In order to understand why I'm so strict on defensemen is because of the fact that I used to be a defense...woman. I played soccer for about six years, playing a role of a shut-down defensewoman. I've got to admit, I was pretty mean. I had a hell of a kick, and it was hard for other girls to get past me when I was on the field. I've also got a good stare. However, school came calling and I had to stop due to my busy schedule.
So, if you read my articles on a daily basis, you know why I notice that type of stuff.
The Sharks won 3-2 in a shootout against the Wild, extending their win streak to a franchise-best nine games, despite losing a 2-0 lead.
Just because they won the game, however, doesn't necessarily mean that the win came easily. Oh, no. My Sharks never make it easy for the fans, especially with some of the defensive errors that happened during the game.
Before the game, the Minnesota Wild was on a two-game losing streak and had the pleasure of dealing with a hectic schedule; this game was the Wild's third game in four days.
I was also a little pessimistic going into this game, knowing how good of a hockey club the Wild is.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Sharks have been the hottest team in the, winning nine straight since February 21. But I'll get to that later.
The Sharks scored inside the first minute of the game from Milan Michalek, with assists from Brian Campbell and Christian Ehrhoff. Michalek just shot the puck, which skipped a little, and went over Niklas Backstrom's pad. The goal was kind of bizarre, but it was good that the Sharks were able to set the tone of the game with the first goal. The goal was Michalek's twenty-first goal of the season.
The surprise of the game has to go to Plihal's second goal of his rookie year from a penalty shot. The puck just came up over Backstrom's blocker, and that was a big moment of the game.
Kurtis Foster scored a goal around four minutes into the second period, and the Sharks were horrible defensively on the goal. They should have taken away the shooting lane and put more pressure on the Wild instead of just standing around.
Even though I am strict on the defensive mistakes, I also notice some good things. Christian Ehrhoff, one of the most-improved defensemen, made a good play along the boards during the penalty kill, drawing a little hook to create some four-on-four play.
What I really started to notice at the end of the second period was that the Wild is so good on the trap. The Sharks had some trouble in the neutral zone because of it. However, Campbell did help out a lot because he was able to open up more ice because of his strong skating.
Back to what I said before, the Sharks never make it easy for their fans. Brian Rolston scored in the final minute of regulation, forcing overtime.
The whole reason why the Wild were able to score was on a bad defensive play by Mitchell, something you'll never catch me say very often. Mitchell had time and room to skate with the puck, but decided to ice it. Next thing you know, the Wild win off the draw. Rolston's shot deflected off of Marc-Edouard Vlasic two times, some bad luck for the Sharks. Like I've said in previous articles, the Sharks don't catch any breaks.
Patrick Marleau was the the Sharks' saving grace in overtime, who knocked Marian Gaborik's shot out of harm's way to force a shootout.
The shootout is always suspenseful, but for some reason, I knew the Sharks would pull through. Before the All Star game, I was convinced that Nabby was a horrible one-on-one goaltender. Post-All Star game, Nabby's been almost perfect in the shootout.
Joe Pavelski is absolute money for the Sharks, just using his amazing release on an amazing shot on Backstrom. I swear, he never misses.
Jonathan Cheechoo's shootout attempt was a little weak, missing on the back-hand. He had Backstrom down on the ice, and had him fooled, but Cheechoo just lost control of the puck.
Patrick Marleau's goal in the shootout was awesome, just slapping the puck under Backstrom's arm.
Now, I think the reason why the Sharks have been playing so well as of late has to be due to four people: Brian Campbell, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo, and Ron Wilson.
Brian Campbell has been playing as one of the best defenseman on the Sharks. He can skate, and helps out a lot on the power play that needed some re-vamping before the deadline. Once he gets the puck when he's on the blue line, he wastes no time with the puck. Doug Wilson certainly did his job on the trade deadline.
Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo can certainly be clumped together as two players that started off the season a little slow (to say the least), but have improved considerably.
Marleau had one of his best games almost all season, scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout and stopping a shot that almost went in the net towards the end of overtime.
Cheechoo finally got healthy, recovering from his hernia surgery, and has been more aggressive offensively.
I think coach Ron Wilson said it best when he said, "I've said all along we'd be fine as soon as Cheech and Patty Marleau started scoring. Now they're scoring and you see a huge difference in our team."
Speaking of Ron Wilson, he has had a part in the Sharks' improvement. Because he hasn't been juggling the lines every game, there is no disconnect between the lines anymore. Then again, Wilson has no reason to change the lines now that the second line has finally found its identity.
The Sharks will play on Tuesday against the Nashville Predators, closing out their three-game road trip.
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