Sharks Take Out Frustration On Wild

Sharks 4, Wild 1

Three days after receiving their worst whipping of the year at home, the San Jose Sharks had a lot to prove to themselves and their fans. Well, Team Teal took a step in the right direction on Tuesday night when they soundly defeated the Minnesota Wild at the Tank.

In the first period, the Sharks started things off with a goal coming from Joe Pavelski. On the play, Joe Thornton sent a cross-ice pass to a pinching Craig Rivet. Number 52 then sent a centering pass towards the front of the net where Pavelski was waiting for a scoring opportunity. As the puck reached the crease, it deflected off of a stick and into the air. With his great hand/eye coordination, Pavelski swatted the puck into the net when it was a foot off the ice, and scored his 6th goal of the season.

In the second period, the Sharks kept the momentum going when Mike Grier scored his 5th goal of the year. After taking a hard hit along the center ice boards, Grier skated to the top of the faceoff circles where Torrey Mitchell found him with a pass. 4:30 minutes later, Steve Bernier scored his 6th goal of the season to extend the lead. On the play, Bernier skated with the puck behind the net and tried to tuck it in on the nearside where there was a bit of traffic. The shot was stopped, but the puck came right back out to his forehand. Without delay, Number 26 deposited the puck past Nicklas Backstrom and scored his first goal of the night. At 13:17, the tough winger scored his second goal of the game when he put in a rebound opportunity (created by a Pavelski scoring chance) while on the powerplay.

In the third period, the Wild scored on a powerplay and ended Evgeni Nabokov's bid for a shutout at 10:58, but that didn't matter too much. San Jose played well and looked solid again. The game also saw Curtis Brown and Marcel Goc return to the lineup, and both seemed to have some jump which was good. In a long NHL season, the Sharks are going to need all of their players ready to contribute regardless of whether or not they have a regular spot in the lineup.

A San Jose Sharks Blog