Breaking It Down! - Feb 28th. 2015

On February 28th. the Sharks will host The Ottawa Senators and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down!  This is your official game preview blog of IanBlogsSharks.blogspot.ca as well as the officially unofficial game preview post for anywhere else it finds itself posted. Its purpose is to give you some quick numbers and my opinions on not only our Sharks but their opponent of the night.

Know Your Team - The San Jose Sharks

Current Record (W-L-OTL): 30-24-8, 68 Points and 5th in the Pacific Division

Last 10 Games: 3-6-1

Power Play: 20.6% (6th.)

Penalty Kill: 80.4% (21st.)

Current Streak: Lost 2

Notes: The only division the Sharks have a winning record against is the Central Division.

Know Your Enemy - The Ottawa Senators

Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 26-23-10, 62 Points and 6th in the Atlantic Division

Last 10 Games: 6-3-1

Power Play: 16.6% (25th.)

Penalty Kill: 83.0% (10th.)

Current Streak: Won 4

Notes: The Senators are the only non-playoff team in the east with a positive score differential at +6

Ian Breaks Down The Ottawa Senators:  For all the Shark fans who whine bitch and moan about the regime of Hasso Plattner I give you Eugine Melnyk a guy who has admittedly fallen on hard times because of other business ventures has a TV deal worth an estimated 400 M regional TV deal with TSN has raised average ticket prices an estimated 46% over the past 2 years and yet is by all accounts an internal cap team.  Yes Shark fans it could always be worse although the drop in the Canadian Dollar has only made these financial problems worse and that cannot be discounted.  On the Ice however there is promise of a brighter future if they can find the pieces they need and the money to pay them.  Outstanding offensive defenseman Eric Karlsson has managed 45 points this campaign and has even managed to get slightly on the right side of =/- with a +2.  The problem of course is that he tied for that point total with Bobby Ryan.  Goals have not come easy for the Senators as they have come by committee, only Mike Hoffman has found the 20 goal plateau scoring 21 thus far.  It will be interesting to see if any other members of the team can find it as the next closest scorers have only scored 15 goals.  The lack of production has been the Senators downfall this year as they can't score their way out of problems the defense overall hasn't been terrible and goaltender Craig Anderson has a very decent 13-11-7 record with a 2.37 GAA and an impressive .927 SV% unfortunately for the Senators he is nursing a hand injury.  Also the Senators may have held on to the wrong prospect in Robin Lehner but in a small sample size Andrew Hammond has shown promise and could very easily get the start tonight which never ends well when the Sharks face a rookie anything.

Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: Cue the record breaking and horse beating gifs because these blogs are probably going to get pretty redundant was we head through the stretch run of the regular season but the Sharks need a win here. The sharks need wins and they need help from other teams if they are going to make it to the first round that's all there is at this point. This as good an opportunity as any to get back into the win column as they face a team who although has played very well of late are not a playoff team and have a smaller chance to make it to the dance than the Sharks.  A win tonight isn't enough though it has to be the start of a good run, a run that we probably have not seen this year and a run that I'm not confident is in them but yet I sit here hoping beyond hope that I'm wrong as much as I'm a prideful guy I have never wanted to be wrong more in my entire life.   I watched the abbreviated version of the Detroit game on game centre and there is a lot of good to take from that game before it all went to hell at the end.  The other major point of curiosity is not what we the fans think about our chances which seems to be pretty even between the doubters and those who still think we have a chance but what does Doug Wilson think?  The answer to that question will be answered by 3 PM EST (Noon Pacific) on Monday when the trade deadline is officially upon us.  Does Doug Wilson sell?  Does he try to make a move like the Panthers who are no more guaranteed to be in than we are or does he stand pat?  I have a hard time with the idea that he does nothing at all but it could happen.  I'd like to see a selling of assets but a buy at least says to me he has a direction.

My Prediction: Sharks put 75 shots on goal but because goalie is rookie he gets a shutout, because Sharks, LOL!

Remember if you have a question you would like me to answer in the Breaking It Down blog please e-mail me at ian.blogs.sharks@gmail.com, unless you ask I will not post who asked the question so don't worry about how stupid you think the question may be because to me there is no such thing.

If you want to read previous blogs please check out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca

What are your thoughts on this upcoming game?