Chris Townsend

Turco Was Brightest Shining Star in a Shootout Victory

Marty Turco kept his team in there long enough to earn 2 points at the HP Pavilion coming back from a 2 goal deficit in the the 3^rd period to force extra time. San Jose threw everything they had at the Stars but fell short in a 3-2 shootout loss.

Hometown fans were treated to a fast paced end to end hockey game that had a little bit of everything in it. Great goaltending was at the forefront in this thriller. Both Evgeni Nabakov and Marty Turco were on top of their games last night. Turco who is the best puck handling goalie in the league was sharp all night but especially late in the 3^rd period when the Stars were called for a slashing penalty. His timely saves can only be described as clutch. The Sharks created great scoring chances with the man advantage but could not find the back of the net. The physical play of the Sharks was certainly a stand out especially from Douglas Murray who is among NHL leaders for body checks. This guy is a tank and deflects hit’s the way a politician does the truth. Very few whistles and few short handed opportunities made this game an exciting one. We even had a bought with Staubitz and Barch dropping the gloves.

The first period saw too many giveaways by the home team and Nabakov who sat out last game to give Tomas Griess his first home start was the Shark’s best player by keeping the Stars off the score sheet. The second period which has been San Jose’s most productive this year was their best netting 2 goals 2 minutes apart. Dany Heatley got things started by going to the net and capitalizing on a Pavelski pass. The man who was brought in to be a goal scorer at the beginning of the season has lived up to his reputation. Less than 2 minutes later Ryan Clowe found the top corner on Turco while intercepting a clearing pass and the Sharks were up 2-0. The 3^rd and 4^th lines kept the momentum going for the rest of the 2^nd period with a relentless fore check and the visiting Dallas team couldn’t wait for time to run out in the middle frame.

If the second period belonged to the Sharks and first one a draw, well the 3^rd was time for the Stars to get a break and that is how they got their momentum going. The Stars finally lit the lamp on a shot towards the net that hit defenseman Jason Demers toe and rain bowed into the top corner after hitting the cross bar on the way down. As flukie as they come, but hey when you are on the road in hostile territory you take what you can get. That would certainly be the turning point in this game because after that the Stars got rolling and the Sharks got deflated. 2:15 seconds later future hall of famer Mike Modano found the 5 hole on Nabakov for his first of the year and we are tied at 2 a piece. The rest of the 3^rd and overtime like most of the game, was filled with scoring chances and the Sharks looked great but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Every team in the league has nights when they get bad bounces and bad calls like the one towards the end of the 3^rd. It is how you react to them when they happen and the Sharks are going about their business the right way. The breaks good and bad will all come out in the wash by season’s end.

It was great to see Ryan Clowe get on the board who has looked much more comfortable the last 3 games. The return of his line mate Joe Pavelski has made all the difference in his game. He seems to be skating faster and able to follow the play better. Confidence is a huge thing in the game of hockey, Clowe’s has returned. Joe Thornton has done a great job on the back check and his hussle both ways wears off on other players. Dany Heatley who was brought in to score has done just that but has also shown improvement on his 2 way game as he gets more familiar with his surrounding cast. The 3^rd and 4^th lines, or energy lines as we like to call them have contributed on the score sheet but the constant pounding they give the other teams really opens things up. The path the San Jose Sharks are on is a good one and barring major injury you can be sure a deep run in the post season is inevitable.

Thanks for reading,

Cam Gore