San Jose Sharks: Five Thoughts On SO Loss In Motown

The San Jose Sharks leave Detroit with an important point after losing in a shootout to Detroit.

Here are five thoughts on the game, you can grab your standard recap on the San Jose Sharks contest from TSN, or somewhere.

Keep in mind the shootout, win or lose, is a stupid way to decide an extra point.

1) Martin Jones. I gave Jones a lot of grief in the last few days, but he played great tonight and good for him, and the Sharks. He needs to be good if he’s going to be between the pipes while the Sharks figure out how to score consistently at 5v5.

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2) A 5v5 GOAL!!!!! Kevin Labanc tied it for the Sharks and led the team in 5v5 possession. Great game for the kid and much needed scoring for San Jose.

3) Joel Ward needs to be sent to the Barracuda. I don’t really care what you think of Joel Ward, he sucks. It’s that simple.

He’s a negative impact on the Sharks nearly every game and he needs to go somewhere. If he can’t be traded he needs to be sent down. The team can’t do much worse from within. It’s time to quit being loyal and move on.

4) Penalty Kill (kind of) saves the day. Brent Burns took a minor in OT, which is disastrous when it’s 4v3. Unless you’re the Sharks, that is.

San Jose’s special teams came through again and gave them the chance to get to the shootout to win the game. I wrote about this a few days ago and they continue to impress. Props to the coaching staff. It’s an unfortunate ending, but the point is very valuable.

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5) Shooting. You can only play the hot goalie card so often. At some point you have to get frustrated and blame it on luck. San Jose’s 3.7% shooting tonight at 5v5 is ugly. Perhaps this team could benefit from a guy like, I don’t know, Max Pacioretty.

Leave your thoughts on the game in the comment section and thanks for reading!

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