Last night’s 4-3 overtime loss gave all the cynics their long-awaited opportunity to bash Antero Niittymaki for not being a legitimate No. 1 goaltender, and finally allowed people to point to a glaring mistake by Kent Huskins in order to affirm that he’s a terrible defenseman. The simple fact is that neither of those assumptions is true. The San Jose Sharks fell asleep after 40 minutes last night and Niittymaki failed to bail them out. However, they never should have put themselves, or their netminder, in that situation.
For all intents and purposes, last night’s game should have been over after the first 10 minutes. The Sharks should have built on Logan Couture’s opening goal with a couple power play tallies, added two more in the second period, and coasted to an easy victory. The fact they didn’t do that just points to their deficiencies up front, all of which come back to coaching. I know Drew Remenda can’t stop telling us how good the coaching staff is (has he, or would he, ever say the opposite?) but they’re employing a strategy that’s bound to fail in the long run.
Watching last night’s game, you noticed how the Colorado Avalanche did everything with a purpose. Every pass, every chip, every cycle, was part of a larger plan intended to set up quality scoring chances, and when they arrived they were buried by players who had waited patiently and lulled the San Jose defense into mental errors. When San Jose had the puck they put a barrage of shots on the Colorado net, without much purpose or direction. A few of them went in, but the majority were easy saves without traffic or rebounds. In short, it was a lazy way to play characterized by a lack of strategy.
Todd McLellan can continue to approach his duties as if he were coaching an all-star team, but he could take a cue from Joe Sacco – a coach doing a lot more offensively with a lot less talent. You see, the Colorado forwards have been taught and trained to battle through pressure, to fight for open space and create every time they enter the zone. They’re not content to put a shot on net from 40 feet and hope something good happens, they force things to happen and produce because of hard work and execution.
Until someone on the coaching staff takes that approach in San Jose, we’ll continue to hear players say things like, “just need to get more pucks on net” or “just need to get more traffic in front.” Unfortunately for Shark fans, that elementary approach is only going to contribute to the team’s up-and-down scoring, low shooting percentage, and playoff frustration. So blame Niittymaki or Huskins if you feel they’re the root of the problem, but you’ll only be ignoring the failures of a coaching staff that’s wasting the immense talents they’re paid to enhance.
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Back at it tonight right along with the Sharks, the SharksBuzz Postgame Show is playing the second of back-to-backs. I apologize in advance if you sense a little fatigue, but we’ll try to do our best to break it all down and look ahead to the weekend’s action. You can listen in, or give us a call free of charge at (724) 444-7444, talkcast ID# 74909. Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk to you later tonight.
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