SAN JOSE, Ca – The L.A Kings are the measuring stick in the Western Conference right now and in one of the most entertaining games of the year the Sharks doubled up on their division rivals 6-3 at HP Pavilion.
Scott Nichol had this to say about playing the 1st place Kings.
“They’re the big dogs, they’re playing real well and are the hottest team in the NHL. It was nice for us to play our style and have a big home win,” Nichol said
Don’t let the score fool you, this game was closer than the 6-3 final. The Kings came into the game with an 8-2 record in their last 10 games and looking for their 6th win in a row. They met a very determined San Jose team who for a change were the underdogs in the first meeting of the season between these two California based teams.
L.A opened the scoring at 16:05 of the first period on a Scott Parse goal who had a clearing attempt go in off his foot.
It didn’t take long for the Sharks to steal the momentum back. Ryan Clowe finished off the prettiest goal of the night on a tic tac toe play 92 seconds later that was started and orchestrated by Dan Boyle. Boyle patiently carried the puck from his own end into the offensive zone creating space with his maneuverability before dishing the disc into the corner to Logan Couture. The young rookie whose mind works as quickly as the great Magic Johnson’s did on the basketball court, no looked a pass to Joe Pavelski behind the net who found a streaking Clowe in the slot for his 2nd in as many games and all that was left was the was the roar of the crowd.
Momentum was something that the Kings tried to capture all night but the pesky Sharks team only let them sample it. Whenever the visitors got close the Sharks were able to restore their two goal lead and more importantly keep the rambunctious crowd involved.
One match-up everyone looked forward to was the special teams battle. San Jose’s power play operated at a 50 percent success rate and the penalty kill was perfect, both played a key factor in the win.
Scott Nichol who scored his 2nd goal of the season felt special teams played big role in the game.
“I thought our power play won us the game against the best penalty kill in the league. They kept inching back then we would get a power play and would score to restore the two goal lead, you have to give our guys a lot of credit,” Nichol added after the game.
The Sharks scored on their 2nd power play of the game just nine seconds into it to take a 4-2 lead early in the 3rd period.
It is no fluke that the Kings are in first place in the west and after watching them tonight it is easy to see why. They never gave up. It was end to end hockey and their goals were not pretty but blue collared. For the second time in the contest the Kings closed the gap to one goal at 7:06 in the final frame thanks to a Jarret Stoll tip in.
Equal to the challenge the Sharks Dany Heatley who has been all around the net lately but hasn’t had his usual success on the scoreboard netted his 7th of the season on a wrist shot from 50 feet. The assists went to Kent Huskins and Patrick Marleau. Marleau started the play by passing the puck to Huskins on the point and then went to the front of the net and screened Kings net minder Jonathan Bernier. Without Marleau’s presence it would have been a routine save.
Marleau finished the night with the game winning goal and two assists. Patrick was a standout all night long showing his exceptional speed and was rewarded with the game’s first star.
Joe Pavelski and Torri Mitchell rounded out the scoring for the Sharks.
It won’t show up on the score sheet but the Sharks’ Niclas Wallin deserves to be recognized for his efforts. With the team’s most physical defenseman Douglas Murray sitting out after blocking a shot against Calgary Saturday night Wallin picked up the slack and in front of his net and was a physical presence especially in the after whistle scrums.
The team as a whole played well without the man called “Crankshaft” who was the only player not to dress. Derek Joslin filled in for Murray on the blue line and recorded his first point of the year in his first game of the 2010/11 season.
Coach MacLellan also commented on Niclas Wallin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic‘s night.
“They both played maybe their best game together throughout the year. They weren’t always on the ice together but when they were they played well,” MacLellan said of their efforts.
The Sharks arguably played their best game of the season. Everything was working for them and the breaks they enjoyed they created for themselves. It wasn’t a lucky bounce night for the home team. If anything they should have had two more power plays from missed high sticking calls. All four lines scored goals for San Jose and Niittymaki was solid in net.
Nichol was happy with the shared scoring effort tonight, “I think that’s a pretty good recipe for success is when you spread it out throughout the line up.”
With tonight’s victory the Sharks have earned nine points out of a possible ten in their five game home stand. The only game they didn’t win was when the team’s captain Joe Thornton was serving his suspension and that contest they lost in overtime.
There is no doubt that the team is playing better hockey but the upcoming days will tell a lot about where this crew really stands. San Jose heads out on the road for a two game road trip which is a place they have not faired well. The last three games on the road the Sharks have failed to score a single goal. They will have their chance to remedy that on back to back nights when they face-off against the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars on Wednesday and Thursday.
The second line for the Sharks has seen a change of personnel and so far it has been for the better. Logan Couture has moved into the middle with Joe Pavelski and Ryan Clowe on the wings. Against Calgary on Saturday night the newly formed line scored three of the team’s four goals and since Couture has joined the squad both of his wingers have ended their scoring drought. Devin Setoguchi has been relegated to the third line but has played his best hockey of the young season since being paired up with Torri Mitchell and Jamie McGinn.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Contact Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com
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