Mike Modano was the story before, during and after the game tonight. He put this one to bed 4:24 into the first period, scoring two goals on his first two shots, and it was enough to give the Stars a 3-1 win. It was a nice gesture by the Sharks to announce Modano tying the all-time scoring record by an American, and then passing it a couple minutes later (don’t want another Nashville incident.) The Shark fans were extremely classy, giving the veteran a great ovation after the first announcement. Of course, the second ovation was a little chillier after the Stars went up 2-0 early, but that came as no surprise.
It was a great accomplishment for the veteran center, who has been one of the best players in the league for nearly 20 years. Sure he’s made a couple stupid remarks (something about dog food comes to mind) but he’s been very entertaining and incredibly consistent, helping to grow the game in the U.S.
Ron Wilson didn’t feel like commenting too much afterward, saying simply “Good for Mike Modano, he’s a great guy.”
As for the game, it was more of the same for the Sharks. They had more than triple the shots Dallas had (39-12), but the Stars had triple the goals, which is the only number that matters. The effort was there, and the Sharks didn’t fold the tent when Dallas went up 3-1 in the second. They didn’t stop pressing when Ozolinsh’s goal was disallowed either.
I don’t want to sound like a homer, and anybody who reads the blog knows I’m not, but Ozolinsh’s no-goal in the second period was one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. It was weird how adamant the ref was, and he totally blew the call. Michalek was in the slot on the edge of the paint, but Robidas tripped him and went down in the crease. He even did his best to avoid Turco while falling. The league has to get calls like that right, because it changed the entire game. Hopefully it doesn’t discourage players from going to the net, because Michalek was buzzing around looking for deflections and Bernier was a beast out there.
“Sandis’s goal should have counted,” Wilson said. “The defense has a stick between Milan’s legs, twists him and pushes him back on the goalie. There was absolutely nothing Milan could do there. That would have been a huge goal for us.”
I’m trying out a new feature here on the blog, recommended by a loyal reader. I’ll try to post a report card after each Sharks game, helping to hit the key points of each one.
Report Card
Offense – C-
You can’t complain too much about 39 shots, but Marty Turco is an NHL goalie and you need a few quality chances to put something past him. I’ll always take a hard shot over a pass that doesn’t set anything up, but you can’t just throw it too the net hoping for it to bounce off someone’s butt. And it doesn’t matter if you get one goal on 60 lousy shots if Dallas scores three on 12 shots. Too many chances missed the net, or went right into Turco’s pads.
“We were peppering him (Turco) with shots. I don’t know how many were quality, but we were getting them through,” Matt Carle said. “Maybe we’re not getting enough traffic in front of the net. We just have to bear down and capitalize on the chances we do get.”
Also, the top line was the only one that generated any real buzz when they were on the ice. No other line was able to cycle the puck down low, or get defensemen moving to open up lanes. If Turco can see 100 shots he’ll save 99 of them, guaranteed.
Defense – B
The defense played really well, despite a couple miscues that resulted in breakaway goals. Dallas wasn’t pressing the play too much, so the defense didn’t have a tough time moving out of their own end, but they kept things to the outside and didn’t allow many second chances. I thought Semenov and Ozolinsh looked really sharp, and aside from a couple turnovers by Vlasic the defense was pretty solid.
“We had a couple early mistakes on breakaways,” Carle said. “Once that team gets up it’s hard to come back on them.”
Power Play – D+
San Jose should never finish 1-for-8 on the power play, especially not when they trail the entire game. It’s plain to see that nobody’s moving to get open or change the angles. Dallas is happy to let Joe stand on the halfboards and play it back and forth with Rivet, killing time on the perimeter. Michalek did some nice work in the slot, looking for deflections, but you have to get Turco going side-to-side and put some pressure on him. Plus, I don’t know what Pavelski adds on the point. His bobble led to Modano’s shorthanded breakaway goal, and he didn’t create much back there. Ozolinsh played well sneaking in from the point, and had some great chances in the first period. There just weren’t enough of them to crack Turco after Carle’s goal.
