The Sharks were down 2-1 to the Predators in the second period when Roman Josi threw a turnaround shot at the net. Antti Niemi might have had a shot at it, except Colin Wilson was laying on top of the goaltenders right leg, rendering him incapable of regaining his position in the center of the goal crease. Textbook goaltender interference, except none of the linesmen actually saw it happen. The goal counted and the Predators were up 3-1, despite ample lobbying by Todd McLellan for some sort of review. See, plays like that aren’t reviewable under the current NHL rules, because of course they’re not.
After the goal, I tweeted this
300% chance the Sharks lose this game by one goal
— Ruthless Sports Guy (@Ruthless_Sports) January 8, 2014
and I wanted so badly to be wrong. I really really REALLY didn’t want that missed call to matter. Either the Sharks were going to battle back and score two goals, or they weren’t going to score at all. I would have been fine with either outcome, honestly.
Of course it mattered though. Of course Patrick Marleau scored with 1:22 left in the game, bringing the margin to a single goal. And of course they couldn’t muster any significant attack following that goal, which meant they lost — for what seems like the fifteenth time this season — thanks in large part to a snafu by the officials.
Forget the no call: if this is what life without Logan Couture looks like, Sharks fans had better bundle up for a long, hard month of January. There will be better days (although I can’t think of a better time for Joe Thornton to put the team on his back than on the same day that he’s snubbed by the Team Canada selection committee). But even without Couture, and Hertl, and Havlat, and Kennedy, and Wingels, and Raffi Torres, and so many of this team’s important players that I can’t even remember them when I’m looking at a roster, the Sharks still have some offensive firepower. They are capable of winning the race to three.
It just means that they’ll have to lean more heavily on players like Thornton or Marleau, who’s game-tying goal was his 20th of the season just past the halfway point. They’ll need Joe Pavelski to be as heroic as his nickname suggests. And given that two of the Sharks’ four Olympians (Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Antti Niemi are the others) scored goals in Tuesday’s losing effort, they’ll need larger contributions from guys like Brent Burns and Dan Boyle, who didn’t make their country’s cut.
Obstacles — they appear all the time over the course of the hockey season, and the Sharks are no stranger to them. They’ve been looking more like the Worcester Sharks than the professional version of San Jose’s team with so many forwards downed with injuries, but they still take the ice. Niemi has been alarmingly human lately, and by “lately” I mean “at the absolute worst possible time.” The injuries and the poor goaltending are obstacles, and so is poor officiating. Those obstacles have to be overcome, and the Sharks didn’t do that Tuesday night in Nashville.
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While the unprecedented amount of injuries this season for the Sharks is obviously the big story, I'm surprised we're halfway through the season and have heard next to nothing about trading or re-signing Marleau, Thornton, and Boyle. With Stalock continuing to play well, what about the possibility of trading to Niemi to a team like Edmonton since he only has a year left on his deal after this season? What about the rumor of acquiring Del Zotto?
The 15 remaining games leading to the olympic break should be key. Go .500 and they probably stay in the top 8 playoff spots and hopefully return from the break with everyone but Hertl ready to make a run. Or, maybe they tumble out of spot going into the break and DW starts making moves for next season. Either way, January should be quite the month.
Full stength Sharks might have overcome that. The mash unit Sharks will have trouble overcoming multi goal deficits.
@Ruthless_Sports @BASportsGuy Or they just try to tread water until healthy then make their run. Just need to get into the dance...
@Ruthless_Sports @BASportsGuy Gonna be a tough run. While Boyle is an offensive threat, he might be trade bait for some reinforcement.
@Ruthless_Sports @BASportsGuy "and by “lately” I mean “at the absolute worst possible time.”" Both funny and yet pathetically sad
@cjbarresi75 without Hertl, I'm not convinced this team is any different than last year
@Ruthless_Sports @cjbarresi75 who says they have to be better than last year? Were plenty capable of winning the whole thing last year
@Ruthless_Sports @BASportsGuy haha...maybe. But he's the one least likely to be brought back next year. MRleau and Thorntob will be back.
@ViewFromBensch @Ruthless_Sports As long as they get into the playoffs healthy, there's reasons to be optimistic and pessimistic.
@Ruthless_Sports @cjbarresi75 they haven't gotten a playoff shot against them in 4 years. They also just beat them severely short handed
@cjbarresi75 @ViewFromBensch I'm gonna roll with not believing they can't take a best of seven with Chicago until they prove otherwise
@ViewFromBensch @Ruthless_Sports good point. But not right now. And this year is hyper competitive so can't fall too far behind.
@Ruthless_Sports @BASportsGuy Oops, didn't even notice that. And I've only had one beer!
@cjbarresi75 @BASportsGuy MRleau and Thorntob... Those guys got heart. Clutch players