The San Jose Sharks travel to St. Louis to take on a red-hot streaking opponent in the Blues Thursday after having a streak of their own ended in Minnesota.
The Sharks entered last night's contest having scored 20 goals in four games with the top line of Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton playing incredible offensive hockey.
All that would come to a crashing halt as Niklas Backstrom continued his strong play this season, shutting the door on all 36 Shark shots. Backstrom was extremely strong in rebound control and was dazzling versus the Sharks' top-ranked power play unit.
"In an 82-game season, you're going to have five to seven games that you just throw away because you were that bad," coach Todd McLellan said "And then you have some that you play pretty well and you just don't win."
The Sharks are still having problems taking lazy penalties, and the story was no different versus the Wild, including a double minor high sticking call against John McCarthy. A look at the game's lone goal from Andrew Brunette in a 5-on-3 situation would provide as much offense as the Wild needed.
The top line had provided a huge spark upon the tea ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Phenom Jay
Sharks-Blues: San Jose Faces Stiff Challenge on the Road in St. Louis
November 3rd, 2010 by Phenom Jay Leave a reply »
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