Playing the Role of Arturs Irbe Tonight is Evgeni Nabokov

I wasn't able to watch last night's game, and probably won't be able to watch tonight's either (end-of-year party for my fantasy football league, followed by the inevitable male ritual of Playing Texas Hold 'Em), so once again the question on the table is, "What can one learn from a box score?"

In this case, the answer to that question is, "You'd better look at the calendar, occasionally, lest ye mistake the year for 1994." From a glance at the box score, last night's 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets fits almost perfectly the template for victory that San Jose employed in their 1993-94 playoff season...get outshot Lots to Not Much, get great goaltending, hang around, score a goal late to win. Back then it was Arturs Irbe in net for the Sharks thieving those victories. Last night it was Evgeni Nabokov.

The recaps in the press reinforce the feeling that Nabby stole the game last night. As Nabokov correctly points out in this AP article, stealing the occasional game when your team gets outplayed is very much the job of an NHL goaltender. So I think Sharks fans have to continue to be pleased, indeed head-over-heels thrilled, with the performance of their goalie this season.

But at the same time, getting outshot 23-5 through two periods yet still hanging around and sneaking a win late seems like something the Columbus Blue Jackets ought to be doing to the San Jose Sharks, not the other way around. It's very very easy to read too much into shot totals, but last night's--outshot 10-3 in the first and 16-2 in the second?--are so badly skewed that one cannot help but be alarmed.

Joe Thornton was quoted as saying last night, "Now we owe Nabby a good game." He could not be more correct. Hopefully that good game will come tonight against Nashville.