GDT Wild @ Sharks 1/30

League-leading Sharks play host to Wild
Matthew Mankiewich - NHL.com
WILD (27-23-4) at SHARKS (35-10-9)

Last 10 -- Minnesota 6-3-1; San Jose 7-1-2

Season series -- Second of four meetings this season. The Sharks won 4-2 back on Oct. 10, despite 40 shots on goal by the Wild. Evgeni Nabokov held off the Minnesota attack long enough for San Jose to come back from 2-0 down. It was the second of a five-game slide in a notoriously slow start for the Wild, one they've been fighting to overcome all season.

Big story -- The Sharks are fresh off one of their biggest challenges of the season, a hard-fought 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks that's leaving a bad taste in more than a few Bay Area mouths. They face a Wild team that continues to struggle on the road, but started their current road trip with a nice 1-0 win over the Avalanche.

Team scope:

Wild -- Backup goalie Josh Harding was the stuff of legend Thursday night against Colorado. Thrust into the starting role by Niklas Backstrom's injury, he aggravated his own injured hip with a big stop on Matt Duchene's third-period shot. He managed to play out the game in pain and preserve a 1-0 win. The main reason he had to was because backup Wade Dubielewicz had arrived only 13 minutes before game time and simply wasn't ready.

"I knew I wasn't coming out," Harding told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "Dubie just flew in. He didn't even make warmups. So there was no way I was ever going to put a goalie in a position like that."

The win ended a five-game road losing streak, as Martin Havlat scored the lone goal of the game with under five minutes remaining.

Sharks -- The Blackhawks came into HP Pavilion on a mission to get a step closer to wresting the top seed in the NHL from the Sharks, who have occupied the spot most of the season.

The Hawks quickly racked up three goals, but two tallies by Joe Pavelski and one by Manny Malhotra rallied the Sharks, who eventually lost 4-3 in overtime on Troy Brouwer's second goal of the night.

"We're all going to talk about how hard we fought and we worked our way back into the game but that start was unacceptable," coach Todd McLellan said. "The mistakes we made the first five minutes of the game, that's not a characteristic of ours and is unacceptable. Yeah we fought back and we are proud of that but you're not going to win many games against good teams in this League with that kind of start."

Who's hot -- Malhotra has turned it up lately for the Sharks with seven points in his last six games. Patrick Marleau may not have found the net the last two games, but his 35 goals are still good enough for the League lead. Pavelski has had back-to-back two-goal games and has a total of 11 points in his last six. That came after a seven-game point drought.

Havlat is running a six-game point streak for the Wild, while Harding is 3-1-0 in his last four starts, allowing only one goal in his last two, both wins.

Injury report -- Backstrom's stiff back won Harding the Colorado start, kept him out of practice Friday and will be reassessed Saturday. Veteran forward and former Shark Owen Nolan left the ice in pain Thursday after blocking a shot, while Derek Boogaard (hamstring) missed his second game in a row. Both are questionable for Saturday night.

Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle (upper body) has been out three games and did not declare himself ready to go on Friday. Marc-Edouard Vlasic (lower body) was evaluated by the medical staff and did not practice. He had left the Chicago game after one period and was labeled "questionable" by McLellan, who had Brad Staubitz suit up as a defenseman.

Stat pack -- For Harding, the Colorado win was his fourth career shutout and first since Oct. 14, 2007. It was also the first time he'd started back-to-back games since Dec. 14-15, 2007, road wins in Anaheim and Los Angeles. He has stopped 128 of 132 shots in his last six appearances, dropping his season goals-against average from 3.47 to 2.64. Of his 55 career starts, 40 have come on the road.

Puck drop -- "It's been our Achilles' heel. We really can't win on the road, and all of a sudden we put in an effort like that. Everybody was tired." -- Harding on the win in Colorado.


I gotta take the sharks in this one. I'll go 4-1

I'll take the sharks too, i'll take them to lose 3-2

Sharks 7. Marleau with the hat trick.

