San Jose Sharks Pros and (Many) Cons From Game 3 Vs Golden Knights

The San Jose Sharks never really got things going in Game 3. Team Teal took a tough loss 6 – 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in a lackluster effort.

Team Teal entered Game 3 shorthanded without their best defensive blueliner Marc-Edouard Vlasic. It showed in pivotal moments of this one but honestly having Pickles in the line-up for the San Jose Sharks wouldn’t have slowed the Golden Knights offensive onslaught.

Fleshing out the mess Team Teal made on the ice at the T-Mobile Arena might take some time considering the countless mistakes the San Jose Sharks made during the contest. So a simple pros versus cons list can help separate the good from the… very bad against the Golden Knights.

Pros

“Assistant” Captain Cooch ~Speaking of Pros Logan Couture definitely is one. Cooch was one of the few San Jose Sharks that seemed engaged throughout the entire contest. One moment that stuck out was the check he threw on Alex Tuch. It frustrated the young skater and caused him to commit an unnecessary interference penalty in retaliation to the Couture check near the boards.

Logan Couture’s team leading 5 shots and 1 goal was one of the only bright spots on offense for Team Teal. He made an impact in all 3 zones and pretty much every aspect of the game with a stat line of 2 blocked shots, 2 takeaways, and delivered 4 hits on his opponents. Cooch exhibited that playoff mode means no quit regardless of the circumstances. He plays this way because he knows of what this roster is ultimately capable of.

Ryan was Yolked for Game 3 ~ With Marc-Edouard Vlasic absent, the 25-year-old blueliner Joakim Ryan had to step up and play some major minutes in just his 6th playoff game. The defender was rewarded 17:37 of ice time by Coach Pete DeBoer. That’s a far cry from the 3 minutes he got in-game one.

Ryan took this opportunity and ran with it ending the night with +0. Plus/Minus rating isn’t usually a great to measure a player by stat but in a game where the opposition puts up 6 goals against someone who comes out unscathed and puts up that many minutes should be celebrated.  Ryan also ended the night registering 2 blocks and was able to take some hits in order to make some plays with the puck. This is a promising sign especially with Vlasic’s health looming over the San Jose Sharks playoff future. It appears that Joakim Ryan seems to be finally gaining a bit of the coaching staff’s trust.

That was really all I could pull from this one that was worthwhile. However there were a few glaring issues that the San Jose Sharks are going to need to address in the near future if they would like to win this series.

Cons

Jumbo Sized No No ~ Joe Thornton put a questionable hit on Tomas Nosek’s head at 16:54 of the second period. Judging by the what’s been going on around the league the Department of Player Safety will likely have a phone call with Jumbo on Monday morning.

CBS Sports Pete Blackburn was kind enough to catch a GIF of the hit Jumbo laid on Nosek that put him in the penalty box for two minutes for an illegal check to the head.

This isn’t a great look for Jumbo and he made some more questionable comments about the incident post game. Don’t be surprised if Thornton were to possibly miss Game 4 in Vegas. The NHL has shown they aren’t afraid to suspend their marque players for egregious hits this postseason.

Mark Stone is Rolling ~ and so are his linemates Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny. They ended Game 3 with 12 points between the 3 of them. Highlighting Mark Stone specifically the hat trick he scored tonight was his first in his playoff career. Stone’s 8 points and 6 goals lead the league in both categories. If Team Teal has any shot of taking another game in this series. It is priority number 1 to limit the amount of damage that the Stone, Stastny, and Pacioretty configuration can do.

This will be a tall task to tackle without their best defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic. He would more than likely be tasked with matching up against that line when possible. So hopefully some news about his upper body injury comes out soon and it is positive for Team Teal.

Sharks are Rushing Out of the Playoffs ~ The San Jose Sharks got absolutely dominated in just about every facet of the game, but most importantly in transition play. Team Teal failed miserably at clearing the puck from their own end. They didn’t have any better luck at stopping Vegas from rushing into their defensive zone.

According to a statistic recorded by ThePointHockey.com the Vegas Golden Knights skated circles around the San Jose Sharks.

12 scoring chances of the rush is the sign that a team has no idea what it’s doing at any level of its defense. Letting the opposition make clean entries and exits through multiple zones of play is a recipe for disaster and is something that Team Team desperately needs to fix coming into Game 4.

Early Goals = Early Exit

The San Jose Sharks gave up a goal in the first 40 seconds of each period during Game 3. Continuing the trend that’s been plaguing Team Teal all season, that early goal deflated a roster that seemed hungry for a win at the T-Mobile Arena.

It’s impossible for a team to constantly play from behind even a veteran group like this with firepower that can match any team in the league. The emotional and physical toll it takes on your body added to the playoff intensity is a lot to overcome for any group of players. The Sharks just need to play on their toes extremely early and be ready for a quick Vegas counter attack if Team Teal coughs up an early turnover.

Tonight was a bummer however the San Jose Sharks are only down 2 – 1 in a series that has the juice to go all 7. Team Teal has some adjustments to make but ultimately will respond with a better game on Tuesday night.

All of the statistics in the article were provided by naturalstattrick.com unless stated otherwise.