Sharks Able to Keep Pace with Fast-Skating Sabres

Video Highlights from Last Game

Sharks Able to Keep Pace with Fast-Skating Sabres

Last night, the San Jose Sharks skated hard against Buffalo Sabres for 60 minutes and provided fans with one of the more exciting games of the season. Anyone who watched the game saw spectacular goaltending by both teams, big hits all around the rink, tough grinding battles in the corners, goals scored by "secondary lines", and a lot of fast-paced skating. I don't know much about Buffalo, but it's clear that they are a hard-working, fast-skating, well-coached team.

Given the speed of last night's contest, I've decided to blog in a fashion that is equally as quick...so here is what stood out in my mind:

It was clear that Buffalo wanted to keep a fast pace and outskate the Sharks, but it was good to see that San Jose could keep up with that style of play.
Torrey Mitchell is showing signs of his old self, skating hard, scrapping for pucks, and creating chances for himself.
Jed Ortmeyer was an off-season pickup that I was excited about simply for his grit, but the tough winger showed that he can chip in a goal (or two) every now and then. In fact, through 52 games, Number 41 has already reached his career-high in goals (7).
Joe Pavelski had a strong night, scoring his 11th and 12th goals of the season. What was also interesting for me what the level of grit Number 8 played with...it seemed like the Sabres were targetting the young center, but Pavs didn't back down.
Watching replays, Ryane Clowe is looking like he's in the zone these days. On the Ortmeyer goal, where Clowe picked up the primary assist, he didn't over-celebrate...just went about his business.
Almost all of the goals scored by San Jose came from hard work and tough play...nothing too pretty. Even the top line's goal was gritty and hard-fought.
Captain Rob Blake is starting to take a more offensive approach to his game recently...joining the rush, screening the goalie at the top of the crease, taking more shots from the point...everything important to a well-balanced team.
Evgeni Nabokov made 38 saves on 40 shots, earning his 30th win of the season which keeps him one victory behind Martin Brodeur who leads the league in games won.

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