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Sharks Gameday: Post-Festivus Edition

San Jose Sharks (27-4-4) at Dallas Stars (15-14-5), 6:00 PM

Yargh. I hope you all got to watch more hockey over the holidays than I did. Between Friday and Saturday, there were a bazillion games on TV and I only managed to catch the third period of the Sharks/Blues game, which I really shouldn't have as San Jose's effort was about as intense as my enthusiasm for wrapping presents.

In any case, we're at it again tonight as life resumes some semblance of normalcy. First off, I'm not going to comment on the whole Claude Lemieux thing. For me, it's a non-story until he actually gets called up to the big squad. In the meantime, he's helping out the Woo-ster boys, and that's all well and good...but that has nothing to do with the roster switcheroo we're seeing lately.

It sounds like Devin Setoguchi will be out tonight as his grandmother recently passed away. In his spot on the top line will be the suddenly effective Jonathan Cheechoo, which brings up an interesting question -- what the hell happens to the forward lines when the entire San Jose roster is healthy? Right now, you're missing two of your top nine forwards (Setoguchi, Torrey Mitchell) and also another guy who can literally play in any slot given the appropriate amount of ice time (Jeremy Roenick). Suddenly, the top two lines become a game of musical chairs, but to me, the solution seems to be to lose the whole two scoring lines/two checking lines mentality and open up a third line as more of a two-way threat rather than a pure defensive or pure offensive group.

How will it all shake out? Considering that Todd McLellan's been plugging holes in his roster all season and he's shown a recent willingness to experiment with combinations (a pretty good cure for avoiding complacency around the winter doldrums), your guess is as good as mine.

But for tonight, the focus is on Dallas where the Stars have played significantly better since jettisoning the big mouth and small mind of Sean Avery. It helps that Marty Turco can now stop beach balls, though it remains to be seen how regularly he can block smaller objects. A while ago, I wrote in my Kukla's Korner blog that the Stars still had a chance if Mike Modano and Brad Richards picked it up. Here's how they've performed over the past few games:

Star-divide

Richards:

  • 12/27 vs. Anaheim: 1G, 1A
  • 12/23 vs. Toronto: 1G
  • 12/20 vs. Ottawa: 1G, 1A
  • 12/18 vs. Columbus: 1G, 3A
  • 12/16 vs. Phoenix: 1A

Modano

  • 12/27 vs. Anaheim: 1 G, 1 A
  • 12/23 vs. Toronto: 1A

The five games prior...0 points

Ok, so Richards has had more of an impact during the recent stretch than Modano, but I think that's pretty much to be expected at this point in their respective careers. In fact, Richards has turned a miserable December (no points in the first six games) into a reasonable one and is almost back to a point-per-game level.

So what to expect tonight? Playing in Dallas used to be one of those weird mental blocks for the Sharks but not so much in recent years (fun fact: if you recall, the Sharks were playing in Dallas when the Joe Thornton trade went down). It's technically time for a rebound game, since the Sharks have thrown two road stinkers in a row (Detroit, St. Louis), but I wouldn't call it a losing streak as the team had two wins at home in between those two. No, I'd say this is yet another one of this Mental Toughness Challenge games, where we get a sense of how this team responds to a sleepwalking effort against a non-playoff team.

Oh, and if you haven't noticed...those pesky Stars are back over .500. Well, .500 in today's wacky NHL, which doesn't necessarily mean that much, but they're still in the hunt.

Prediction: Sharks 4, Stars 2. Goals by Cheechoo, Clowe, Boyle, and Blake. It's too bad JR's injured so I can't throw him into my usual fanboy gameday prediction.

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Comments

Display:

Please please beat the stupid Stars. I don’t think I’ve wanted a Sharks win so bad this whole year.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 29, 2008 11:38 AM PST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Whoops

Looks like we posted almost simultaneously. Sorry Mike.

by jamestobrien on Dec 29, 2008 11:45 AM PST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Don’t worry about it, guys. Somebody had to break up the string of RK posts. Nicely done.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 29, 2008 11:51 AM PST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

And here I was going to make a comment on the blog becoming “The Battle of Los Angeles” and snicker at the ROTM reference.

Man, my parents house sucks.

Fear The Fin: Where The Second Round Is Overrated

by Mr. Plank on Dec 29, 2008 12:11 PM PST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Man, my parents house sucks.

Mine’s OK to live in for a few days, but it’s horrible for blogging. Mostly it’s just good for napping on the couch and watching the only football games I’ll watch all year and pretending that hockey doesn’t exist.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 29, 2008 12:14 PM PST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I absolutely can’t have the Stars winning and possibly surpassing the Kings in the standings, with two games in hand, nonetheless. Go Sharks!!

Fuck you, Denis Gauthier

by Kevin Y on Dec 29, 2008 1:30 PM PST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Uh, you know what sounds way better than the Stars moving up? The Sharks moving down. Go Stars.

by brokenyard on Dec 29, 2008 1:53 PM PST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Well, if the Stars win their next three games they’ll be one point behind Anaheim (without any games in hand). I could care less about the Sharks’ mammoth divisional lead compared to how much I care about a trailing Pacific team catching Anaheim.

Besides, if the Sharks do want to give up their 16-point divisional lead, there will be plenty of other opportunities to do so. It doesn’t have to come at the direct benefit of the Dallas Stars.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Dec 29, 2008 1:57 PM PST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

True. I just wish they could all fail simulatenously.

by brokenyard on Dec 29, 2008 11:21 PM PST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Hear, hear.

At least the game was decided in regulation.

by g r a c e on Dec 30, 2008 3:06 AM PST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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