he's given a chance he'll remain as such.
Regardless of what they do or don’t do with Stalock for the rest of the year they are going to need another goaltender for next season and it’s most likely going to come via trade if they want an upgrade over Niemi. If they plan on chasing Jhonas Enroth in free agency they might as well just resign Niemi for one year and wait for a new goalie market to develop.
Alright Sharks fans, name some goalies you’d like to see – realistically – playing for team teal next season.
Thanks for reading.