In 2010-11 and 2011-12, the San Jose Sharks had a rough time with the Vancouver Canucks, losing 10 of 13 games including the Western Conference finals between those seasons. After defending home ice Monday, April 1, they completed a three-game season series sweep with only one game even reaching overtime to heat things up with their soon-to-be division rivals under the NHL realignment.
The Sharks jumped all over the Canucks early. The first period saw them have more shots (14-6) yet also more blocked shots (7-4). But Cory Schneider was up to the task with two jaw-dropping stops on Martin Havlat and Patrick Marleau.
San Jose kept the pressure up in the second period, and it finally paid off over seven minutes in. Adam Burish lost the puck at the perfect time—as Andrew Desjardins came to the spot, now open to snap it home through traffic.
Joe Thornton struck while the iron was hot 41 seconds later. Vancouver turned the puck over and the captain was looking for the pass so much the defense followed. Taking what the defense gave him, he opted for a wrist-shot over Schneider's shoulder on the very next shot of the game.
The Sharks pushed even harder, drawing a penalty 45 seconds after the score and getting a goal 47 seconds into the power play. Thornton looked to put the puck across the crease, and both the past (Marleau) and future (Logan Couture) franchise players touched it before Couture's spinning attempt to find the puck actually sent it in off his skates.
In 2:13, the Sharks had three goals to show for their earlier work. Unfortunately, that was the end of them turning it up. They again became what general manager Doug Wilson called a "57-minute team in a 60-minute league" before the winning streak. They were casual—assistant coach Larry Robinson used the term cute—and it cost them.
Thornton was guilty of the high giveaway that led to a goal before the end of the second:
When it gets 3-0, everyone gets kind of comfortable. We know how quickly it can vanish, but it was nice we held on for the two points. You can't let up, and I think we did. Then before you know it they get one and then they get momentum on their side. But for the first two periods, we looked strong like we have. At the end of the day we got the two (points).
In reality, they fell way short of a full two periods of strong play. The Canucks carried the late momentum over into the third until finally past the mid-point, Alexandre Burrows scored on a rebound before Antti Niemi could find the puck.
The Sharks pushed back briefly but could not sustain anything because they lost 16 of the last 28 draws, though they were 36-26 for the game. Instead, they held on by blocking shots (27-11)—though the Canucks attempted five more shots, Schneider faced 10 more shots than Niemi. Ultimately, those good things out-weighed the extra 11 giveaways from sloppy play.
The game was played without Ryane Clowe, who was one of San Jose's healthy scratches. Before game time, David Pollack of the San Jose Mercury News said via Twitter that an agreement had been reached but nothing was signed. The team could not risk him being injured, so Adam Burish was back in the lineup and recorded an assist. Brent Burns moved back to the first forward line, and Matt Tennyson recorded his first point in his first NHL contest on the blue line. The all-around effort made it hard to pick just three stars of the game:
- Couture had the game-winning goal, got five of eight shot attempts on net and had two blocks to overshadow his two giveaways. He was also eight of 14 in the circle.
- Chris Higgins had a goal and an assist, got four of six shot attempts on net, registered one hit, two takeaways and two blocks to just one giveaway and losing his only draw.
- Thornton had an assist and a goal on three shots. Winning 15 of 20 draws makes up for that costly giveaway, and he added two blocks and two takeaways.
The win put the Sharks back into sixth in the Western Conference standings, but they are just a half-game behind both the Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings for the fourth seed in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. That would give them home ice advantage in the first round, and this is a much better team at HP Pavilion.
San Jose's fifth game of the home stand comes Wednesday night against the Minnesota Wild. Being very much in the hunt increases the likelihood that Wilson opts for a young player who is NHL-ready rather than a prospect so he can add something back for the Stanley Cup run for all he gives up in Clowe.
Comments