The San Jose Sharks really know how to open a season, with their second shutout on the second game of the season against the Winnipeg Jets.
The home opener gave the fans a glimmer of hope looking into the rest of the season, with the entire team acting as cohesive as you would want a team to be.
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FIRST PERIOD:
Still riding the high of Wednesday’s shut out win versus the Los Angeles Kings, the Sharks powered through, taking down an offensively-minded Jets who are also fresh off two twins to start off the regular season.
It was defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic with a wrist shot to score the first goal at home, blasting it through giving the Sharks an early lead 5 minutes into the first.
Quickly later, Tomas Hertl, making it 2-0 in the first.
The energy was high and the night was just beginning.
SECOND PERIOD:
Barely thirty seconds in, Patrick Marleau gets a breakaway through a weak Jets defense, shooting it past Ondrej Pavelec, making it 3-0.
But it was after this goal the the Sharks started to let up a little bit.
THIRD PERIOD:
It was during the third period that you really saw the Jets come together, finally, and make significant strides, breaking through all the barricades the Sharks would try to set up. The hits were harder and the shots reigned down. From a dominate two periods for the Sharks, the Jets hijacked the game, making goaltender Alex Stalock stay on his toes. The shots turned 14-0 in the Jets favor, with the Sharks barely making a play on the offensive end.
Stalock is the reason why the Sharks even managed to remain in play, with the Sharks softening up enough in the third period to make fans sweat in the stands.
When you come to realize it, probably after checking your phone after two and a half periods or listening to Dan Rusanowsky during intermission, the Sharks were 0-8 in power plays during this game. For the beginning of the season, you can view it as an adjustment into the new NHL season, but with eight opportunities to capitalize on the man advantage, you can’t help but worry about how the Sharks perform.
It’s the beginning of the season, and we’ve got time to work on this sort of thing, but it’s better to sort this out now. Our net presence may be solid, giving us two back-to-back shutouts with two different goalies this early in the season, but wearing out our net minders will take a toll on us later down the line.
The San Jose Sharks won 3-0 with a total of 26 shots on goal.