The San Jose Sharks Steal A Victory In Smashville

The San Jose Sharks netted their biggest win of the year last night, in a come from behind effort in arguably the toughest place to play in the NHL.

The San Jose Sharks proved to the doubters, the haters, twitter, and most importantly, the rest of the league, they they can go toe to toe with the best in their conference.

The San Jose Sharks came back from a two goal deficit in the third period to win at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the first time in seven years.

As said in our previous piece, this was the biggest test of the year, and although the San Jose Sharks won, they didn’t pass with flying colors. They had too man turnovers in the neutral zone which led to breakaways, and eventually led to goals. However, much like my own college career, C’s get degrees baby!

I’m not going to sit here and bash the Sharks. This was a fantastic game and a fantastic effort to get three unanswered goals in the third period, including a short handed, end to end effort by none other than Brendan Dillon! 

The San Jose Sharks came out like gangbusters in the third period. Amassing two clutch goals in thirty seconds by the aforementioned Brendan Dillon, and then the Captain answered the bell again with a clutch goal to tie it.

But that isn’t what this is about. We all saw the game. We know what went on. I hate to tell you this haters, and twitter-sphere. The San Jose Sharks are GOOD. I mean, they’re damn good. You saw what they just did in Nashville, against the team with the best record in all of hockey. And it wasn’t just one game either.

Through 9 games, the San Jose Sharks lead the NHL in Corsi For%, with a whopping 61% along with an even more important stat which is High Danger Corsi For and High Danger Corsi For%. Which essentially are shots in a high danger zone. The San Jose Sharks, and ‘Canes are the only two teams in triple digits THROUGH 9 GAMES. And again, this is total shots, and NOT shots on goal. There is a difference here.

But its what they showed on the ice that doesn’t show up on natural stat trick. This team was down, on the road, in an historically difficult place for them. Bridgestone arena haunts the San Jose Sharks. And while it is only October, I truly believe this is one of those games that a team can point to during the season as a major turning point game.

This showed that they can tow the line with the best and go punch for punch with one of the favorites to win the cup. And they did it in extraordinary fashion. This team showed what it takes to win games in come back fashion, in a hostile environment. I know its still very, very early, but this had a postseason feel. And I think the San Jose Sharks can look back on this game, when this inevitable series does come, with confidence that they CAN win in this building.