Swiftly Turns the Tide

I made pasta for dinner this evening. I started cooking it up during the first period of tonight's game against Phoenix. The Sharks had just taken a 2-0 lead on a power play goal by Ryan Clowe when I fished out a piece of spaghetti and determined that it was properly done. It looked as though maybe the poorest functioning piece of the San Jose machine this year (the power play) was finally running smoothly, and I allowed myself to believe that perhaps the Sharks were on their way to a convincing and pleasantly unexciting victory.

In the time it took to drain the pasta, the Coyotes got two goals to even the score. Phoenix went on to win, 4-2.

Disappointing game tonight after a promising start. Brian Boucher, getting the start in goal for an injured Evgeni Nabokov, came back down to Earth following a spectacular start to his career in teal--he was okay, but this was his first loss as a starter for the Sharks. (Although I have to give a tip of the cap to the string of remarkable saves he made at the end of the game, when, down 3-2 and with three men in the box after the officials apparently decided there is a new minor penalty in the NHL called Playing Defense and quickly punished the Sharks for being guilty of said penalty, San Jose's desperate attempts to pull one back playing 3-on-5 left him hung out to dry numerous times. Phoenix's fourth goal came with Boucher on the bench for an extra skater.) Overall, the Coyotes generally showed more spark and energy tonight.

Something that bothers me about the Sharks' three losses is that it seems they played down to the level of their opposition in each. Their first loss of the season was to Anaheim, and the Ducks, although on a hot streak now, were playing poorly then...in fact, that win was their first of the season. The second loss was against a decidedly mediocre Florida team. And the Coyotes, although possessed of much young talent and likely to be on the brink of a swift rise in the league, are a team the Sharks really ought to beat, especially if they have them down by two goals.

San Jose still leads the league in points, and by just about any measure they are one of the top if not the top team in the league right now. Every opponent is going to look at a game against the Sharks as a test, and will bring a little bit extra to the rink. Team Teal has to learn to match that extra energy, and close out the games they're supposed to win.