Another win for the Sharks and another goal for Matt Nieto. The young players’ luck has finally turned over the last few games and the Sharks are reaping the benefits from the depth goals.
The Sharks climbed into a tie for 8th in the West with the victory, so the two points were extremely important but were not had without a fight.
After a disastrous first period that saw them outshot 16-6 the Sharks rebounded to outshoot the Flyers 21-13 over the remaining two periods of play and got the ‘W’ with twelve seconds left off Nieto’s stick.
Each win is extremely important for the Sharks as they try and stay above water in the tough Western Conference. A string of wins can go a long way and San Jose is trying to make that happen. The doubt is still there, though. When they step on the ice I get this feeling of ‘Who am I going to see?’ It’s an unknown factor these days with the Sharks. They still have a lot to prove to the hockey world beyond winning two games in a row.
Brendan Dillon tried to show his toughness in a surprise bout with Sean Couturier but the fight was pretty uneventful with Couturier using his long reach to keep Dillon at bay. Dillon had some nice jersey jabs at the start but otherwise couldn’t get inside on the Flyer forward. Couturier is a bit out of his league in a scrap with Dillon, IMO.
I was surprised to see John Scott in back-to-back games and I’m starting to get worried that because they won two in a row he’s going to make more frequent appearances. At the end of the day if they keep winning that’s all that matters but I just don’t want it to lead to foolish thoughts that the roster doesn’t need any depth help, because it still does regardless if this team strings together ten in a row.
The Sharks next game against Boston will be a tougher match-up than Philadelphia and because of Boston’s reputation we may see John Scott get a hat-trick of games.
Small Steps Forward
The two wins in a row are great, don’t get me wrong, but these are very small steps towards becoming consistent.
The seat should still be warm underneath McLellan and Wilson and hopefully they realize that and don’t sit back and relax. The Sharks still need to acquire some pieces of they won’t survive the West.
I don’t expect this team to carry 8 defenders forever; it’s just not logical when you can switch out Scott, Desjardins or Brown for another player. Barclay Goodrow hasn’t played very well this year so why not bring up Eriah Hayes again? What’s the beef with Chris Tierney? Desjardins hasn’t been playing great hockey, and I’m a Desjardins backer, so it could be time to give him a look from the stands.
Of course, with the team winning, changes aren’t likely to happen on a huge scale.
Depth Piece Ideas
I’m still for acquiring David Perron when the Oilers price comes down to earth. I think he’d be great on Thornton’s line and give them a scoring option in the top-six other than 8-39-12.
Providing Robert Bortuzzo didn’t end his career, Jaromir Jagr would be a fantastic pickup if the Sharks could get there season together and into a playoff position, and the Devils continue to remain out of the picture. Despite what you might think, Jagr’s pricetag wouldn’t be astronomical. Just look at what the Bruins paid to get him.
Andrej Sekera would be a nice addition to the defensive group and also wouldn’t be overly costly. Of course, adding all three is highly unlikely without tearing up too much of the roster but there are options out there to give help while still keeping the roster in-tact.
What are your thoughts on depth ideas? Is Sekera a good fit? Could Perron/Jagr shift the Sharks offensive depth into a contending direction? Hurricanes fans: What's realistic for Sekera in return?
Thanks for reading.