A San Jose Sharks Blog

In the first period, the Sharks came out swinging; thanks to San Jose's size, speed, and ability to possess the puck, Nicklas Lidstrom was forced to take a hooking penalty on centerman Joe Thornton. Taking advantage of their only power play on the night, Team Teal drew first blood. With 32 seconds left on the penalty, Ryane Clowe sent a sharp pass down low to Thornton who was in the near slot. Jumbo Joe then quickly chipped the puck across the crease to Matt Carle who was crashing the net. Fortunately, Carle was able to get off a one-timer just before Dominik Hasek could slide over to make the save. The goal was a good sign for Sharks fans who had recently seen the power play disappear in the series against Nashville.

Just 24 seconds later, San Jose again used their size and speed to score. Deep in the Detroit zone, Mike Grier put a strong forecheck on Mathieu Schneider who then turned the puck over to Patrick Rissmiller in the high slot. Trying to get the puck over to Curtis Brown, Rissmiller ended up sending a backhanded pass towards the front of the net where Grier and Schneider were jostling for position. With a quick pivot, Grier slapped the loose puck past Hasek to extend the Sharks' lead to two goals.

In the second and third period, the Sharks went into defense mode. Usually, I don't like it when San Jose sits back to protect a lead, but it seemed to work yesterday thanks to Evgeni Nabokov. Over the last 20 minutes of the game, the Sharks only put nine shots on goal, whereas the Red Wings peppered Nabby with 23 shots. Many of those 23 shots came on Detroit's three power plays during the second period. Though I felt relatively confident that the Sharks were going to win after the second period, Detroit did produce a lot of scoring chances that made for a bit of anxiety and excitement. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that if Nabokov were even slightly off his game last night, the outcome could have been different.

Overall, San Jose played a solid game; they used strong defense and took advantage of their few offensive opportunities. Last night, I could have sworn I was watching Darryl Sutter's Sharks out there...and that's a good thing, especially on the road. However, Detroit showed a lot of jump in the second and third periods, even after a long series against Calgary, and that is something to be concerned about.

To win Game Two of this series, San Jose will have to get more than 19 shots on goal. With that said, I'll just take a cue from Nabokov and not get too excited after this win...instead, I will prepare for what I'm sure will be an exciting game on Saturday.