Test Passed

I just wanted to get in a quick post on the subject of this week's games against last year's Stanley Cup finalists.  The Sharks beat the Penguins 2-1 on Tuesday night, and the Red Wings 4-2 last night.  

Both wins were pretty convincing.  The poor defense I complained about in my last post was in little evidence for San Jose...they held Pittsburgh to only eleven shots on goal, and conceded few good chances to the Red Wings.  In both games the Sharks came out with a high level of energy and sustained it throughout, in contrast to the team's habit of coming out flat time after time last season.  Most importantly, Team Teal is possessing and pursuing the puck in a way that I don't think I have ever seen;  the reason the Penguins only had eleven shots is that the Sharks dominated time of possession.  

Any team is going to have ups and downs over the course of a long season, but I think it's very fortunate that the Sharks have started off the season strong.  Hopefully the good start will aid the credibility of new coach Todd McLellan's system in the locker room.  If the team continues to play at the level they demonstrated this week, they'll have to be included in any discussion about which team is the best in the league.  

There are still a couple of worrisome areas.  There still appears to be some vulnerability to letdowns at crucial times...in the Pittsburgh game, no sooner had Mike Grier put San Jose up by two than the good team defense falls apart, guys start to chase around anxiously, and all of the sudden Ruslan Fedotenko puts the puck behind Nabokov and the finish is far more dramatic than it needs to be.  The ability to grimly close out opponents in a boring, efficient way still seems to elude this team.  

Also, the play of Evgeni Nabokov this year has been highly average.  Detroit's opening goal, by Marian Hossa, was a shot Nabby should've stopped.  Coming into the year, it was presumed that goaltending would be one of San Jose's strengths, but this hasn't been the case.  I'm confident that Nabokov is just fighting through a rough patch, though...I'm sure his game will improve, and it's a good thing that the rest of the team is clicking at the moment and they're piling up the points, anyway.  

All in all, a good week for the Sharks.  There are still some things that need to improve, but so far this team looks like a legitimate Cup contender.

Next game Sunday against Colorado, one of my most hated teams.  I'm hoping the Sharks win 11-0.  Nice and boring.