Chris Townsend

The San Jose Sharks have earned the title road warriors in this early NHL season. The Sharks have been the visiting team 12 of their 17 games so far and 9 of those have been on the other side of the country in a another time zone. Pretty impressive start as they share top spot in the league with Pittsburgh who they entertain Saturday night at the Shark Tank and Colorado.

The latest road trip saw San Jose earn 5 of a possible 6 points with a shootout win over Columbus and a shootout loss at Detroit’s Joe Louis arena last night. Last night’s game was the 2^nd in a row and it appeared that the Sharks were feeling the effects of a physical game from the night before and were not able to gain the momentum back after the Red Wings tied things up in the 3^rd period. Detroit did not play the previous night. Zetterberg’s goal came early in the 3^rd on a questionable call by officials. The initial shot from the point was stopped by Evgeni Nabakov who has been doing everything that is expected as of late from a number 1 goalie in the NHL. With Nabby having clear control of the puck under his left pad the referee failed to blow the play dead, without hearing a whistle Zetterberg jammed it in. No doubt a poor call and you hope that by seasons end they all come out in the wash but that is not to say that the Red Wings did not play a good game. The first 2 points from this trip came from a convincing 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The downside from the recent travels are injuries and it appears that the Sharks captain Rob Blake will be out for at least one week with what they are calling an upper body strain. Blake suffered the injury while killing a penalty in the Columbus game on what appeared to be a harmless play. Derek Joslin was recalled from Worcester to take his place.

The upsides are numerous but none more in the forefront than the depth players on this team defining their roles and stepping up to play bigger minutes. Secondary scoring on this trip was abundant. Goals from Kent Huskins, Brad Staubitz, Douglas Murray, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Jamie McGinn, and Logan Couture were absolutely huge. Logan Couture scored his first ever NHL goal last night to ensure the team’s single point in the standings. Douglas Murray looked more like hall of famer Brian Leech coming in off the point than a stay at home D-man for his first of the season. Jamie McGinn sniped a Brett Hull like goal but and more importantly seems to have found another gear lately and his fore check has been relentless causing the other teams defense fits. He has been throwing his body around and appears to be much more comfortable in his role with the big club. Scott Nichol continues to dominate in the face-off circle leading the NHL in that category and continues get under the skin of opposing teams top players. His work ethic is second to none and it looks as though that has really worn off on some of the younger Sharks. You would never know it when you watch him play but Jason Demers is a rookie playing along side the veteran Kent Huskins on the point and is sharing top power play time with Dan Boyle. Often on the score sheet you see the familiar names Marleau, Thornton, and Heatley and these guys are the core of the offense and the team. But the more quality minutes that the depth players can log and produce is key to this team’s success through out the regular season and especially into the playoffs.

If you were to put together a report card of the San Jose Sharks road trip you would have to say an “A” for earning 5 of a possible 6 points but an “A+” for the character building that will pay off in the months to come. Sharks fans should be excited about this team and the way coach MacLellan is running the ship.

Thanks for reading,

Cam Gore