Sharks vs Blue Jackets 3.16.07

Toskala blanks Columbus in return

San Jose, CA - On Friday night, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 3 - 0. In Vesa Toskala's return to the ice, Team Teal showed some weariness, but was still able to gain the needed two points. Fortunately, the San Jose goaltender came up big, turning away 35 shots for the Sharks' fourth shutout in the last seven games.

With three minutes left in the first period, Joe Thornton scored his 19th goal of the season off of a pass from Craig Rivet. While slashing through the slot, Thornton received the pass on his backhand and then quickly deposited the puck far post. Though Thornton will more than likely fall short in the NHL scoring race, his recent production has been amazing. "Jumbo Joe" is currently on a six game point streak (*knock on wood*) where he has 3 goals and 9 assists for a total of 12 points.

In conjunction with Thornton's hot streak, both Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek appear to be heating up as well. During the same stretch of games, Cheechoo has a total of 6 points (3 goals and 3 assists) while Michalek has racked up 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists).

Just before the close of the second period, Ryane Clowe extended the lead to 2 - 0. As he skated into the zone, Clowe snapped a low percentage shot towards Norrena who couldn't track it down. Unfortunately for Columbus, this insurance goal gave the Sharks the luxury of focusing on defense in the third period.

Late in the game, Steve Bernier took a penalty for holding and the Blue Jackets pulled their goalie for a two-man advantage. During a scrum behind the net, Scott Hannan was able to get a hold of the puck and snap it all the way down the ice for an empty-net goal, his 2nd on the season.

The Sharks seem to be rolling along just as they should, taking two points from four struggling teams. It appears that Tosk is fine and that the Sharks can win with either goaltender in the nets. Thanks to Vesa's performance, Coach Ron Wilson can now go back to the two-goalie rotation in order to keep them both fresh for the playoffs. Hopefully, this won’t affect Nabokov; he has always felt that he plays better with more ice time. At any rate, having two hot goalies competing for ice is a good problem to have...

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