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Sharks lose an ugly one to the Panthers |
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The Sharks played against a tough Florida Panthers team tonight who finished off their road trip with a win and embarrassed the Sharks defense by scoring on three key turnovers.
“That is probably as poorly as I’ve seen our six D play in four years, all together as a group with turnovers.” Said coach McLellan in the post-game presser.
The final score was 5-3 for the Panthers at the HP Pavilion and they proved that their strong start to the season is no fluke.
The Panthers played a smart road game by, for the most part staying out of the penalty box and keeping the dangerous San Jose power play on the shelf. On the Sharks first opportunity with the man advantage they had some good looks but gave up a short-handed goal after a defensive zone turnover.
Florida also did what they do best which is driving pucks to the net and then tracking to the blue paint like a wolf pack looking for a meal. Florida took a lot of shots, not all great scoring chances but that is there strategy, shoot and follow the disc to the net.
The game started well for the Sharks by hitting the scoreboard 1:16 into the game when Logan Couture fired a seeing eye wrist shot to the top corner beating the Panther’s starting goalie Scott Clemmensen. The shot looked innocent enough until it bulged the twine and sent the sell-out crowd at the Shark Tank to their feet.
Tonight represented a battle of the back-up goalies. Thomas Greiss patrolled the blue paint for San Jose and Scott Clemmensen for Florida. Tonight marked Clemmensen’s second game of the year after fighting a sore groin for most of the season. He came in with a 1-0 record winning his only other game in Dallas 6-0.
The second period is typically the best for the Sharks but tonight they took it on the chin. They gave up three unanswered goals including one while on the power play.
Panthers Coach Kevin Dineen commented on the second afterwards “The second was good. It was all about energy and accepting those huge bodies San Jose keeps sending at you.”
After San Jose went down 3-2 the Panthers had the momentum going in their favor, until the Sharks third line who has been lights out lately turned things around. They played in the offensive zone with a persistent fore check and came close to tying the game at 3. The momentum that line created led to the power play that gave up a goal and things went south from there. The momentum changes came fast tonight which kept Sharks fans emotions up and down like a roller coaster.
Even when you thought San Jose was done Couture scored his second of the night with a little over six minutes to play in regulation time giving everyone hope. Unfortunately for the Sharks it wasn’t enough as the Panthers scored on a power play late in the game on a shot that I’m sure Thomas Greiss wants back.
The turning point in this game was the shorthanded Jack Skille goal. The Sharks finally got a power play which is often a positive for team teal but tonight they should have declined the two minute minor.
The Sharks have played a real Jekyll and Hyde style this year. They have been good or fairly bad and tonight if not for the three defensive turnovers would have been good, but those glaring errors are hard to avoid since they lead to three Panthers goals and the difference in the game.
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Wes Howard – is the game’s first contender tonight. Howard was recognized before the puck dropped for his 1000th game with the San Jose Sharks training staff. The training staff are the glue of this organization and the number of man games missed for the Sharks has been quite low over the years including this season which is a credit to the selfless work of guys like Wes Howard.
Florida’s top line – was just that, their top line. The Panther’s best players outplayed San Jose’s and showed great desire. They combined for 8 points tonight.
Logan Couture – has found his groove again and is looking very comfortable playing the center position again, but also with line-mates Ryan Clowe and Martin Havlat.
Pretenders
The Sharks Defense – as if there is any surprise by this choice. Turnovers that lead to goals came from White, Burns, and Boyle. Demers minor with 3:10 left to play squashed any hope of the Sharks tying the game and sending things into overtime.
Sharks special teams – also lost the battle tonight. Florida scored two power play goals along with a short-handed goal. The Sharks scored one with the man advantage and gave up one with the man advantage. The penalty kill finished the night at 50% efficiency.
The Sharks next game is against the NHL’s top team the Minnesota Wild. They have good memories and unless things change for the Sharks in a drastic way they will come up on the short end of the stick yet again.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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