• Arguably the best player on the ice for the
Sharks this season has been Joe Pavelski, who sits 10th in the league in
scoring (9 goals, 6 assists). Pavelski has been one of the Sharks most
consistent skater through the first 12 games of the season, earning a spot on
the top line and the biggest block of ice time among San Jose's forwards.
Pavelski has recorded at least one point in seven of his last eight games and
has seven multi-point games this season.
• Speaking of top
scorers, former Sharks forward Milan Michalek is ranked near the top with his
15 points (9 goals, 5 assists). Michalek’s point production has been
attributed to playing with the same linemates this season. He’s no longer
then new guy in Ottawa, and has blossomed early this season. Timeless wonder
Ray Witney is also off to a hot start, leading the Phoenix Coyotes with his 6
goals and 8 assists.
• With 24 hours past and a chance to absorb
Saturday night’s overtime loss to the Nashville Predators, it’s easy
to fault the team of for coughing up their 2-goal lead in the 3rd period, but
the Sharks had a golden opportunity to make it all right when they were awarded
a power play with a minute left in regulation. The league’s 6th ranked
power play unit didn’t get the job done. That included a minute of 4-on-3
time, which was squandered by a lack of tempo on the man-advantage.
• Speaking of special teams, what happened to the penalty kill.
Traditionally one of the league’s best, San Jose ranks 29th of 30 teams on
the PK. Their 73.2% efficiency leads only the Toronto Maple Leafs (70.9%). The
good news is San Jose has allowed the 3rd fewest number of power plays to
opposing teams (41). By comparison, Ottawa has allowed 68 power plays.
• 1992 1st round pick Andrei Nazarov made waves this week after he went
postal on fans from behind the bench of his Vityaz team in a KHL game this
weekend. Nazarov was a bit miffed by Dinamo Minsk fans who threw things onto
Vityaz bench. See the video of his reaction. See the video here:
• The Worcester Express made a departure
from San Jose on Sunday with Benn Ferriero being sent back to the Sharks top
minor league affiliate. Ferriero has a goal in 4 games this season in San Jose.
• A month into the season, it’s hard to say where the Sharks
stand in comparison to seasons past. It is after all just 12 games into an 82
game schedule. Their 7-4-1 record is actually better then last year, when the
team amassed a 6-5-1 record through their first 12 games. Last year’s team
didn’t have as much roster turnover, so it will interesting to see how
this team sizes up after they’ve had a chance to gel.
• Martin Havlat was acquired for the explicit
purpose of helping to initiate offense. He hasn’t disappointed yet,
averaging a point a game. Havlat missed the first 4 games of the year while
nursing an injury, but the Czech has been lights out since joining in on the
regular season in New Jersey when the Sharks kicked off their recently
completed 6-game road trip. Havlat bagged his first goal of the season Saturday
night.
• With his two assists on Saturday night, Joe Thornton
moved into a tie with former Shark Jeremy Roenick for 49th on the all-time
assists list with 703. Teemu Selanne, Jean Beliveau and Scott Stevens are next
on the list. All have 712 career assists, although Selanne is still active.
• San Jose will square off against the Los Angeles Kings for the
first time since last spring’s playoff series. The Kings were eliminated
by the Sharks in 6 games by San Jose. The two teams both have 15 points,
although the Sharks have a game in hand. They lost to the Penguins in the
shootout on Saturday night. Anze Kopitar leads the team in scoring with 16
points (7 goals, 9 assists). Jonathan Quick is among league leaders in goals
against (1.68).
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