Sharks Grab Another 3-2 Win Over Avalanche

(Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

"Oh my." That's the polite version of what came out of my mouth on the third goal let in by Jose Theodore. And wouldn't you know it, that was the one that was the eventual game winner. A stinker of a goal caused the Avalanche drop just their third home loss of the season and has likely caused fans everywhere to start calling for Theodore's head. Again.

In an otherwise even hockey game, tilted slightly in the Sharks favor but not much, Theodore was the difference in the wrong way. He could very well be playing his way back onto the bench for a long stretch of time.

The Oilers are about the win their 3rd straight game and will pull within 2 of the Avalanche who remain 3 back of division-leading Minnesota. Who knew Calgary would be the cellar dwellers in the NW this year?

First Period
The Sharks got on the board early off a bit of a flukey goal. Michalek fired a shot during a scrum in the low slot, it took a bounce off Scott Hannan and got past Theodore. I thought that one was mildly weak but was willing to give a mulligan on it.

Milan Hejduk answered back just 12 seconds later. He took a beauty feed from Kyle Cumiskey, broke down the right wing, forced the defenders to the middle, then buried a shot short side on Nabokov. He made the exact same play against Nabokov not too long ago but I can't recall the exact game. Vintage Hejduk.

T.J. Hensick took his first penalty as an Avalanche as he went off for hooking. I was a bit concerned as the Sharks lit the Avs powerplay up last game. This time though, the Avs did a good job focusing on Thornton but not losing focus on the rest of the Sharks. They got a bit of help from a quick whistle. The ref though Theo had scooped a bouncing puck but he'd whiffed on it and it was still in play. Hensick was nearly sprung out of the box but the Sharks D was there to break it up.

The Avalanche got a few chances including a nice give-and-go between Stastny and Wolski but Nabokov stood tall. Devon Setoguchi then gook a penalty giving the Avs their first powerplay chance on the night. Nabokov made a couple nice saves and the Sharks kept the #1 penalty kill in the league going strong.

Late in the period, Nabokov tossed a pick on an Avalanche forechecker by leaving his crease almost completely. Of course, if the Avalanche player hits Nabokov, he'll get whistled for goaltender interference/tripping/whatever as Nabokov was still partially in his crease. A pretty crafty play there.

Second Period
The Avs opened up with an early penalty as they were caught with too many men on the ice. Cheechoo negated that penalty halfway through on a trip. So it was 4-4 for a minute and the Sharks nearly cashed in. Pavelski took advantage of a Liles turnover and broke in alone on Theodore but Theo turned him away with a nice pad save.

Bernier then put the Sharks up again on a goal that went under Theo's arm again. Remember me bitching about that a few games back? Well, I wasn't any more pleased with it this time.

Smyth took a stupid hooking penalty a couple minutes later but the Avalanche were able to kill it off. It's like playing with fire when you take penalties against San Jose but the Avalanche were able to come away unscathed.

Third Period
The Altidudes had stats ready before the game for when the Avalanche led after the 1st and 2nd periods. I guess they were unprepared for the possibility that the Sharks might have the lead going into the second. Well, they're now 9-0-1 when leading after 2.

The Avalanche came out with some jump and were putting some good pressure on the Sharks early as they pressed for the tying goal. Richardson had an amazing chance but rang one off the post. The play started when Skrastins banged a shot off the end boards, something the Sharks had been doing all game long. Never let the visiting team use your home surroundings better than you do!

And then a terrible thing happened. Mike Grier tossed a puck at the net from just inside the blueline. It was flipping, took a bounce just in front of Theodore and jumped over his pad. Inexcusable. He had all the time in the world to get in front of that puck but choose to try and redirect it. Just a complete misread on Theodore's part.

Haynes and McNabb tried as hard as they could to find a reason why this wasn't a bad goal but gave up as the evidence was overwhelming. A puck moving 10mph with an unimpeded path from the hashmarks in made it past a Vezina-winning goaltender. It deflated me so I can't imagine what it did to the team

The Avalanche, to their credit, kept right on trucking. They fought hard, got more chances, but just couldn't get anything past Nabokov. That is until the 16:55 mark. Brad Richardson won a faceoff and Andrew Brunette, a left-handed shot on the right wing, fired the puck over a shocked Nabokov's blocker.

