Sharks Fight Off Islander Comeback, Remain Near Perfect at Home

Dan Boyle said that the Sharks needed to get back to their style of play if they wanted to become the number one team in hockey once again.  San Jose did just that.

Boyle scored his 12th goal of the season in the 8th minute of the 2nd period, and the San Jose Sharks fended off the last place New York Islanders in a 5-3 home win.  Mike Grier added two goals, and Jonathan Cheechoo tied his game career-high total with three assists to remain unbeaten in regulation at HP Pavilion in San Jose (19-0-2), and recapture the title of the best team in the NHL.

A common theme established early on in the game was the physical play.  Alexei Semenov, moved from defense to forward for the game in place of Jody Shelley, fought Tim Jackman 6 minutes into the game.  Soon after Christian Ehrhoff assisted on the first goal of the game from Ryane Clowe, he fought with Islander captain Doug Weight.  "Coach said he wanted us to invest in our physical game," said Grier, who has one career hat trick as an Edmonton Oiler.  The Sharks, who were being outshot in recent road trips, had 46 shots on goal.

However, back-up goaltender Joey MacDonald made 42 saves and kept the Islanders in the game until he was pulled in the last two minutes for an extra attacker.  The Sharks made it 3-0 off Boyle's goal, but Richard Park had a great second effort off a puck that was in the air and hit it past Evgeni Nabokov to make it 3-1.  After Grier scored his second of the game in the third to seemingly put the game away, the Islanders surged back.  Jackman took a long pass from Park, beat Ehrhoff, and put the puck past Nabokov on the Shark's power play, extending the Islander's lead for most goals short handed.  A little over 2 minutes later, Thomas Pock got his first goal of the season, slapping a high shot from the blue line that deflected off Joe Pavelski and past Nabokov to make it 4-3 late in the third.  Park also assisted on the goal, and he was involved in every Islander goal against the Sharks.  However, after Tomas Plihal won the fight for a bouncing puck, he was able to pass it to Joe Thorton behind the Islander's empty net, who fed Patrick Marleau with 10 seconds left in the game to secure the victory.

The Sharks start the new year with a win as they head off on another 3 game road trip against Calgary, Edmonton, and then Vancouver before coming back to San Jose on January 13th.