San Jose takes to the ice at the SAP Center tonight against the Boston Bruins in a match-up of struggling teams and they could be without Logan Couture who is questionable to play.
The Bruins are 4-5-1 in their last ten compared to 4-4-2 for San Jose. Both can attribute their tough times to different reasons. The Bruins have been hit hard by the injury bug all year and the Sharks have been a roller-coaster of ugly with a healthy roster.
Their position in the East (7th) doesn’t take away that the Bruins are a good hockey team that’s battled through adversity to hang on to a playoff spot. Tuukka Rask is an all-world goaltender that’s going to provide a frustrating night for the Sharks top stick stallions.
Keys To The Game
Cycle The Puck
The Sharks have to get the Bruins defensemen moving around the zone. The B’s defenders are very smart with the puck and aren’t going to make mistakes on their own. The Sharks need to draw them out of position with quick passes and sitting players in the slot. They also need to shift Tuukka Rask around the crease. If he doesn’t have to move too much he’s going to make every save.
That said, too much cycling (like we’ve seen from San Jose before) will cost them dearly.
High Percentage Shots
Tuukka Rask will stop low percentage shots in his sleep so there’s no benefit to even trying. If there are no Sharks in front of the net then a shot from the point is useless. If you’re shooting from the dasher boards you’re wasting possession of the puck. Rask is just too good to take Mickey Mouse shots on.
Take the extra stride and get into a high% area. Utilize the puck cycle to create space in high% areas and get a scoring chance instead of making Rask swat near-dead flies all night.
Sustained Pressure
Whether it’s a fast start or a strong recovery the Sharks have had a hard time putting in a sixty minute effort this year. The Sharks have to gain possession, keep it and never let it go.
The Bruins have some pretty good possession players in their lineup so the job isn’t going to be without a fight but it needs to be done. The Bruins have a goaltender who can fend off a ferocious attack, the Sharks don’t.
They need to find their stride and never let up.
Where is Brent Burns?
Brent Burns got off to a torrid scoring pace to start his return to the blue-line but the well has since dried up.
Burns has one goal and one assist in the last eight games while holding a -5 rating. With little to no production coming from the blue-line the Sharks require Burns to shoulder the offensive load. Without him producing from the back-end the Sharks are in trouble.
His transition hasn’t gone as smoothly as planned so without offense to his game he’s becoming more like a pilon than anything else.
Burns has to get going to make life easier for the Sharks forwards, especially if one of the top scorers (Couture) is going to miss any time due to injury.
If the Sharks are to win this one they need to capitalize on scoring chances and power-play opportunities. No one should expect a high scoring victory for the Sharks. Antti Niemi (presumably) will need to be rock solid in goal to give the Sharks a fighting chance to win this hockey game.
Puck drop is 10:30pmET(7:30pmPDT)
Thanks for reading.