Chicago Blackhawks hold edge in most areas over San Jose Sharks

The one area the San Jose Sharks probably holds an edge is in net. Antti Niemi has allowed just 1.86 goals per 60 minutes and has a .933 save percentage. That has been at least .892 in 11 of his 12 games, and he has not allowed more than one goal in half those starts.In all likelihood, the Chicago Blackhawks will start Ray Emery. He has given up 2.28 goals per 60 minutes and has a .925 save percentage in winning all six of his starts. He held the Sharks to one goal last Friday on 28 shots, and has had a save percentage of at least .906 in each of his last five starts.The San Jose Sharks have one of the best blue lines in the world. Dan Boyle is the highest-scoring defenseman over the last four years. He and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are great skaters that can eat minutes. Brad Stuart and Brent Burns provide big bodies that have to be accounted for on both sides of the ice. The Sharks have three good third-pair defenseman for the final two spots.But again the Chicago Blackhawks are just plain better. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are both better than Boyle and Niklas Hjalmarsson is the Scandinavian Vlasic, giving them a better top end of the unit. Nick Leddy, Michal Rozsival and Johnny Oduya make for a strong bottom half, and Sheldon Brookbank is a more than adequate fill-in.The San Jose Sharks have four of the best forwards in the world in Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau. But the Chicago Blackhawks more than matches them with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp.After that, it is not even close. Dave Bolland, Brian Bickell and Viktor Stalberg may all be better than Ryane Clowe or Martin Havlat. Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw are each providing more depth scoring than the rest of the Sharks forwards combined.View the list »
If Todd McLellan has the right game plan, he can avoid the San Jose Sharks being a footnote of history

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The San Jose Sharks invade the United Center for the third and final contest with their Western Conference rival Chicago Blackhawks in the 2013 NHL season at 5:30 p.m. PST on Friday, February 22. In the preview linked above to Chicago's website where they show a statistical comparison, their dominance can be seen in five of the seven categories.

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One of the areas the Sharks lead in is power play, but 18.9 percent is scarcely an edge over 18.6. Moreover, they have just two goals in their last 42 chances.

San Jose also holds the edge in the circle, winning 53.6 percent of draws to their opponent's 50.4. But there are other ways to gain or lose the puck: Chicago more than makes up for 56 fewer possessions in the circle with 75 more takeaways and 19 fewer giveaways.

That is why Chicago will be looking to set an NHL record for consecutive games without a regulation loss to start the season. But this game will be the toughest challenge Chicago has faced. A look at how the teams reached their goals for and against statistic provides a strategy for bringing the home team outside of the shootout.

The Sharks are not as fast as they used to be, but are becoming more physical. They became a better shot-blocking team last season and are starting to hit this season. Their small, light-hitting foes are 74 hits short of them even though they played one additional game.

They will not be as fast after two periods of being knocked around. All the Sharks need is for Antti Niemi to continue playing like he has to keep them in it and they should be able to pull off a third-period win.

Moreover, the long odds against breaking a record often increase the pressure. San Jose has taken some of their own pressure away by breaking their seven-game losing streak (0-4-3). It is also hard to believe a team will sweep three games in two and a half weeks against a quality opponent. Add those to the five reasons given for the upset last week, and this one has the most potential of ending the streak yet.

The home team has the edge in the three overstated phases of offense, defense and special teams. The good news for San Jose is this is not football. Hockey is more appropriately divided into forwards, blue line and goalie play. The bad news for San Jose is Chicago still holds an edge in at least two of those units...

View the list
  • The San Jose Sharks have four of the best forwards in the world in Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau. But the Chicago Blackhawks more than matches them with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp.After that, it is not even close. Dave Bolland, Brian Bickell and Viktor Stalberg may all be better than Ryane Clowe or Martin Havlat. Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw are each providing more depth scoring than the rest of the Sharks forwards combined.
  • The San Jose Sharks have one of the best blue lines in the world. Dan Boyle is the highest-scoring defenseman over the last four years. He and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are great skaters that can eat minutes. Brad Stuart and Brent Burns provide big bodies that have to be accounted for on both sides of the ice. The Sharks have three good third-pair defenseman for the final two spots.But again the Chicago Blackhawks are just plain better. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are both better than Boyle and Niklas Hjalmarsson is the Scandinavian Vlasic, giving them a better top end of the unit. Nick Leddy, Michal Rozsival and Johnny Oduya make for a strong bottom half, and Sheldon Brookbank is a more than adequate fill-in.
  • The one area the San Jose Sharks probably holds an edge is in net. Antti Niemi has allowed just 1.86 goals per 60 minutes and has a .933 save percentage. That has been at least .892 in 11 of his 12 games, and he has not allowed more than one goal in half those starts.In all likelihood, the Chicago Blackhawks will start Ray Emery. He has given up 2.28 goals per 60 minutes and has a .925 save percentage in winning all six of his starts. He held the Sharks to one goal last Friday on 28 shots, and has had a save percentage of at least .906 in each of his last five starts.
View the list

, San Jose Sharks Examiner

Former community leader and featured columnist for the San Jose Sharks on Bleacher Report, MJ Kasprzak has been covering the Bay Area's most successful team for over four years. You may have seen MJ's work featured on Yahoo, CBS Sports and Fox Sports websites as well as numerous other places that...

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