San Jose Sharks highlights after 20 games, a Sharkspage video

Twenty games in to the 2008-09/nhl season and one thing has become blindingly evident, adding a pair of allstar offensive defenseman to a potent West Coast offense is going to produce more goals/nhl teams have yet to find an answer for the Sharks offense. The addition of Dan Boyle and Rob Blake, and the breakout season by defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has helped San Jose pile up an/nhl-best 73 goals. That is almost 10 more than the next closest offense (Detroit, 64 goals). The Sharks have built up an 11-point lead over the Anaheim Ducks in the race for the Pacific Division. The scary thing for opponents, they are still not playing their best hockey. No longer top heavy, the Sharks are scoring by committee with eight players registering 4 or more goals. Second year forward Devin Setoguchi leads the team with 11, but both Setoguchi (6th) and Patrick Marleau (9th) have entered the league's top 10 list for total points. With his 225-pound frame parked in front of the net, Ryane Clowe has delivered 5 of his 9 goals on the power play in addition to picking up 3 fighting majors. The Sharks stumbled out of the gate with the man advantage, regsitering their worst power play percentage in 5 years after 5 games (3-25, 12%). The second power play unit headmanned by center Joe Pavelski created more scoring chances and was given more power play time by rookie head coach Todd McLellan, but in the last 5 games everything has clicked for the Sharks special teams. Both power play unites have combined to score 12 goals in 34 power play opportunities (35.3%), including 8 PP goals in back-to-back games against Calgary and Chicago. The Sharks penalty kill has not peaked, but it is trending up at 84.6% (12-78) and the team is only 16th in total penalty minutes (266). The Sharks have been inconsistent in spurts defensively. It is a departure from 2007-08 where the team focused on cutting down shots against, and used a stiff defense and solid goaltending to lock down 1 and 2 goal leads. The inconsistent defensive play started with a rare home-at-home against Philadelphia, allowing Briere to tie the game late in each game before emerging with a pair of overtime and OT shootout wins. After dominating the Stanley Cup Finalist Pittsburgh Penguins (holding them to a record low 11 shots on goal) and Detroit Red Wings, the Sharks let up against St Louis and made the 5-4 shootout win more difficult on themselves. The Sharks looked shaky and inconsistent at times en route to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Boucher had his worst start of the season, misplaying a puck behind his own net that directly lead to Kris Versteeg's short-handed goal in the first period, and remaining out of position after a save allowing Versteeg to bank the puck off his goalie stick from behind the net for his second goal. According to Sharkspage contributer Max Giese, who was in the stands in Chicago, Boucher was fighting the puck and not seeing the play clearly in front of him. The Sharks responded in the same way they have responded all year, by pressing the action offensively. Dan Boyle scored his second goal of the game on the power play, and Devin Setoguchi notched his team leading 11th goal to win the game late in the third period. Adam Gretz notes on AOL's Fanhouse that Brian Boucher has been an anchor in the net for San Jose in 6 consecutive starts while Evgeni Nabokov has been injured. Against Nashville, a scary injury to Predators captain Jason Arnott quieted the arena as he was carried off on a stretcher. San Jose scored 4 unanswered goals on Dan Ellis in the first two periods, and then whethered a storm of fights as Scott Nichol, Jordin Tootoo and Greg de Vries dropped the gloves with Joe Thornton, Brad Staubitz and Jody Shelley respectively. The defense has turned over 50% from last season, with the addition of Rob Blake, Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich. It will take time for them to adjust to Todd McLellan's system. It will also take time for the forwards to adjust from former head coach Ron Wilson to McLellan. Instead of collapsing the points down low on every play to provide support for the defense, the forwards are often releasing up ice with speed and creating breakaways and 2-on-1's taking advantage of their team speed a la Detroit. It remains to be seen what adjustments will be made going forward in the season, McLellan has described it as a process that will not always be pretty. The Sharks to this point have responded to every problem by skating hard and scoring goals. Sometime in mid-December they will get one of their best checking forwards and penalty killers back from a leg injury, second year center Torrey Mitchell. A player who rivals Patrick Marleau for sheer speed. That is not a good omen for the rest of the/nhl. The song in the highlight video above is "I am the night, colour me black" by the Montreal band Priestess, suggested by a reader at the Battle of California. [Update] Comparing this year to last: A 30-team look - James Mirtle. For example, the Sharks are currrently on pace for 27 more points than they had last season, and the Senators are on pace for 26 fewer. The Sharks are on pace to score an incredible 75 more goals than last season, and the Senators are on pace for 67 fewer. And in goals against, the Wild and Kings are on pace to allow 51 fewer goals, while the Stars and Marty Turco are on pace to allow 90 more. [Update2] Wednesday Roundup/Gamenight: Caps @ Ducks - Japers Rink. [Update3] No game till Saturday, so time to revisit the good, bad and ugly in Nashville - David Pollak on his Working the Corners blog. That said, (Scott) Nichol wasn’t nearly as charitable when talking about the Sharks in general. "We just bottom line don't like them," he told Nashville reporters after the game. "We've played them a lot and it's left a bitter taste. They are a good team and at the top of the league, and that just makes you want it more." [Update4] The Biggest Difference Between Todd McLellan and Ron Wilson - Ryan Garner for Hockeybuzz. Todd McLellan stepped into the coaching job this summer and he’s produced strong results during his short time in San Jose. The team is strong up front, icing three lines that can score and control the play, and he trusts his players enough to let them wheel and deal, taking risks while playing an up-tempo style. McLellan doesn’t have a reason not to trust his players. He hasn’t spent a summer searching for answers after scoring goes in the tank, or agonized over the reasons behind a second-round collapse. Shark fans are hoping he never has to, but would he respond any differently than Wilson had? Late last month, McLellan shared a story from his time as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. During an overtime game last season, Pavel Datsyuk attempted a brilliant move that would have left him in the clear with a breakaway opportunity. He almost pulled it off, but the puck was tipped away and resulted in a scoring chance for the opposition. After the game, as the players were boarding the team bus, Chris Chelios called out, “Where’s Pavs?” Everyone tensed up a little, wondering what was about to come next. Chelios didn’t blast the talented forward, or rebuke him in front of the team, he simply told him, “That was an excellent chance, and the next time you have a chance to do it you do it again.” McLellan explained that, as a coach, his advice might not always echo Chelios’s but you have the give the special players chances to err sometimes. “Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich play together, but they approach the game quite differently,” McLellan said. “If Lukowich steps into Danny’s style of play we’re in trouble. Coaches don’t treat players equally, but they have to treat them fairly.”Source