San Jose Sharks, NHL, Hockey and Local Sports Blog.
#45 JODY SHELLEY TRIES TO PLAY THE PUCK OUT OF A PILEUP
SAN JOSE GOALTENDER #20 EVGENI NABOKOV STOPPED 25 OF 27 SHOTS
DETROIT RIGHT WING #81 MARIAN HOSSA - 1G, 4SOG, 2PIM
FORBES 4-YR PACIFIC DIVISION REVENUE ESTIMATES - JAMES MIRTLE
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS CENTER #71 EVGENI MALKIN DRIVES THE ZONE
#87 SIDNEY CROSBY REGISTERS 0 SHOTS, PENGUINS A RECORD LOW 11
#45 JODY SHELLEY VS #28 ERIC GODARD IN THE 1ST, KO SHELLEYThe San Jose Sharks vs Pittsburgh Penguins contest on Tuesday night was expected by many to be a heavyweight affair full of offensive fireworks. 2005-06 Art Ross winning Joe Thornton (29 goals, 96 assists) vs 2006-07 Art Ross winning Sidney Crosby (36 goals, 84 assists). Calder Memorial Trophy winning Evgeni Malkin vs 2-time Allstar and Sharks captain Patrick Marleau. Defending Eastern Conference champions vs a perennial Pacific Division powerhouse. Like many boxing pay-per-views, the result was one-sided. The Sharks as a cohesive unit delivered a solid 60-minute team performance, the top San Jose line of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Devin Setoguchi delivered a command performance on both sides of the ice, and a listless and frustrated Pittsburgh team left Northern California with a franchise record low 11 shots on goal.
Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau delivered a shot across the bow to the rest of the NHL. Both are in midseason form skating and creating scoring chances, but early this season both are playing with a mean streak not seen in recent campaigns. With Patrick Marleau it was evident in the preseason. At times he seemed impatient with opposing forwards, content to skate through them to get to the puck. Matched up against the top Dupuis-Crosby-Malkin line for the first two periods Tuesday night, Thornton had a nasty edge to his game on offense and defense, seldom letting Pittsburgh skate the puck out of the neutral zone. It set the tone for the game.
The Sharks opened the scoring on a Pittsburgh Penguins power play, the 5th Sharks shorthanded goal of the season. Evgeni Malkin fell at the Pittsburgh blueline as center Joe Pavelski challenged young Pittsburgh defenseman Alex Goligoski for possession. Pavelski reversed direction, and Milan Michalek picked it off his stick and drove directly to the front of the net ahead of 3 backchecking Penguins. Dany Sabourin made the initial save on Michalek, but as all 3 Penguins peeled off Joe Pavelski punched home the loose puck in the open net for the first goal of the game. "Milan tracked the puck from side to side, it shows his great speed" Pavelski said.
The Sharks began to clamp down on Pittsburgh in the second. After goaltender Evgeni Nabokov flashed the glove on a slapshot from Pascal Dupuis early in the period, the Penguins appeared stuck in neutral trying to move the puck up ice. Individual efforts and perimeter play kept Pittsburgh for the most part out of the danger areas in front of the net. Eric Godard, who lost a first period fight with Jody Shelley at center ice, could not goad Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray or left wing Ryane Clowe into taking penalties. The Sharks defense simplifyed their game, and San Jose's third and fourth lines worked the puck deep and battled for possession to minimize secondary scoring opportunities for Pittsburgh. "Crosby and Malkin score 60% of their points or goals, if you shut those two down you will a pretty good chance at success" Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said after the game.
But Tuesday night was the Marleau and Thornton show. The talent and effort gap between Thornton-Crosby and Marleau-Malkin appeared enormous on this night. It brings up the question of Western Conference teams running the gauntlet of Detroit, Dallas, Anaheim and San Jose every year before having to face the best the Eastern Conference has to offer. Patrick Marleau and Devin Setoguchi were explosive changing direction and chasing down plays on defense. Last season that was a hallmark of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in their visit to HP Pavilion. Thornton planted his 235-pound frame between the stick and the body of an opposing forward in the neutral zone, sending the stick flying and leaving the puck free for him to break the play up ice.
A rare start by 6-foot-4, 200-pound backup goaltender Dany Sabourin kept Pittsburgh's head above water. Sabourin held his ground in net against the Sharks power play, and robbed Dan Boyle who had the puck teed up for him 15 feet out near the end of the second. The Sharks broke through again 4-on-4 in the third. Patrick Marleau drove down the middle with speed as 4 Penguins converged on him. Marleau kicked the puck out to Dan Boyle, who moved it to Ehrhoff on the left point. A quick pass by Ehrhoff slid the puck to Mike Grier on his backhand, with Patrick Marleau set up in front of Sabourin. Grier flicked a backhand into the far side of the net with 3 bodies creating traffic for Sabourin in front. Sabourin finished with 32 saves on 34 shots.
The Pittsburgh Penguins disrupted Evgeni Nabokov's bid for his first shutout game of the season 14:27 into the third period. Evgeni Malkin drove down the right wing and tried to feed Ruslan Fedotenko. Fedotenko dug the puck out of the corner and passed to Malkin behind the net. Quick pass to Croby at the side of the net, who regained his feet after being checked to the ice by Pavelski. Crosby spun and found Fedotenko in front before Marc-Edouard Vlasic could close in on him. An unchecked Fedotenko hammered a point blank shot off the post passed Nabokov to make the score 2-1 San Jose. Pittsburgh pressured to tie the game, but a late high sticking penalty on agitator Matt Cooke forced them to pull their goalie to make it 5-on-5. A casual dump-in attempt by Malkin as he made a line change missed Crosby on the right wing. Sharks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and Dan Boyle combined to run out the clock. Evgeni Nabokov finished with 10 saves on 11 shots, earning his 6th win of the season.
A forecast of wintry conditions at his old stomping grounds was of little concern Tuesday to San Jose assistant coach Todd Richards. He was focused on the many Penguins' first-round picks he never had a chance to coach over the past two seasons with AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Richards, who guided the AHL Penguins to a conference and Calder Cup final over his two seasons as head coach, joined the staff of new San Jose coach Todd McLellan over the summer. "It was being out on your own; there's a lot that really went into it," Richards said of his tenure with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“We’re missing some pretty skilled guys, and guys we look to on the power play,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “We’ve probably simplified things a little bit, which is never a bad thing. Everyone has to pay attention to detail. We make safe plays because we don’t want to give teams opportunities if we don’t have to.”
The Penguins aren’t looking for sympathy. They know they won’t find it from 28 teams that sat around and watched them play in the Stanley Cup Finals last spring. And you won’t hear Therrien whining, at least not yet. “We’ve got to protect our defense,” he said. “Our transition game isn’t quite what I wish. We know eventually we will get better. It’s not a concern right now. We’re still able to get points – big points in the standings – that’s why I’m still optimistic.”
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS CENTER #71 EVGENI MALKIN TUESDAY IN SJIt's apparently some type of gift, the ability to dramatically change your look with a haircut, a shave or forgoing one or the other for a few days. "It's so different every time," Penguins center Max Talbot said. "People talk about it, but it's not that big a deal."
It was important enough that, after going with a short-cropped hairstyle and clean-shaven look to start the season, Talbot decided to invite back an old friend when the points weren't coming. He grew a Fu Manchu mustache last week and immediately scored a goal Thursday in a 4-1 victory against Carolina.