Sharks take season series over Blue Jackets

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks found a way in the third period last Saturday to beat Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason in another high drama one-goal victory 2-1. Columbus was sellers at the trade deadline and is in no position to make the post-season, but you would never know it with the kind of hockey they have been playing of late. With Saturday’s win, the Sharks took the season series against Columbus with three wins in four attempts.
It has been just over a month since Columbus fired their former head coach Ken Hitchcock and replaced him with interim coach Claude Noel, who had been an assistant on the team since June 2007 and now has a chance to prove that he has what it takes to be a head coach in the NHL.
Since Noel’s inception, the Blue Jackets have recorded points in five of seven games due in large part to improved play from Mason won the Calder Trophy last season which goes to the most outstanding rookie in the league. The second year netminder was on his game stopping 42 of the 44 shots and carried a shutout into the third period. It was an easy choice to start the young goalie after his shutout of the Sharks just prior to the Olympic break in Columbus.

Last year the San Jose Sharks had a disappointing first round exit from the playoffs and made a number of changes in the off-season to hopefully avoid the same result. One problem with the early exit last spring came from a lack of meaningful games down the stretch because San Jose was so far ahead in the standings that win or lose they were destined for first place. Well that is not the case this year. San Jose will be a playoff team, but they aren’t in first place as opposed to last year when they were winning tight defensive hockey games in March.
In Saturday’s game the Sharks outshot their opponent by a two-to-one margin. We are talking high percentage shots from the slot, not shots from the point that are easy to stop.
Joe Thornton the NHL’s leading assist man, was given plenty of time behind the net and fed wingers Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley the puck in prime scoring positions. Many of these attempts were blocked or fanned on, but the top line had numerous scoring chances and looked as though the flood gates were going to open.
Heatley got San Jose on the board half way through the third period on a power play goal from Heatley who had been going to the trenches in front of the net all night long and was finally rewarded on a quick precise pass from behind the net. The sell-out crowd at the Shark Tank erupted with relief when they finally solved Mason which looked like an impossible task for two and a half periods.
The go ahead goal came from Joe Pavelski with 4:40 remaining after Ryan Clowe took the puck hard to the net, along with some help from Patrick Marleau, as Pavelski took the rebound around the net and buried it high before Mason could get back into position.
It shows mental toughness when a team comes from behind in the third period, two games in a row against two above the top goaltending performances. Against Carey Price (Montreal Canadians) and Mason, the Sharks had to be patient and show persistence. It is not easy sticking with the game plan when you aren’t scoring, but that is exactly what San Jose did and it paid off. That is how you win playoff games.
San Jose’s best players were just that, their best performers on the ice. Heatley had been stoned by Mason all night, but was not discouraged and was rewarded by opening the scoring for San Jose. Thornton played one of his best two-way games of the season and his passes in the slot were dead on, although fans and team management alike we would like to see him shoot the puck more.
Clowe has been skating much better since the February break and is playing with more energy and confidence. It was good to see Dan Boyle paired up with Douglas Murray again, as he has been for most of the season. Niclas Wallin, a trade acquisition from the Carolina Hurricanes last month, was playing along side Boyle but was paired with Rob Blake on Saturday. This was Murray’s best game since the Olympics and Boyle played almost 32 minutes. His minutes were up because the Sharks don’t play again until Thursday night when the Nashville Predators come to town. It will be another great test for San Jose against another desperate hockey team. The Predators are currently in seventh place in the conference standings and were a point ahead of eighth place Detroit and two ahead of ninth place Calgary at the time of this article.
Keep your sticks on the ice.
Contact the writer at: Cam.Gore@prohockeynews.com
Contact the Photographer at Jack.Lima@prohockeynews.com