The San Jose Sharks are in a three game losing streak for the first time all season, which all started with their first two-in-a-row losses at home. Their next game is Tuesday night, when they visit the Boston Bruins, the leader of the Eastern Conference. The bad news is Detroit and Calgary, the two teams that have beaten the Sharks most convincingly during this regular season, are or have recently been in losing streaks themselves, and the Sharks have failed to take advantange of that fact to pretty much tie the ribbon on the #1 seed for the Western Conference. The good news is Detroit and Calgary, the two teams that have beaten the Sharks most convincingly during this regular season, are or have recently been in losing streaks themselves, which means the Sharks still have somewhat of a firm grip on the #1 seed for the Western Conference (it also helps that 2 of the 3 losses were in OT). Oh, and their three losses can all be pinpointed to similar causes:
1. Dan Boyle is back and the power play still sucks. Boyle missed three games after the All-Star break because of an upper-body injury, and because of it the Sharks looked like they were being coached by Ron Wilson again: no offense and wins based on defense and goaltending. The most important part was that they actually found ways to win without their power play, which was pretty much generating half a shot per 2:00 without Boyle's quarterbacking prowess. This of course, was helped by the fact that Nabokov shut down the door to the San Jose net since after the first period of the Vancouver game the Thursday night before All-Star weekend. Nabokov decided he was not going to carry the team anymore, and opened the gateway for Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sharks have responded by going 1 for 4, 1 for 5, and 1 for 5 (in that order) in the three losses, starting with the Blackhawks, on the power play. The last two games, Dan Boyle has started. They've looked better, faster, and have generated more opportunities. But they still have a horrible conversion rate.
2. The Sharks are getting too predictable, and teams that usually roll over on defense simply mimic what other teams are doing defensively to beat the Sharks. The Canucks almost beat the Sharks 1-0 by having 5 skaters plug up the neutral zone, negating San Jose's speed and puck possession play by causing turnovers and simply dumping it back into the offensive zone of the Sharks. It seems that every team in the NHL has used the game to teach their team how to play defense, especially against the Sharks. There is only one way to break through a plugged-up neutral zone: dump the puck in deep and outskate your opponent to the loose puck to generate an offensive zone possession. Chicago was faster to the puck, and Carolina and Columbus blocked a ton of shots and intercepted passes. Every game, the Sharks try to move the puck along the walls, and get it behind the net. On the power play, they try to move it to the point. So what happens? Opponents pressure the blue line on the power play, and they double team whoever is along the wall (and throw in a little interference). This forces a Shark defender to jump in deep to help the puck stay in the offensive zone. But this opens the opportunity wide open for the other team to go on an odd-man rush down the other side. 4 teams have played the same defensive style, and all 4 times the Sharks have beey shut down offensively, and have won only once.
3. The only line actually doing anything out there is their second and fourth line. And their fourth line isn't even there to score, they just rest the top three lines while laying out people on the ice. Pavelski, Michalek, and Clowe have been outstanding up to this point, but there is only so much three forwards can do about the outcome of a game. In the three losses, the Sharks's top line of Thorton, Marleau, and Setoguchi, have only gotten two points: a goal by Seto and an assist by Big Joe on the power play against Columbus. Blake and Boyle only have 3 assists in the past 4 games, with most of the point-producing being made by Christian Ehrhoff (fantasy hockey owners are hating life right now). I'm not disappointed in the first line as much as I am in the third: Goc, Cheechoo, and Grier have got to get some offense going. They generate a few good chances every game, but they have yet to finish. There is talk about Cheech being traded, but I don't think that's the right move (unless they get a guy like Evgeni Malkin for him). Maybe it is time to reunite the relationship that is Joe Thorton and Jonathan Cheechoo. Marleau and Grier are simply amazing on the penalty kill as well, so maybe they could be paired up together to take advantange of their lightning speed.
4. Turnovers. The Sharks's coaching staff acknowledged that in the loss to Columbus and Carolina, most of the goals, if not all of them, were attributed to a turnover some San Jose skater made. This has to deal with the way teams are playing them defensively, but turnovers in your own defensive zone are unexcuseable. The Sharks are obviously frustrated by the fact they have to constantly retrieve the puck in their own zone, and it seems to be affecting their play.
How do you fix this? I don't have any NHL coaching experience, but the first thing I would look at is the style of play the Sharks employ. Obviously, teams are strategizing around the fact that San Jose does the exact same thing every single game. It is time to change it up. Chicago employed a very effective "stretch" pattern coming out of their defensive zone, where they had their forwards on the offensive blue line and their defense on their defensive blue line. This opened up a lot of skating space for a center to move the puck into the offensive zone, and that's how the Blackhawks outplayed the Sharks offensively in that 4-2 victory over San Jose. If 5 skaters are plugging up the neutral zone, shouldn't the Sharks employ that stretch pattern to open up the neutral zone? I don't know, but it makes sense to me. This would also make gaining the zone on the power play a lot easier as well. Then it is just a matter of taking care of the puck. We'll see how Coach McLellon responds on Tuesday, when the Sharks play the Boston Bruins in what may be a preview to the Stanley Cup Finals. As a Sharks fan, I feel that is almost a must win game for them, not just to stop the losing streak, but to get a mental advantange over Boston if, in fact, they do meet the Bruins in the finals.
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