The Sharks had another impressive performance against the Jets last night, dominating the first period and into the second before reverting, as they against LA, to protecting the lead.
Goals:
Marc-Edouard Vlasic put the Sharks up 1-0 after some great work down low by the 12-39-83 line, a line that was visible and dominant all night.
Tomas Hertl got his first of the season after breaking free with a nice feed by Joe Thornton.
Patrick Marleau got his second point of the night when Matt Nieto sent him in on a breakaway and #12 undressed Ondrej Pavelec to put the Sharks up 3-0.
After the Sharks second goal is when the intensity picked up and the game became more physical, featuring some nice hits by both sides. The Sharks couldn’t capitalize on numerous power play chances throughout the night, exposing a glaring weakness in the otherwise strong team. The Penalty Kill for the Sharks was solid again keeping pucks to the outside and not letting shots get through to Alex Stalock. The shots that did get through were often visible to the Sharks netminder making it easier to kick away.
The Sharks defense was calm and collected in the first period, making decisive plays before absorbing hits and moving the puck well from their own end. The story changed in the second period when the blueliners in teal seemed to panic a bit before making a play in their own zone resulting in some sloppy play.
The Sharks top nine looked strong again with Thornton/Couture lines driving the offense and the Tierney line providing defensive support. Four lines were rolled a lot less in this game in comparison to the LA game but that can be attributed to the ineffectiveness of Burish/Brown in all situations. Tommy Wingels got a lot of time on the PP with Marleau and Couture as the game went on, bumping Matt Nieto off the second unit. Nieto played well so it’s not safe to assume this is a long term thing. It might just be a result of the Jets mental collapse in the third period.
Five Thoughts on the Game
Alex Stalock
Stalock followed up Antti Niemi’s shutout with a donut of his own. The Sharks 1B turned aside shot after shot until he had matched his comrade’s opening night performance. Stalock is a very confident goaltender playing the puck, even when things don’t always go his way. More often than not last night when Stalock came out to grab a puck coming around the boards it went right by him, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to play his game.
Stalock is a considerably better puck handler than Niemi and put his stick work on display in the first with under ten seconds left, sending a breakout pass to the Jets blueline to give the Sharks one last shot before the frame ended. In the third Stalock moved the puck forward on the PP to the surprise of everyone as he hit it out of mid-air to his forward to keep the play moving. Bouncing pucks around the boards are tough to grab so the only place I could see for Stalock to button down is his rebound control. Several rebounds went to juicy spots for the Jets and if the Sharks play a better offensive team those are ones he might not get away with.
Dustin Byfuglien
Big Buff fell off the rails shortly after the Sharks second goal. He continued to drive hard and annoy the Sharks defenders but, emotionally, he was distracted and couldn’t finish. He finished the night -1 with 16 penalty minutes, making life easy for the Sharks playing an already mediocre Jets offense. For whatever reason, the Sharks were able to get in Byfuglien’s head and make him a non-factor, something they’ll need to do against several players this season to make things easier on themselves.
Mirco Mueller
Unlike his first game againt LA, Mueller didn’t look comfortable on the ice. His toughest shift came in the second period when he spent most of it in the Sharks zone after two turnovers before Stalock bailed him out. He had a difficult time moving the puck around his own zone for the majority of the night and looked awkward on the point in the offensive zone.
I’m not sure why McLellan continues to put Mueller out on the PP, maybe it’s due to the lack of offensive defensemen for the Sharks this year, but it isn’t working right now. We can’t expect the rookie D-man to play great every night but consistent performances like this could warrant a trip back to junior.
Sharks Power Play
0/8.
The power play was disgusting. The Sharks couldn’t establish any offense with a man advantage against the Jets and if they can’t figure out how to play one-up they will not win too many games when they get closer in score.
Some people will be quick to point out the lack of Dan Boyle on the PP this year but I think that’s nonsense. Boyle was here last year and power play was garbage then, too. The problem is within the system. There’s too much board play and waiting around. Having patience is one thing; waiting for the perfect play to fall in your lap is another. McLellan has a lot of work to do to get this PP rolling.
Thornton/Marleau
The two vets put in another good performance, combing for a goal, two assists, 5 shots, 2 hits and a +3 rating. Through all the trade talk, captaincy issues and media bashing, 19/12 are just being 19/12. They’ve picked up where they left off last season and are driving the Sharks offense once again. They are going nowhere.
Milestone Watch: Marleau is now four assists shy of 500 while Thornton moved to five points away from 1200.
Thanks for reading.