Box-Score Blogger (March 1st, 2008)

As I mentioned at the tail end of my last post, I didn't watch the game tonight (a 2-0 win over St. Louis) because I had my folks over for dinner at my "new" apartment. (Actually, I've been here for six weeks...sheesh, what kinda son am I, eh?) Of all the games I've missed this year, this is the one that I probably would've most liked to have seen, because it would've given me a chance to size up new goalie Brian Boucher, who got the start tonight in place of Evgeni "The Iron Goalie" Nabokov.

Heck, I'm head over heels over the result...the guy already has a 1-0 record and has yet to give up a goal as a Shark. Can't ask for anything more than that. I guess the only thing that gives me pause is the fact that the Blues' offense has had no teeth lately...three goals in their last five games, including tonight. Yowch. So it's not like Boucher was facing a high-powered team firing on all cylinders. Still, this result has to be a huge confidence-builder for the team, as it provides evidence that giving Nabby an occasional rest need not be the daredevil move it has seemed previously this season, when Thomas Greiss or Dimitri Patzold were Team Teal's only options for relief.

Also, how happy am I to see this scoring line?

San Jose 16:41, Joe Pavelski 15 (power play) (Brian Campbell, Joe Thornton)

Well, what are the SI units of happiness? Whatever they are, I am exhibiting lots of them. Power-play goal, assists to Campbell and Thornton. Music to my ears. Since the Campbell trade, I have been dreaming of a mighty power play, engineered by two of the best puck-moving players in the league, tearing giant gaping holes in opposing defenses. I hope to see many lines in many scoring summaries quite similar to the one above over the remainder of the season and deep into the playoffs.


Not So Bad, After All

So ends the eight-game, seventeen-day odyssey, which looked at first as if it were going to be either a disaster or an unmitigated disaster, but which on balance has to be counted as pretty successful. It wasn't just that the Sharks lost the first three games of the trip...remember the events immediately preceding their hitting the road. First, they blew a lead in the last minute to Calgary, and went on to lose in overtime. Then they closed out their homestand with a weak effort against a banged-up Edmonton Oilers team. So before the voyage began, the team was already threatening to go into a tailspin, and after losing the first three games of the trip you seriously had to wonder if a major control surface hadn't completely detached itself from the aircraft.

It isn't always true in situations like this, but in this particular case I believe the turning point can be identified with precision. It was the second intermission of the Philadelphia game. Recall that although the Sharks had been outplaying the reeling Flyers for most of the first forty minutes of that one, a series of bad breaks and breakdowns sprung Philly on a 3-on-1 that was converted by Mike Knuble with literally a handful of seconds left in the second period. This really could have shattered the morale of a San Jose team for whom nothing seemed to be going right, but instead they came out firing in the third, getting a goal early from Milan Michalek and another one a short time later by Douglas Murray, and cruising to a 3-1 win. They've been playing good hockey ever since, and that good hockey has been producing points in the standings.


It's a Dang Good Thing, Too...

...because the Stars and the Ducks have been joining forces with the Sharks to demonstrate why the Pacific Division is the toughest in hockey. San Jose, of course, ends its road trip on a five-game winning streak. Anaheim is also on a five-game winning streak and have won nine of their last ten. Their only loss in that span was to Dallas, who are, remarkably, nipping at the heels of the once apparently uncatchable Detroit Red Wings for the top spot in the West. The Stars had a four-game winning streak going as of this morning, but lost their game today against Nashville 3-1. Still, those of us who were hoping that the Brad Richards trade would fizzle on the Stars (nothing personal, Brad, but ya know...) were rudely yanked back from that fantasyland by his five-assist performance against the Blackhawks the other night. Right now, Dallas has a legitimate claim to being the NHL's best team.

The league's schedule makers saw fit to give the Sharks one whole whopping day off after that brutal road trip. On Monday night they're back in the Tank for a match-up with one of the East's best teams--the Montreal Canadiens.

Welcome, Brian Campbell. Happy Trails, Steve Bernier

Today was the NHL trading deadline, and I feel that the Sharks came out as one of the day's winners with their acquisition of All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell and a seventh-round draft pick from the Buffalo Sabres, in exchange for Steve Bernier and a first-round pick. Talented defensemen, particularly those who can contribute offensively, are the most in-demand players come trade time, and Campbell was certainly one of the top two blueliners whom one might have reasonably expected to be available. (Toronto's Tomas Kaberle was up there at the top, too, but he has a no-trade clause and it sounds like he invoked it).

I'm quite certain that San Jose's generally mediocre power play motivated Doug Wilson to be a very aggressive bidder in the Campbell Sweepstakes. Campbell's ability to create offense from the blue line will be very very welcome on a team that has struggled to get scoring from D-men all year. (The Sharks' leading scorer on the blue line, Craig Rivet, is twenty-sixth in points amongst all NHL defensemen at the time of writing, with 29 points. Campbell has 43 points so far this year). I had hoped that Matt Carle would develop into that offensive D-man/power-play quarterback, but he is one of a number of young Sharks who has simply not progressed this year--indeed, Carle has regressed, with only eleven points in fifty-five games, far off his pace from last year. With any luck, Campbell can step into that role and give the San Jose offense a shot in the arm.

Speaking of young guys who haven't developed, meet Steve Bernier, the world's newest Buffalo Sabre. Bernier has shown flashes of strong hockey so far in his NHL career, and his production hasn't taken the nosedive that Carle's has, but he still has seemed to be standing still, frustrating Sharks fans and no doubt the organization as a whole. Bernier is the type of guy who is classic trade bait--young, skilled, but falling short of expectations. The hope is always that a new coach/new teammates/change of scenery/whatever will provide a spark. Hopefully things will work out for Bernier with his new team.

I hope Doug Wilson intends to sign Campbell to a long-term deal. Guys like him are rare, and now that he's in teal, I'd like to see him stay in it for a while.


Davison to Long Island

Speaking of well wishes, hopefully new Islander Rob Davison will see more playing time than he did with the Sharks. Davison was sort of swept aside when young guys like Carle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic emerged...he's barely played at all in the last couple of seasons. Let's hope the Islanders have a good role for him to play.


Okay, so it's not quite a trade...

Also on the transaction front today, the Sharks signed Philadelphia Phantoms goalie Brian Boucher to a one-year deal, thus apparently confirming the suspicion that the organization doesn't really have confidence in either Thomas Greiss or Dimitri Patzold to serve as an adequate backup to Evgeni Nabokov this year. Is Boucher really any better? Well, at least he's a been-there-done-that veteran...not a bad trait in a backup netminder.