Wild 1. Boogaard scores it from the press box.

sharks 5
wild 3

sqare wrote:

Sharks 7. Marleau with the hat trick.

Wild 1. Boogaard scores it from the press box.

Off a brilliant pass from Butch.

1-1 already....sweet deflection by Nolan followed by a snipe on the PP for Demers...might have a high scoring game on our hands.

Yeahhhhhh Clutter on the PP ! Take that #1 rated PK

Wild are winning?

3-2 Sharks after 2....all 5 goals have been on the PP as well...Wild have outplayed them the entire game but superior talent is getting the best of us right now with the Sharks having 3 perfectly placed shots while we have missed plenty of chances :/

If the wild keep working and avoid penalties they should be able to at least make it even in the 3rd.

Well... the 3rd is coming up and we all know that is by far and away their best period.

tough loss for the Wild although it was expected....they played their hearts out but in the end the hard work didn't beat the pure talent the Sharks have. Quite a few questionable calls in the Sharks' favor as well...and their going 4-7 on the PP won the game for them.

Either way it would've been more than any of us could expect to pull out a win there but just faced a better team...rough that we have to go into Dallas after this.

Well, that's a team that has spent to the cap and it shows...

Johnsson had a HORRIBLE night.

sqare wrote:

Well, that's a team that has spent to the cap wisely and it shows...

FIFY

Yep. Wisely spent to the cap.

The Wild are a team that has not, but hopefully GMCF fixes that.

sqare wrote:

Yep. Wisely spent to the cap.

The Wild are a team that has not, but hopefully GMCF fixes that.

Who in their right state of mind would take Bouchard/Schultz/Backstrom at this point?

Wild vs. Sharks Post-Game & Houston Aeros weekend roundup...

Quote :

The State of Hockey News
An objective and balanced view of Minnesota Hockey

Sharks frenzy on power play as they roll to 5-2 home win over the Wild

“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” is phrase repeated often in the classic children’s book The Little Engine that Could. It really is a tale about confidence and how it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Wild have gone through a few of these ‘phases’ of confidence where for a 3 to 4 game stretch they have been able to compile some wins to feel as though they were on the cusp of being right on the doorstep of the playoff teams only to suffer a set back. The real key to it all is building on the success and maintaining it. A quick look at the NHL’s two conferences features massive logjams where no less than 8 teams are within just 2 points of one another in the East and 7 teams within 5 points of one another in the Western Conference. That amplifies the importance of each game and places a lot of pressure on coaches and players be performing at their best to avoid faltering in the standings. It also puts team General Managers in a tough spot as they gauge whether their team should be buyers or sellers as the Olympic Break approaches.

The Minnesota Wild find themselves right in the middle of it all as they currently sit in 11th in the Western Conference with 58 points. This makes this upcoming game against the San Jose Sharks that much more pressure-filled. The Wild have struggled on the road this season and HP Pavillion has not been kind to Minnesota in past seasons and yet if they could earn 2 points it would be a giant boost to their confidence as well as put them a little closer to the playoff picture. For Wild Head Coach Todd Richards its another chance to prove to the team that he served as an assistant coach that he can win as bench boss. Will the Wild keep their winning ways going or will the Sharks sense blood in the water and make it another bleak night in northern California? (click on the link for the rest of the article)

There is a post-game report, but then two Houston game reports including their best comeback of the 2009-10 season. Enjoy!

lolwat wrote:

sqare wrote:

Yep. Wisely spent to the cap.

The Wild are a team that has not, but hopefully GMCF fixes that.

Who in their right state of mind would take Bouchard/Schultz/Backstrom at this point?

maybe after the flames choke in the playoffs sutter gets the can DR gets the gig and we trade him pmb and shultz and a pet rock for iginla?

Calgary has had a noose waiting for Risebrough since he left down after the Gilmour debacle...no way he'd ever be back with the Flames...not as long as Harley Hotchkiss is alive.