Battle of the Cold Streaks

Sharks 3, Flyers 1

Finally...the San Jose Sharks won a game. It's a good thing we ran into a team that was doing worst than we were. In the past eight games, the Philadelphia Flyers were winless, and after meeting with Team Teal, the streak now goes to nine. Though I'm relieved to get the two points, we still have a big hill to climb now that Dallas is seven points ahead in the standings.

On Thursday night, Evgeni Nabokov again stepped in between the pipes, looking to get his game back ever since taking a puck to the face and letting the New York Islanders steal the game. Well, lucky for Sharks fans, it looked like Nabby is going to be okay. Stopping 26 shots on the night, Number 20 earned his 32nd win of the season. Not only did he win, but he did it with some very tough saves.

While Nabokov was holding down the defensive side of things, the Sharks' big line of Thornton, Cheechoo, and Michalek were doing some damage on the other end of the ice. In the first period, Cheechoo scored his 17th of the season with a wicked wrist shot from the top of the circles. On the play, Jumbo Joe brought the puck into the zone, curled back, and found Number 14 all alone, just inside the blue line. Fortunately, Jonathan found the back of the net and gave the Sharks a one goal lead. This goal was Cheech's 6th in the last seven games...let's hope this continues.

In the third period, this line struck again. Though Thornton received an assist on this goal as well, almost all of the work was done by Michalek. Streaking into the zone, Number 9 made a nice inside move to shake the Flyers defensemen before snapping a low shot that got through the pads of Martin Biron who had to face 40 shots on the night. This goal gave San Jose the lead. Then, 42 seconds later, Douglas Murray extended the lead to two by netting the first goal of his NHL career. This goal was pretty much the nail in the coffin as the rest of the game was relatively uneventful.

Overall, a good win, but I'm still not convinced that we have a Stanley Cup championship team. We're close...just a few pieces away....maybe an offensive defenseman to run the powerplay and a second line sniper to supplement the first line's scoring...that would be nice. Marleau, Carle, and a pick for Richards and Boyle? Hmmm...well, let's see if GM Doug Wilson pulls the trigger on a trade that gets us a little bit closer.

A San Jose Sharks Blog