The Sharks then really put the defensive pressure on the Avs and it seemed to fluster them a bit. They got trapped in their own zone with possession of the puck for a long time and couldn't seem to break out. Coach Q then tossed some choice words at the ref after they called a faceoff in the Avalanche end as Q, and everyone watching the game, argued that the puck was out of play off a Shark.

Theodore then got pulled as the Avalanche gained possession in the Sharks zone. Nothing was going past Nabokov but they got a late faceoff in the Sharks zone. The Sharks called a timeout and Q drew up the play. It involved putting Hejduk, a right shot, on the right wing with Brunette and Smyth, two left shots, on the left wing. Now, if you recall the 2nd Avalanche goal was scored from a left-handed shot on the right wing right off the faceoff.

Now, I'm not saying it's a guaranteed goal but it maybe might have possibly been a good idea to try again. And if it didn't go in right away, maybe possibly arguably they could have gone for a rebound. This is all speculation of course.

Lines
Smyth-Stastny-Hejduk
Wolski-Arnason-Hensick
Richardson-Smith-Brunette
Hlinka-Guite-McCormick

Clark-Hannan
Liles-Finger
Skrastins-Cumiskey

Odds and Ends
- Joe Sakic and Marek Svatos sat out with groin injuries
- the Sharks used the end boards as a playmaker
- which begs the question of why the Avalanche don't (they did once and it nearly worked)
- Craig Rivet destroyed Arnason in front of the net in the first
- early in the first Roenick tripped over the back of the net and landed on his ass...I laughed
- Ben Guite later knocked Roenick to the ice...I laughed
- it seemed like Thornton never left the ice tonight (24:10 in ice-time)
- Nabokov's equipment gives him the worst beer belly I've seen

Stats
Brett Clark and Scott Hannan led the team in ice-time with 24:30 and 23:39 respectively. Wyatt Smith had just 6:34 on the night.

Clark also had 4 blocked shots and 2 shots on the night. Jeff Finger had 4 shots and 2 hits on the night and Ben Guite had 2 hits and 3 blocked.

Kyle Cumiskey ended up being on the ice for both Avalanche goals and no Sharks goal to come away with a +2 rating and one assist.

Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
ColoradoAvalanche.com Recap
TSN Recap
In the Cheap Seats Game Notes

Sharks Outmuscle Avalanche to 3-2 Victory

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

You know, this was actually a good hockey game to watch. I mean, if you weren't an Avalanche fan hoping for one measly road win at some point before the year is out. If you were a San Jose fan or just a casual fan, this game had some fast-paced hockey with lots of juicy checks. Not the cheap kind either - I'm looking at you Phaneuf - but legit, solid, finish-your-man checks.

However even the smash-mouth style hockey wasn't able to keep me up for the entire game. Due to a 9:30 start, friggin' Pacific games, the game still wasn't over by the time time I went down for the count. I woke up, checked the score online, silently cursed, then headed for bed deciding that nobody would be in the mood for a recap that late in the evening.

But everybody's ready now, right?

First Period
The game really got off on a sour note as Jaroslav Hlinka took an uber-lazy holding penalty on Joe Thornton. Midway through the penalty, Thornton found himself wide open in the low slot and you could read Budaj's thoughts: "Oh man, he's going five-hole. I know it. But if I go down, he's going high blocker. I know it. Oh man." And while he was thinking that, Thornton potted a quick wrister through the five-hole. You can't give Thornton a microsecond alone in the slot let alone a full 3 seconds by himself.

Jeremy Roenick then welcomed Hannan back to HP Pavilion with a stick to the face. Accidental for sure, but a penalty nonetheless. Then when Kyle McLaren got called for tripping just a minute in, the opportunity was ripe for the Avalanche to tie the game on a 5-on-3.

They squandered that opportunity though as they moved the puck around well but forgot that you don't get points for puck movement, only for goals. The team looked very flustered after the penalties were over and San Jose really got a boost out of that kill.

The Sharks really started laying on the body at this point but to the Avs credit, they dealt it right back. Of course it looked a bit like a comedy caper where the bad guy knocks the cop down, the cop then tries to knock the bad guy down but still gets knocked on his ass.

