Sharks Blog

As of last night the San Jose Sharks have gone into a two nothing deficit. They now are in a very awkward, but previously experienced, position. The Sharks need to force at least a game six scenario; in order to do so they must beat the Anaheim Ducks, in Anaheim, twice. The Ducks home ice advantage is not the biggest obstacle for the Sharks; it is the Ducks goalie, Hiller, that presents the biggest threat. Overall he has a ninety-two save percentage, the Sharks have thrown seventy-five shots at Hiller, and he has only allowed two goals. Even still, the Sharks have been dominating in almost every area. They posses the puck, out hit, and out shoot the Ducks. There are three areas that the Sharks need to improve.

First, the Sharks need to win every face-off. Too many times, the Ducks are able to either clear the puck out of their zone, or keep the puck in the Sharks zone, after a face-off. Winning face-offs will help the Sharks possess the puck and make the Ducks adapt to the Sharks game. The key here is the one-on-one battles; the Sharks need to be stronger when they are battling for the puck. Marcell Coc and Joe Pavelsky are our best face off men. Yet, Goc does not seem to get very many face-off opportunities. Sharks need to dominate the face-off, as it will give them more puck possession and allowe them time to set-up in the offensive zone, giving them more opportunities to score goals.

Second, the Sharks need to improve on their entry into the offensive zone. Most entries are even given directly to a Ducks defense-men, or the Sharks go offside. The best remedy is to stick with one style of entry: either skate in with speed, dump the puck into the corner, or pass the puck into the zone. Doing all three throws off the timing off the timing of the other players on the entry; the other players are getting confused on how the person with the puck is going to enter the zone. A good entry into the zone will allow the Sharks to possess the puck in the offensive zone in the manner that will allow them to set-up good passing and scoring opportunities.

Third, and most important, the Sharks need to improve their power play. They forced the Ducks to go to the penalty box six times. That is six opportunities to make the Ducks play with a man down, and they did not capitalize on any of those opportunities. In order to score on the power play, the Sharks need to hold the offensive zone with crisp passing, and quick shooting. They can hold the zone better by winning their face-offs, and entering the zone effectively. However, the key is to shoot. Even though the Sharks are out shooting the Ducks two to one, they are not scoring. The only remedy is to shoot more; they need to force Hiller to fall to his pads, then throw the puck into one of the top corners.

Clearly, it is Hiller that is keeping the Sharks from winning, he is on fire. The Sharks were able to get two goals past him in the last game, they need to do more of the same in their next game. The Ducks have been incredibly lucky in the first two games, the sharks have hit a total of three posts, and the Ducks goals were flukes. On defense the Sharks need to be tighter on the man they are marking. The Ducks luck probably will not last into the rest of the series, and Hiller's streak is probably going to end on Tuesday night. This is going to throw the Ducks into a shame spiral and the Sharks will be able to finish out the series in game six.