Game #1 Sharks v.s Blues 4:30pm

[RaiderZar]

Just to properly motivate the team lol

Don't ever take this down. Obviuosly, the Charks read this board & used this post as motivation. As a matter of fact, don't even change your underwear until we win the Cup, Kork.

 

[madcap9999]

There is only one thing that is certain for Game 2. You can expect the Blues to come out firing on all cylinders as soon as the puck drops. They will probably be the faster team and the more physical team for however long the Sharks allow them to be. It will be up to San Jose to weather the storm, cause Lord knows it's comin!

Sharks need to start getting more physical to counter that and establish a forecheck with extended offensive zone time...for once.

 

[MrChangoT97]

I just noticed that Niemi was not named one of the 3 stars of the game. The media dropped the ball on that one because he was fantastic. Sharks should definitely be buying him dinner tonight.

fuck the media! Outside the bayarea nobody gives the Sharks a chance in this series.

Sit on it national media!

 

[SJVP408]

fuck the media! Outside the bayarea nobody gives the Sharks a chance in this series.

Sit on it national media!

Did anyone hear what Milbury said on NBC postgame? After showing the highlight of Havlat's GWG, Milbury said something to the effect of "That's a penalty! They cheated! They cheated!" while referring to the non-call on Couture's interference. He did use the word 'cheated'. F U.

Blues ran interference the whole damn night. Watch the next time one of their dmen have the puck in a semi controlled state. He'll skate towards a teammate and the teammate runs interference to allow the dman with the puck more time and space. The way I see it, offensive interference is not going to be called unless it's absolutely blatant. Sharks need to use that to their advantage.

 

[Cmon_WTF]

The officials let everything go in overtime. It just happened that the Sharks were the first to capitalize on it. Yeah, that probably should have been a penalty on Couture but there were three or four plays in the first overtime that should have been penalties to the Blues but ended up in scoring chances for them. It went both ways.

 

[MrFlyingV]

A couple observations, some already mentioned:

1) GagMeWithASpoonLiardi couldn't hit the net if the puck was already in the net.
2) Sign Winnick. We have a real 4th line now.
3) Havlat trade is turning out to be an excellent deal.
4) Is Hitch Ray Ratto's older brother? Their double chins have a resemblance

 

[rares]

Scoring Chances: Game 1 @ St. Louis - Fear The Fin

Best EV Forward: Torrey Mitchell (+3)
Worst EV Forward: Joe Pavelski (-4)

Best EV Defenseman: Dan Boyle (+2)
Worst EV Defenseman: Douglas Murray (-5)

No kidding re: Murray... every time he was out there, he'd shoot into Blues forwards feet, giving up 3-on-2 rushes the other way.

Nice way to sum it all up:

Despite being dominated territorially, particularly in the first overtime period (the team as a whole posted a -13 Corsi rating in this game, with Douglas Murray a hilarious -21), the Sharks were reasonably effective at limiting the Blues' quality opportunities. San Jose was still outchanced but it was by a relatively narrow margin, 14-11 at even strength and 19-17 overall. Calling this a huge win seems like an understatement but, realistically, the Sharks shouldn't expect to win three more games in this series if they continue to be outchanced - especially since they probably shouldn't count on a 0.952 SV% from Antti Niemi for much longer. If San Jose can do a better job at penetrating the neutral zone in order to spend more time in the Blues' end of the ice, they'll be on the fast track to an upset here since they've already banked a victory they probably didn't deserve.

 

[rares]

And the head-to-head scoring chances:

The most important matchup in this series is the Joe Thornton line versus the David Backes line and the early returns are not good at all for the Sharks. Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski put together one of their weakest performances in recent memory for Game 1 and were clobbered in EV chances by Backes, Perron and Oshie. This is a matchup both coaches expressed interest in maintaining during the regular season but if the Thornton line fares similarly Saturday night, one wonders if McLellan will try to get them out against the Patrik Berglund line instead once the series shifts to San Jose.

Everyone on the Blues had a field day going up against the Murray and Burns pairing who seemed to have a lot of difficulties against the St. Louis forecheck. As awesome as Burns has been in teal, he still has issues with neutral zone turnovers when attempting to move the puck north and those problems are exacerbated against St. Louis' system. If I were McLellan, I'd probably put Demers, who can make those outlet passes fairly consistently, back with Burns and give Murray a more limited role on the third pairing. In his defense, Murray did have a brutal zone start rate, starting 10 of his 12 non-neutral zone EV shifts in his own end. He also turned in a solid night on the PK where he played nearly two minutes and yielded just a single chance against. I only mention those so he doesn't eat me.

 

[SJVP408]

And the head-to-head scoring chances:

Thanks for posting that, rares. It looks like the Backes line, backed up by Pietragelo/Huskins came out on top against everyone they faced. The Moore line had a solid night. I am hoping that the chart only lists even strength chances.

 

[sjrules99]

A couple observations, some already mentioned:

1) GagMeWithASpoonLiardi couldn't hit the net if the puck was already in the net.
2) Sign Winnick. We have a real 4th line now.
3) Havlat trade is turning out to be an excellent deal.
4) Is Hitch Ray Ratto's older brother? Their double chins have a resemblance

1. I have never see a guy get so many grade A chances and choke each time. Amazing.

2. agreed on winnik as long as its 1M or less. if douge pulls a handzus and thrown 2+, Ill be pissed.

