Last night the Sharks came out on top of the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 5-2, getting goals from Pavelski (2), Goodrow, Burns and Couture.
Alex Stalock tightened up after the first period – a period which seemed to have painted a picture for an ugly night for both goaltenders – and the Sharks were able to capitalize on their chances in an otherwise close game.
Neither team significantly dominated the play at any point at 5v5 in the game but the Sharks received better goaltending and capitalized on strong special teams play to get the victory.
The victory didn't come without loss, though, as Mike Brown and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both left the game with injuries and didn't return. The initial diagnosis of Vlasic is that exit from the game was precautionary and is nothing serious. For Brown, however, it looks like he’s going to be done for a good chunk of games again.
Thoughts
Melker Karlsson had a solid first game, playing 11:53 TOI with a +2 rating, one assist, two hits and a blocked shot. He also had a 50% Corsi% with a 38% OffZS%. That’s the type of game that gets you an encore.
With Brown now out again the Sharks will need to fill that hole in the lineup. Injuries are ravaging an already questionable depth core for San Jose so it’s nice to see a young player like Karlsson come into the lineup and make a difference. He gets my vote for Brown replacement currently.
Mirco Mueller got some extra ice-time with Vlasic out of the picture and he played pretty well. He needs to work on his positional play and not get caught roaming around the defensive zone. At times you could find him wandering up by the blue-line; somewhere a defender should never be while the other team has possession in the zone. While Mueller isn’t really ideal for first pairing duties at least he was able to hold his own for a short period of time.
Barclay Goodrow got his first NHL goal but was otherwise the same as usual. I know there are injury issues right now and the Sharks need bodies in the lineup but I think Goodrow would be better served to play out the season in Worcester. He had a great camp and he could be an effective role player down the road for San Jose but he simply isn't getting the job done at the NHL level and the Sharks need to reach into the bag of AHLers and see what they can pull out to make things work better in the bottom six.
I couldn't go this whole post without showing Joe Pavelski’s first of the night. The Joe-Joe combination is a thing of beauty. Pavelski knows where the net is. His GPG average over the last three seasons isn’t going down any time soon.
Special Teams: The PP went 1/1 and the PK killed off both Oilers chances to go perfect on the night. The Sharks sit with the 3rd best PP in the NHL at 24.2%. They improved to 82.8% on the PK which is good enough for 13th in the league.
On another note, the Sharks improved their Win% when being out-shot to .643. When they out-shoot the opposition they boast an ugly .375 Win%. San Jose is also the 8th best face-off team in the league at 51.8%.
The win moved the Sharks into 8th place in West and sit two points back of Calgary (3rd Pacific) and four points back of Vancouver (2nd Pacific) as their quest to climb the standings continues.
The Sharks now have a day off before playing the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. They have some extended time at home and won’t leave California until after their game on the 27th of December. It’s a great opportunity to get some rest and get into a routine but it won’t be easy with Nashville, St Louis, Anaheim and Los Angeles mixed in with the Minnesota and Edmonton games that are upcoming.
Thanks for reading.