Post Game Recap, Sharks v Preds
Haven't done one of these in awhile. Time to start back up.
First off, some silly business:
Is Nashville trying to be SJ? Your players skate out of a giant cat head, I heard the "hey _____ YOU SUCK!" cheer last night, and you have Tootoo whistles? What? There is no Tootoo Train! Stop trying to steal our mojo. We had those weird ideas first! Next thing you know they'll be doing the chomp on the power play.
And now, something completely serious.
Coming off a solid win against the Blues, it was frustrating to see that the Sharks weren't all there last night. The team still lacks consistency which is ridiculously annoying. Being consistently inconsistent is a start, true, but not a very good one.
Nabby gave a clinic last night on why he's an awesome goalie. Some of his stops were absolutely amazing and being that the team in front of him wasn't playing their best, they were also very very very important. (goals and saves vids here)
Dumont scored twice after being called out by his coach. That's a good way to get yourself out of the dog house.
On his first goal he basically had a wide open net. Everyone had slid over to the opposite side of the ice, completely ignoring Dumont, and allowing him to get the puck without any challengers. Nabby tried to slide back over, but it was too late and the puck smacked the back of the net to give the Preds the first goal on the game, and the 1-0 lead. Clowe totally missed his guy. I love you buddy, but don't forget about that guy back there you're supposed to be keeping an eye on.
Thankfully Staubitz decided it was finally his time to get off the schnide (drink!) and he put a puck in behind Pekka Rinne a mere 53 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1.
The Sharks were turning the puck over like it was a hot potato last night. The Preds had way too many good chances because of this. At times, you could tell the Sharks were just hanging on for dear life as the preds swarmed in their zone. If it wasn't for Nabby, it's quite likely the Sharks would have lost last night, and badly.
The crazy thing is, the game never seemed to get out of hand. The Preds would take the lead, and the Sharks would fight to tie it back up. The game was sloppy, but sloppy play form both teams let the Sharks stay in it. Well, that and the Sharks are the more skilled team. Even with sloppy play, they had a slight advantage. The Preds are skilled enough and fast enough to take advantage of your mistakes. When you give up that many opportunities to the other side, it's potentially a recipe for disaster.
At some point in the second, things disintegrated into a weird half brawl, half hug fest, right as JoePa lifted on past Rinne. We all sat their puzzled as the goal was totally ignored by everyone, and after sorting out the penalties, play resumed. No mention of the goal. None. I finally had to check @sharksingame on Twitter to find out it went in after the whistle. A whistle I never heard. That's the sort of thing I feel should get a short mention during coverage. Just, you know, so we aren't all sitting there wondering if we were the only people who saw the goal. It's a totally valid call, but man, confirm it.
Danny Boyle played in his first game back since injury and the flu took him out of the lineup. So happy to have him back.
Heatley, who scored twice last night, mentioned that the ice was bad inside the Sommet Center, which caused some of the oddities in game. I heard it snowed in Nashville yesterday, so I'm kind of surprised.
The Sharks play again on Monday @ 4pm in Toronto.
