Update 6:45pmET: Mueller scratched, Irwin in...joins Scott as Sharks making season debuts. I'd wager the Mueller scratch has more to do with extending his look in the NHL. No guarantee he doesn't get sent back to junior, that's always been a possibility even though he cracked the roster out of camp.
Update 11:55amET: Niemi first off the ice, per David Pollak. Looks like Nemo's in goal tonight.
The big story looming over the San Jose Sharks as they embark on their first multi-game road trip of the season isn't any of the popular story-lines from before the season, nor is it the 2-0 record they take into tonight. It’s the worse-than-thought power play that completely sucked the life out of San Jose during the Winnipeg game. A team that is the lucky recipient of eight power plays in a single game should, at the very least, put up one goal with the extra man, though that would still be considered a disappointment. The Sharks failed to light the lamp on all eight chances.
As the game went on and the power plays piled up, head coach Todd McLellan started to shift his PP units around. Matt Nieto found himself removed from the second unit in favor of Tommy Wingels, the defence rotated around both units and Marleau saw brief time with Thornton. McLellan, in his defense, at least attempted to find a productive combination with the game under control and the special teams reeling.
I don’t see it as a personnel issue, rather a system designed to fail regardless of which players are on the ice. The Sharks had the 20th ranked power play last year, a significant disappointment for a top NHL team, and haven’t adjusted anything moving into this season. Some people want to point to the absence of Dan Boyle this year but I think they’re just reaching for answers. Boyle was part of the awful PP units from last season. Others suggest that overloading the top PP unit with Thornton-Hertl-Marleau-Pavelski-Burns would solve the problem. It would certainly look good on paper but it doesn’t fix the poor system in place and I doubt it would succeed at a higher rate than split-units.
The Sharks had 7 shots on four PP opportunities in game one against the Kings. They had 6 shots on eight opportunities against the Jets. When you average less than one shot per power play you aren’t going to be too successful in capitalizing with the extra man. Herein lies the problem: the Sharks system involves too much movement.
Most of the Sharks power play is spent passing the puck around the outside, board play and waiting for the perfect play to develop. It’s an easy power play to defend because the Sharks are doing all the work for the PK; wasting time and limiting pressure. There are no one-timers on cross ice-passes and the only player that seems to play his off-wing, while set up for the one-timer that never happens, on the PP is Pavelski.
You have to move the puck around to draw defenders out of position, but there is a line where that puck play becomes too much and ineffective to the point where the penalty killers aren’t even going to move from their defensive box. The simple answer is that the Sharks need to shoot the puck more. It doesn’t matter which players are on the ice if you don’t direct the puck at the net.
Maybe the answer is a combination of less puck play and an overloaded first unit, though I think the Sharks could have two strong power play lines if they reduced the need for perfect play development. One personnel change I would make is removing Mirco Mueller from the PP. Mueller isn't an offensive defenceman and, two games into his NHL career, he just isn't comfortable enough with the puck on the point to generate offense. Perhaps a Pavelski-Burns/Vlasic-Demers set-up is more desirable, considering Demers offensive output from last season.
The Sharks had since Saturday to try and put a quick fix on the power play and whether or not they made an effort to do so will be clearly apparent tonight against Washington.
Other Notes:
Mike Brown has been ruled out for play during the five-game road swing but will travel with the team. Also travelling are injured forwards James Sheppard and Tyler Kennedy, with Sheppard seeming to be the closest to returning.
If Goodrow isn't ready to return just yet that means we could get our first glimpse of John Scott on the fourth line, although going with 11 forwards and 7 defencemen would be more productive if you ask me.
There are no indications yet as to which goaltender will be in the cage tonight, but I will update at the top of the post when it becomes available. It’s a toss-up considering McLellan went to Stalock after a shutout performance by Niemi.
Puck drop is 4pm PDT(7pm ET).
Thanks for reading.