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Cutting Bait: Post Game
Notes
Sharks @ Blackhawks
» Even though the Blackhawks put up a 6 spot
on the Sharks, Ben Eager was the only player with a -2 or worse. Team was a
combined -10. San Jose is a net +1 through 70 games this season. The Sharks
were a net +32 last year (4th).
» Just a game after returning to
the lineup, Dan Boyle led all Sharks skaters in ice time, logging 25:41 on 28
shifts.
» One key to Chicago’s success was that they
finally figured out that blocking shots pays dividends against San Jose.
Blackhawks blocked 20 shots Monday night. Brent Seabrook accounted for 6 of
those blocks.
» Chicago also won in the faceoff circle,
capturing 31 of 57 faceoffs (54%). Joe Pavelski won 4 of 14 faceoffs.
» Another horrific penalty killing performance pushes the Sharks PK to
23rd (of 30 teams) in the league. San Jose ranked 5th in the NHL last season.
» Pavelski logged 16:43 of ice time, almost a third of that on
the penalty kill. Hard to snap out of his offensive doldrums when the majority
of his night is spent killing penalties.
» Remember Niklas
Hjalmarsson, the defenseman the Sharks signed to an offer sheet last summer? He
scored a goal, was a +3, blocked 3 shots and shutdown the Sharks top line.
» Not all is lost. The Sharks finished the
regular season with a 3-1-0 record against Chicago. They were 1-1-2 last year
in the regular season, outscoring the Sharks 17-11. What’s worse is they
were 0-4 in the Western Conference Finals, getting outscored 13-7. San Jose
outscored the Blackhawks 15-12 this season.
» With his goal, Joe
Thornton moved into the top 30 in NHL scoring. His 57 points trails scoring
leader Daniel Sedin (38 goals, 52 assists) by a mere 37 points.
» The quote of the game from Sharks head coach Todd McLellan (from
NHL.com): "If I was going to sum up the game: they skated, we glided," McLellan
said. "They were hard on the boards, we were soft. We were looking for a win
the easy way, and there's 30 teams in the League right now that know that
doesn't work."
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