3. The big question was havlat was and will be his health. When he's in a linuep, nobody doubted his abilities. His career numbers speak for themselves. the key is that he is brittle and 1 key injury and it's 5M in the dressing room. At this moment, he is rocking it!

4. Yes. The are both angry fat men;... gotta love it...

Couple additional observations:

1. sharks need a whol lot more from line one. I thought pavs was effective for the most part, but patty was awful, and jumbo not far behind. Line one has to be a positive factor in the series.

2. Moore continues to be so painful. His TO on the O rush leads directly to the PP goal against. Then, he decides he doesnt want to hustle to play D and let's his guy walk around him and puts his arm up for help, which of course is not there since its HIS man. I really cant stand watching this guy. Oh, and his whole good FO rep, not yesterday.

3. Boyle is a battler man. 35 years old, playing 35 minutes and he was still strong and working hard until the final goal. I was incredibly impressed...

4. Line 4 is becoming incredibly effective. Wingels and desi look good together, and not just the goal, but the rest of their game too. Desi has 2 PO goals already, and it seems like he or winnik have come up with key goals and curcial times a whole lot more in the last month or so. That line is looking really effective and the sharks desperately need it. It's their goal, not havlat's, that was the real key last game.

5. Sharks have to get smarter. taking two offensive zone unneeded penalties virtually cost them the game and will cost them a series if they continue. this team cant kill penalties, so taking them when you dont have to is a sure fire recipe for disaster. Tmac needs to make sure that does not happen again.

overall, gutsy way to steal a game, but if they play that way throughout the series, Im not sure they win it. The sharks need to get better in a whole lot of areas and line one especially.

 

[naes666]

I took my puppy to the bar to watch the game. Good luck charm.

pics or GTFO!

PUPPY!!!

 

[naes666]

I have to admit they are worse for your health than the Giants

good to see a Giants fans admit the Sharks cause more torture!

but a Lakers fan? wow...i remember i was at one Warriors - Lakers game not long after Kobe raped that woman in Colorado, sitting behind some blonde women with Kobe jerseys on, (this was a game in Oakland btw) and having to listen to them shout "hey Kobe, you can r*pe me anytime!"...yeah that is what i think of Lakers fans. hate that team almost as much i hate the Dodgers. hard to believe you can root for 49ers, Giants, Sharks and Lakers?

pure bandwagon sadness!

 

[naes666]

I just noticed that Niemi was not named one of the 3 stars of the game. The media dropped the ball on that one because he was fantastic. Sharks should definitely be buying him dinner tonight.

agree 100% Niemi is the 1st star, 2nd star and 3rd star, he saved their bacon numerous times in this game, Sharks D was horrible and the turnovers were ridiculous! this game was PURE thievery on Niemi part.

very happy that Niemi is on the rise and restoring some faith in his game, he played outstanding and i think Korky mentioned he gets in a rhythm with lots of activity, could be that he is finding his groove again.

 

[naes666]

hahaha... totally interference on cooch

What a fucking game!!! I guess having havlat back makes a little difference!

2012 SHARKS GET MAD AND CHEAT THEIR WAY TO THE CUP!

hahahah.

 

[naes666]

Sharks did were outplayed but still came away with the 2 points, I'll take that every time. Sharks are going to need a better effort on Saturday. Good start, St Loius is a young team put the pressure on them early.

2 points! REPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

 

[Slimpikins]

If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

 

[naes666]

If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

you got it. and if the Sharks are TRYING? im scared for all the rest of the teams out there!

 

[SJVP408]

2. agreed on winnik as long as its 1M or less. if douge pulls a handzus and thrown 2+, Ill be pissed.

Sorry to say, but there is no way Winnik signs anywhere for $1 or less. He deserves more than that. To me, he's an elite 3rd liner. Not in the scoring department, but as a defensive shutdown winger. I view him as a luxury type player for a contender. Meaning if cap space is saved in other areas, a team can 'splurge' on an elite 3rd liner like Winnik. Very similar to how VAN was able to splurge on an elite 3rd line center in Malhotra because they got the twins, Hamhuis, Kesler on great deals. Winnik wins pucks, protects possession, and almost never makes a bonehead play. I am okay with giving him $2 if other areas on the team are fulfilled first (top 6 tweener, 3rd line center).

 

[Ray_Dogg]

The officials let everything go in overtime. It just happened that the Sharks were the first to capitalize on it. Yeah, that probably should have been a penalty on Couture but there were three or four plays in the first overtime that should have been penalties to the Blues but ended up in scoring chances for them. It went both ways.

There was also two bad interference calls against us imo. I'm not crazy about the Havlat goalie interference either to be honest. Looks like their feet accidentally got tangled up. I've seen much worse.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

I'm not sure the Blues are capable of playing a better game and we still beat them without our best performance.

If we could cleanly clear the puck out of our end then we will dominate. It was really painful to watch the hack, whack, and shovel attempts to clear the puck. Way too often it wound up on a Blues stick and stayed in the zone. Our guys were so panicked they had no faith in skating with the puck an extra stride or two and finding someone on a clean pass.