Sharks Back on Track

Sharks 2, Kings 1

The worst team in the NHL, the Los Angeles Kings, made things too close for comfort last night. When the San Jose Sharks went to LA, I was expecting a 3-0 or 4-1 result. Instead, Team Teal let up a bit and gave Kings fans some hope for the last four minutes of the game. As for Sharks fans and coach Ron Wilson, it was just another reason to worry about San Jose's ability to close.

Thanks to the winning streak, the Sharks have brought my expectations up...back to where they were when the season first started. Consequently, I'm nitpicking once again. Granted, the Sharks beat the Kings and skated away with two crucial points, but the effort in the last period was just bad.

After racking up a two goal lead, the Sharks were in position to have a relatively smooth win. However, late in the third, the Kings cut the lead in half and had the Sharks players sweating. In fact, they had me sweating as well. I would have been furious if we had lost to the Kings and wasted the two "easy" points. Winning the Pacific is clearly our best bet to go deep in the playoffs and the Sharks really need to dominate these games against weaker opponents.

At any rate, the win was a nice bounce back after ending the winning streak. Over the last eight games, seven of them are against Pacific Division foes. Of those seven, San Jose plays both the Kings and Coyotes twice...that means there are eight points up for grabs against teams that are currently outside of the top eight playoff spots.

If for some reason the Sharks can't get things done against the Ducks and Stars, then those eight points are going to be absolutely crucial to San Jose having a chance at first in the Pacific.

Notes:

In his second start as a Shark, Brian Boucher was solid stopping 29 out of 30 shots.
Joe Thornton hit the 20 goal mark...the 8th time he's done this in his 10 NHL seasons.
The San Jose powerplay continues to perform well (*knock on wood*), going 1 for 2 on the night.

A San Jose Sharks Blog