San Jose Sharks Set Their Sights On Five Straight
The San Jose Sharks have been road warriors of late, winning four straight games on their longest trek of the season. While each game has been a tight one (all decided by one goal), the Sharks have found different ways to emerge with two points each time they’ve laced them up.
Now, San Jose has reached the end of their 10-day road trip with a pair of consecutive games over the weekend, beginning with perhaps their toughest test of the entire trip: a matchup against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins have the best record of any team the Sharks will face with 24 points, but this isn’t the same Pittsburgh team of year’s past. They’re still loaded up top with Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and now the dangerous Phil Kessel. However, the Penguins aren’t as deep as they’ve been so the Sharks will look to roll all four lines and take advantage of their depth up front.
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Players to Watch
Sharks: Patrick Marleau. While all the chatter heading into this trip was about Marleau’s potential desire for a trade, things have died down a bit now that the Sharks have rattled off four straight victories. Marleau has played well with two goals thus far, and he now sits one point away from number 1,000 for his career. Let’s see if Marleau can accomplish the feat in one of these next two contests.
Penguins: Evgeni Malkin. Malkin always seems to be overshadowed by Crosby with regards to the Penguins, and the addition of Kessel only heightened the chatter around someone other than Malkin. However, it’s Malkin leading the way for Pittsburgh with seven goals, 10 assists and 17 points.
Keys to the Game
1. Contain the Top Players
As mentioned previously, the Penguins rely heavily on their top two lines for production so the Sharks will have to be cognizant of Pittsburgh’s big guns. If San Jose wants to have any success, they will need big games from former Penguin Paul Martin and the rest of the Sharks blue liners.
2. Traffic in Front
Pittsburgh is a solid defensive unit ranking fourth in the league with 2.26 goals against per game. Marc-Andre Fleury has played well thus far, but like any goaltender, he doesn’t deal well with traffic in front. San Jose didn’t generate enough traffic or chances last time out against Philadelphia so look for a more concerted effort to get to those prime scoring areas.
3. Get the Job Done
Simply put, the Sharks have put themselves in a position to do something they’ve never done before and that’s a sweep a road trip of at least six games. San Jose has built some confidence and momentum, and it would be a big boost if they can finish the job these next two nights.
Next: Sharks Finding Different Ways To Win On Road Trip
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