Update: Stadium Series Jersey officially released.
#SJSharks reveal #StadiumSeries sweaters. pic.twitter.com/grOLbGwssw
— Brodie Brazil (@brodiebrazilCSN) December 12, 2014Even though they were leaked a little while ago...Initial reaction? I like them more when I think of the Pittsburgh Steelers bumble-bee jersey's. Things could always be worse, Sharks fans.
*****
San Jose and Minnesota played out a great battle last night. The Sharks took control of possession early and held on with some solid work by Alex Stalock to get the win.
Darcy Kuemper played great game in the cage for the Wild and did everything he could to give Minnesota a chance to win the game but the Sharks defense kept the majority of the Wild shot attempts away from Stalock.
Great win, important two points.
The Sharks (6-1 in last seven) are now tied with Calgary and two points back of Vancouver as they continue their quest to climb up the ladder in the Pacific Division.
Thoughts
Brenden Dillon
Dillon has been a great acquisition and had another solid game last night. His possession numbers increased, as expected, since coming to the Sharks and he’s spent the majority of his time babysitting Brent Burns on the second pairing.
The result has been Burns is now an even +/- player after being a -5 before Dillon arrived. Whether you like +/- or not is irrelevant, you never want your defenders to be negative players and that’s been one of the biggest knocks on Burns’ game this year.
The Sharks can talk all they want about wanting to “acquire a big left shot…. It’s pretty clear to me that’s a nice way of saying Mueller, Irwin and Hannan aren’t good enough to cover Brent Burns when he takes off. They wanted a left handed shot, but not because of his boom. They wanted one to play LD with Burns.
Melker Karlsson
Karlsson’s two games since being called up have been fantastic. He’s proved to be a stable player that isn’t a liability on the ice while providing energy and offensive chances. He was rewarded for his solid play late in the game when Todd McLellan put him out in the final minutes to protect the one goal lead.
His play is deserving of an extended stay in San Jose, regardless of who’s healthy or injured. Returning Karlsson to Worcester would be criminal at this point. He’s a better option in the lineup over Scott, Brown and Goodrow. You could also make a case for him over Tyler Kennedy as well.
When Nieto Returns
When Matt Nieto is ready to go the question is what will the bottom six look like? Will Wingels go back to the third or will Nieto slot in. I’d bet Wingels remains in the top-six simply because McLellan and Nieto have a love-hate relationship this year.
I’m a huge supporter of Tommy Wingels on the third line – he’s just meant to be there – but I’m not against seeing a third line of Nieto-Sheppard-Karlsson and a fourth of Goodrow-Tierney-Desjardins/McGinn. That’s about as deep as the Sharks are going to look anytime soon skill-wise.
Joe To Joe Never Gets Old
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I could watch a Joe to Joe goal on repeat for a long time. Those two have tremendous chemistry and Joe Pavelski is turning more into an elite goal scorer every game he plays with Thornton. He’s past the third line now, and he has been for a year. The Sharks aren’t as deep as they once were when Pavelski was a third line player so they’re in no position to remove him from the top six and have good things happen.
McLellan tried that, several times, during his 18-game line massacre and it didn’t work out. You can’t remove a legitimate top-six player from the top-six if you don’t have anyone capable of replacing him. 35-40 goal scorers don’t just fall from the sky.
The Sharks have seemingly stopped the bleeding on their season but the real test of their current success is about to be proctored.
Six of their next eight games are against teams in the top five in the Western Conference (2x St Louis, 2x Anaheim, 1x Nashville, 1x Vancouver) and another game is against the LA Kings. The other game in the eight is against Edmonton, though they’ve proven that the Sharks shouldn’t take them lightly.
This is a tough stretch of games for any team. The only monster team in the West they don’t hit in this stretch is Chicago. The Sharks are going to have to be on their game, and then some, for the next three weeks or all the good work they’ve put in the standings over the last seven games will be quickly erased.
Thanks for reading.