Playing a full season in the NHL is no picnic. The eighty-two game NHL season gives teams an average of three games per week over six months. Throw in the fact that the NHL traverses the four corners of the US and Canada, and you have an exhausting six months. The Sharks were given the opportunity to show their strength and stamina as they faced off against the Dallas Stars Sunday in day two of back-to-back games.
Game one, Saturday, was a disappointing loss to the Nashville Predators who pulled the reigns on the Sharks’ late season surge. San Jose came into the matchup fighting to hold on to their momentum.
The Dallas Stars are just trying not to have a more embarrassing season. The Stars currently are the third worst team in the Western Conference. A tough pill to swallow, given Dallas ended last season 50-23-9 with 109 points. The Stars currently have sixty-four points with only fourteen games left in the season.
Sharks unleash a meteor storm
You almost feel sorry for a struggling team that must face the wrath of a division leader directly after a loss. Dallas found themselves the target of San Jose’s frustration on Sunday. The Sharks came out of the gate with a bloodthirsty determination, and drew that blood just three minutes into the first period. The goal came on a pass from Logan Couture to Patrick Marleau, who was all alone in front of Stars' netminder Kari Lehtonen.
Watching the play unfold was like watching a bunch of kids running from snake. One second Marleau was surrounded, and the next he was all alone with Lehtonen. An ace like Mr. San Jose Shark Patrick Marleau doesn’t miss an opportunity like that, and quickly scored the game’s first goal.
Dallas answered back with a goal from Remi Elie at 12:54 of the first.
Elie picked up a loose puck from the right side and slammed it past the Sharks’ Aaron Dell. Elie’s first career NHL goal was the lone bright spot for the dimming Stars. Dallas’ reprieve was brief, as Joe Pavelski added a second Shark goal in the closing moments of the first period.
The second period started with the same vigor as Joel Ward converted a Logan Couture pass into a straight on goal at 2:46 in the second.
It was Couture’s second assist on the night. Joe Thornton got credit for the second assist on the goal, giving him 1,003 career assists, and yes, we are counting.
Any hopes Dallas had of a comeback quickly vanished as Joe Pavelski scored an unassisted, short-handed goal against replacement Stars goalie, and former Shark, Antti Niemi at 12:26. The goal gave Joe Pavelski his second of the night and the Sharks a 4-1 lead. San Jose would add one more goal at 3:04 of the third as Chris Tierney tenaciously buried the third rebound attempt off Niemi.
Sharks' Dell closes the game in epic fashion
To say Aaron Dell in having a successful rookie season in goal is like saying a tornado is a mild breeze. Dell is 10-3 on the season with a save percentage of .938.
He maintains a goals against average (GAA) of only 1.82. The Stars felt his dominance first hand as he held them to the lone goal on thirty shots. Dell’s twenty-nine saves gave him a .967 save percentage for Sunday's game, and gave the Sharks the 5-1 win. Not bad rook, not bad.
As a dedicated Sharks fan, I am pained to have to admit that San Jose went 0-5 on the powerplay against the worst powerplay kill in the league. I guess the Stars needed something to hang their hat on, right?
San Jose has only one day to rest as they prepare to welcome the 28-29-12 Buffalo Sabres to the Shark Tank at 7:30 on Tuesday March 14th. Don’t let the Sabres’ record fool you, they have had the Sharks' number recently -- a trend the Sharks hope to bring to an abrupt end on Tuesday night.
