A San Jose Sharks Blog

Over the past four games, the Sharks' top line has posted four goals and eight assists. Though much has been said about the depth of the Sharks, it is clear that the Predators are focusing their efforts on neutralizing this line. Unfortunately for Nashville, it isn't working. The first goal of the game was scored on a broken play; with Nashville scrambling in their own end, Thornton was able to send a sneaky back-handed pass from behind the net to Michalek who was sitting in the near slot. With a quick one-timer, Milan was able to rattle the puck past Alexander Radulov and goalie Tomas Vokoun. With Radulov kneeling in the crease, Vokoun was unable to come across in time to stop the shot. After watching the replay, I realized that Radulov could have easily popped the net off of its goal pegs to keep the Sharks from scoring; fortunately, this didn't happen.

At 1:06 of the second period, Team Teal struck again; Kyle McLaren sent a long homerun pass to Joe Pavelski who was charging towards the Nashville blueline. While skating in on defenseman Greg Zanon, he ripped a semi-screened slapper to the far post and in. This looked like a low percentage pass and shot, but it ended up extending the Sharks' lead to two goals. Unfortunately, less than 90 seconds later, the Predators cut that lead in half with a goal from Jason Arnott.

The third San Jose Sharks goal, again scored by Michalek, was a lucky one. Skating behind the net, the speedy winger threw a backhanded shot towards the front of the net. With Cheechoo causing havoc in the crease, the puck found its way in by deflecting off of a Nashville defenseman's skate. After a short review, the goal was counted and again put San Jose up by two.

The rest of the game, Team Teal used strong defense and a solid forecheck to burn clock. Thanks to this consistent pressure, Nashville was limited to only three shots on goal in the third period. However, one of those shots ended up behind Evgeni Nabokov which brought the Preds to within one goal. Over the remaining minute of play, Nashville pulled Vokoun in an effort to tie the game, but the Sharks were up to the task and made a number of critical clears.

Overall, the Sharks played a very solid game; even with the extra day of rest from not having practiced on Tuesday, Nashville looked sluggish and unable to keep up with the bigger, faster Sharks. Let's hope San Jose can keep it up and finish the Preds off in five (knock on wood).