The teams most diminuitive player, Kyle Cumiskey, was one of the few to actually get a knockdown as he laid out Mike Grier at the end of a rush. Of course, Mike Grier then returned the favor on the same shift by plastering Cumiskey into the boards. I both hated and loved that moment. Hated because an Avalanche got plastered, loved because it was a perfect example of the way the game should be played and the way retribution should get dealt out. Legally.

Second Period
Joe Sakic has an uncharacteristic moment where he got a bit pissed off. It led him to take a bonehead penalty by slashing Devon Setoguchi on the hands. And guess who was there to make the team pay for it? That's right, Joe Thornton.

It was actually a funny goal to watch. Thornton was again alone down low and Budaj, having gone through this one already, was down and covering the corner. However the endless patience of Thornton wore out Budaj who decided to stand up and maybe get ready for a pass. The second he started moving up, Thornton buried it between his legs. I laughed and cried all at once.

Jeff Finger got called for a hook late in the 2nd and you could feel the walls closing in. The Sharks were already 2-for-3 on the powerplay and a goal at this point would essentially cement the win. However it was not to be as Paul Stastny took advantage of a misplay at the blueline by Craig Rivet. He streaked past him, drawing a penalty, and went in on a 2-on-1 with Hejduk. It was a perfectly played 2-on-1 as Hejduk basically kept his stick on the ice to redirect Stastny's perfect pass into the net. Shortie! That kind of goal can really turn the tide in a game.

But fret not! Less than 2 minutes later the Sharks restored their 2-goal lead on a bit of a fluke goal. Well, I don't want to say fluke as it was the result of going to the net and never giving up on the part of Mike Grier. Thornton broke down the wing, flipped a pass out front which Liles tried to bat out of the way, but instead batted it off Grier, then off of Budaj's pad and in. A brief review ensued but this was definitely a goal.

Christian Ehrhoff then took a late penalty but who cares, right? The Avalanche PP is terrible on the road. Well, they had a bit of a redeeming moment as only 8 seconds into the penalty, Andrew Brunette scored a goal off of Kyle McLaren's skate to make it a one goal game again.

Third Period
I missed pretty much the entire third period as I was drifting in and out and finally out for good about halfway through. I did catch the scrum that ensued after Mike Grier crosschecked Andrew Brunette behind the goal, leading Sakic to take offense and wrestle a bit with Marc-Edouard Pickles Vlasic. Wojtek Cherries Wolski and Patrick Rismiller got the gate as they wrestled for a bit too long.

Oh, and you might be saying "Cherries?" Well, the other day while shopping at Extra Foods, I noticed a brand of canned cherries with a name of "Wolski's Canned Cherries". So if Vlasic can be known as "Pickles", I shall now refer to Wolski, on and off, as "Cherries". Nobody else in the hockey world has a similar name, right?

Lines
Wolski-Sakic-Brunette
Hlinka-Stastny-Hejduk
Smyth-Arnason-Hensick
McCormick-Smith-Guite

Odds and Ends
- T.J. Hensick was in the lineup for Marek Svatos who was out with a groin injury
- Doug Murray is one tough SOB
- Marleau picked up his game tonight even though he was held off the scoreboard
- Hannan played another solid game
- Budaj was solid even though he didn't make any flashy saves
- Drew Remanda is the most opinionated announcer I've ever listened to
- I hate Joe Thornton, but in a respectful, I-don't-want-to-play-against-him kind of way
- Sharks fans booed Hannan which I thought was terribly unclassy

Stats
Scott Hannan and Brett Clark were the ice-time leaders with 24:35 and 24:25 respectively. Both were playing some good physical hockey tonight. No huge open-ice hits but some solid finishing checks along the boards. Kurt Sauer only had 10:29 in ice-time tonight and according to the TOI chart he only had one shift in the third. Hmm...

The teams dished out a combined 57 hits on the night. McLaren and Rivet led the way with 4 each for the Sharks. Guite and Sauer dished out 4 each on the Avalanche end while Hannan and Clark had 3 each. 3 D-men helping lead the way in hits. What a novel idea.

The Avalanche were beaten in the faceoff circle which hasn't been happening lately. Sakic was a dreadful 2 for 11 and Stastny was 6 for 18. Smith was 3 for 4 and Arnason was 6 for 11 to help boost the average.

Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
TSN.ca Recap
ColoradoAvalanche.com Recap
Denver Post Recap
Jibblescribbits Live and on Location
In the Cheap Seats Recap