1/20/07 st. louis 1, SHARKS 0

When the Sharks squeaked one out over the Red Wings at the Joe last month (goal scored with 5.6 seconds remaining), Joe Thornton was (now) famously quoted as saying "We don't do overtime". Well, Joe, thanks alot. I know this wasn't quite what you meant, but your point was proved again last night by not doing overtime against the Blues.

To their credit, the St. Louis Blues played an amazing game defensively. Despite allowing 31 shots on net, they blocked 28, and didn't allow many second chances off of rebounds. Manny Legace didn't have to stand on his head, needing only to make a couple big saves, as his defense was stifling in the slot, which is where the Sharks usually overpower their opposition and stuff in rebounds. Bill Guerin had the lone goal of the game, a wacky goal that left Guerin's stick as an innocent backhander, and found the back of the net after taking a couple bounces off of legs in front of the net.

Today (Sunday) begins the All-Star break, a period that'll last til Wednesday night, and will feature several events culminating in the 55th annual NHL All-Star Game. Tuesday is the YoungStars Game, an All-Star Game of sorts, created to showcase the up and comers in the league. Matt Carle, 2006 Hobey Baker (top collegiate hockey player) and Sharks rookie defenseman is the lone Teal representitive for this event, which is followed by the Super Skills Competition. The Super Skills is a series of events featuring players from each All-Star roster, a showcasing of individual talents, like skating speed, shot accuracy, goaltending, and puckhandling.

The Sharks resume play on Friday, when they head back to the Great White Freezing North to the city of Edmonton to take on the Oilers (6:00 pst). The Oil have won both meetings with the Sharks this year, taking a game in SJ as well as their own building in the second week of the year. Edmonton beat the Sharks 3-2 a couple weeks ago in San Jose, and overcame a 4-1 deficit with the help of a Ryan Smyth hat trick in 2:01 to beat the Sharks 6-4 in Edmonton.

Go Sharks (go rest up for the rest of the season)
-Jess