On February 5th the Sharks will visit The Vancouver
Canucks and your pal Ian is going to be Breaking It Down! This is your semi regular officially
unofficial game preview post that gives 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): 27-18-7, 61 Points and 3rd in
the Pacific Division
Last 10 Games: 5-3-2
Power Play: 21.0% (8th.)
Penalty Kill: 81.7% (16th.)
Current Streak: 2 losses, 1 in a shootout.
Notes: The Sharks have a .500 winning percentage on the
road with a 13-10-3 record.
Know Your Enemy - The Vancouver Canucks
Current Record: (W-L-OTL): 28-18-3, 59 Points and 4th in
the Pacific Division
Last 10 Games: 5-5-0
Power Play: 18.3% (26th.)
Penalty Kill: 86.3% (4th.)
Current Streak: 1 game winning streak
Notes: The Canucks who have played 3 fewer games than the
Sharks but only have 2 fewer points.
Ian Breaks Down The Canucks: I have drawn parallels in previous posts to
other teams but I don't think there is an easier one to draw to the Sharks than
the Vancouver Canucks. In my opinion
they both finish inside the playoffs and your truly pegged the 'nucks as a
playoff team in the summer, but I don't know who the bigger pretender is
between these two teams. While goal
differential does not tell the whole story the Canucks sit at a +8 and have
liked the Sharks stumbled around losing 5 of their last 10. Opposite to the sharks though they have
beaten teams they should beat while losing to arguably better teams (Ducks,
Lightning and Predators). However this
team is still transitioning and new GM Jim Benning under the watchful eye of
Trevor Linden appear to be heading in the right direction, I have really liked
a lot of his moves this year. Signing
Ryan Miller was an important step to putting the Luongo / Schneider saga in the
rear view mirror. Speaking of Ryan
Miller expect him to get the start and he has been nothing short of a Shark
killer in his career going a disgusting 9-1-0 with a 2.05 GAA and .937 SV% and
in our last meeting this year he allowed only one goal on 32 shots for a .969 SV%.
Ian Breaks Down The Sharks: The Sharks have pretty much
erased most of the good will built up with their 3 impressive wins near the end
of the home stand. I didn't see much of the Flames game to be completely honest
with you but I can tell you I didn't like what I saw. Stalock had another game to forget and while
as many have pointed out the loss was hardly all on him I think anyone taking
an objective look at this team shouldn't be penciling him in as the starter for
next year. Although a small sample size
his career numbers are sliding down to his AHL numbers which are below average
for an NHL starter. I'm not trying to
bag on the guy, I like Stalock but the numbers are what they are. The Sharks need more consistent production
from their top 6, I find the bottom has really kept this team a float. I mentioned Ryan Millers record against the
Sharks above, that needs to end, this could be a first round opponent depending
on how things finish and the Sharks need to have confidence that they can beat
Ryan Miller and win games. The Sharks are running out of road for bad games
although they have a gap between them and some of the formerly bottom feeding
teams it gets smaller with every loss.
The Canucks will still have 3 games in hand after tonight if they are
able to tie us with 61 they have more road to bumble around than we do and that
could be the difference between home ice, which has been slightly better than
the road this year. These are important
2 points, they are all important 2 points now and the Sharks need to play for
60 minutes every night and what better place than here, what better time than
now...
My Prediction: It turns out that both teams are the same
and making contact causes the universe to divide by zero thus ending everything
and yet the Sharks still find a way to lose because Ryan Miller hates us.
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 and if you want to read previous blogs please check
out http://ianblogssharks.blogspot.ca
What are your thoughts on tonight's game?
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