“We need to work when we get on the power play,” Wilson said. “We completely outworked them 5-on-5. We get guys who draw penalties, and then the power play goes out and works at about 65 percent instead of giving 100 percent for 45 or 50 seconds.”
Penalty Kill – A
San Jose stayed in the game thanks to the penalty kill, keeping Dallas from taking a 3-0 lead with Bernier’s two double-minors in the first period. The Stars only managed five power play shots in five minutes, and Nabokov was able to see everything coming through from the point. It helped that Modano was looking for the hat trick because he kept bombing away from everywhere, making his shots easy to block. Not a bad night when the worst thing you can say about the penalty kill is that they didn’t score a shorty.
Goaltending – D-
Nabokov had a rough night, allowing that first goal from Modano on a slapshot from 40 feet out. That’s a save he has to make, and it would have changed the game. No excuses for that one. He also needs to make one of those saves on the two breakaways, because those were the only chances Dallas had over the entire 60 minutes. He’s still been the team’s MVP this season, but Nabby had an off night and it would have been interesting to see the game play out if he doesn’t allow those early goals.
“It was a pretty good shot (Modano’s first goal,) I tried to save it with my glove. It wasn’t there,” Nabokov said. “We did play really well, but look at the outcome.”
Turned My Head
Milan Michalek – He was a threat to score every time he hit the ice, finishing with eight shots. Michalek went to the net hard, kept his feet moving the entire game, and had some great chances around the net. He also did some nice work on the forecheck, creating some turnovers and keeping pressure on the defense.
Steve Bernier – Wow, this guy is a player. Nice to see Bernie playing hard and stirring things up out there, and he laid a few people out with some big hits. Sure he had eight penalty minutes in the first thanks to some bad luck, but you’ll take those with the aggressive style he was playing. I had him tagged for the Eastern Conference during the preseason, but he looked great tonight. I felt bad for him after a while because he was carrying the whole load on a line with Marleau and Cheechoo.
Devin Setoguchi – Another strong game for the kid, and the goals will start flowing if he keeps working hard and getting open for Joe. He’s such a strong skater it’s remarkable. Setoguchi has that rare ability where he’s able to shrug off checks at high speed and still control the puck, kinda like a running back breaking tackles. Watch out, because he’s going to be a really productive player very soon.
Sandis Ozolinsh – I can’t say enough good things about Ozolinsh after tonight’s game. He played hard, he was smart with the puck, he showed some emotion and intensity, he was great offensively and defensively, he made smart reads. Wow, just wow. He was easily the best defenseman out there and keeps earning big minutes, leading the team with 23:22 tonight.
Turned My Stomach
Patrick Marleau – Can’t the Sharks just trade this guy already. He was dynamite on the opening shift of the game, but played horribly for the next 59 minutes. Marleau’s passes were off the mark, and he was constantly losing battles for the puck along the boards and in the neutral zone. After a while I started watching tracking him and the play died with him nearly every time he touched the puck. Also, during the second period he was coasting to the bench for line changes and the Stars started trying two-line breakaway passes, trying to catch the Sharks on the change. Terrible effort for a player who needs to snap out of it.
Jonathan Cheechoo – He was also a beast on the first shift and became absent for the rest of the game. At one point I actually had to remind myself Cheechoo was still on the Sharks roster, because I hadn’t noticed him for nearly an entire period. Playing on the left wing on the second line, he eventually started skating the puck over to the right wing when he would cross center ice. It jammed up the right side and the Stars were able to shut things down easily. He can’t keep putting in poor efforts. I guess the only saving grace was that he played on the second line with Marleau, so the two of them weren’t able to hamper any of the other lines.
Final Grade – C+
It was a good enough effort for a victory, but bad enough to elicit a round of boos and fans streaming to the exits with two minutes remaining. There was a faceoff with eight seconds remaining and Kanye West’s song came pumping out over the PA. I thought it was appropriate the song blasted the words “Now that don’t kill me, can only make me stronger, I need you to hurry up now, cause I can’t wait much longer.” It seems pretty fitting for the season so far. I’ve written way too much, I’m going home. Only two more sleeps until Anaheim on Friday night.
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