Nathan McKimmon and the Colorado Avalanche had a power play party at the San Jose Sharks expense in 6-3 victory at the SAP Center on Monday night
The Avalanche offense was fueled by four power play goals, including two in a three-goal third that broke the game open.
The Sharks essentially turtled in the the third period after having pulled to within a goal late in the second period. Martin Jones was average again between the pipes stopping 20 of 25 shots in the loss.
Calvin Pickard of the Pickard family (older brother Chet plays in Germany) of goalies made 33 saves to earn his first NHL win for Colorado. In the category of pouring salt in the wound...
- The win snapped Colorado's 13-game losing streak in San Jose.
- San Jose, which is 4-10-0 at SAP Center, has lost four in a row and seven of eight at home .
- San Jose has the worst penalty kill at home (71%).
- Did I mention San Jose stinks at home?
...
What I find so obnoxiously perplexing is the Sharks complete lack of discipline in a game that was this important and against a team coached by Patrick Roy. That pretty obnoxious in itself. There was a sense San Jose was finally going to turn a corner following the win against LA and coming out of a much needed break.
One step forward and three, maybe four steps back.
Forget about momentum. Forget about changing their luck at home. Forget about a penalty kill that had been doing a fairly decent job of late. Forget about the playoffs
It all means nothing without the on ice results and it's seems to be the story of Pete Deboer's coaching career. Some of his post game statements made me cringe because I've heard the same meaningless words before.
From ESPN.com"Our penalty kill has been arguably the best in the League over the last two months. It wasn't good tonight. They were making plays through us. Their goalie was better than ours too. That's a bad formula."
"I don't have a reason, hooking, holding … we took six (penalties). You're playing with fire any time you take that many penalties. They had four power-play goals. That was the difference in the game. "
The Sharks host the Philadelphia Flyers (15-13-7) tonight back at the SAP.
What to watch for..
- These clubs met earlier in the season and Martin Jones earned a 34 save shutout in one of his best games of the season.
- Joe Pavelski is battling the flu but should be ready for the game. Logan Couture has been back practicing with the team and could also make his return against Philly.
- This is the second game of Philly's three-game California swing. They lost to Anaheim 4-2 on Sunday.
- Joe Thorton has eight points (2g 6a) during his current six-game point streak.
Thanks for reading, Steve