11/2/07 los angeles 5, SHARKS 2

Facing the opposition's back-up goaltender. 47 shots. New guys making debuts in front of the home crowd (Kaspar, Ozolinsh, Setoguchi). Home ice. Loss?

J.S. Aubin was deservedly the first star of the night, stopping 45 shots last nigt against a Sharks club that, for much of the game, looked like they just didn't want to be there. Patrick Marleau scored a goal in the 1st that was the Sharks only lead of the night, and Joe Thornton added a garbage time marker with 76 seconds remaining. Evgeni Nabokov made his 13th start in 13 games for the Teal, who apparently have an actual back-up netminder. At this point though, said netminder is solely a rumor, and totally unconfirmed to exist.

So here we sit, 13 games into the season, frustrated with our team. An underperforming offense, a still physically dominating deficient defense, a coach who's post game quotes are as stale as his coaching flexibility, and a goalie who just needs a rest. The offense and defense need to look different. The schemes and styles used are old, tired, and way too predictable. Every Sharks loss looks exactly the same, as teams are learning how to beat them.

I'm not sure how to fix the Sharks, because if I did, I'd be behind the bench screaming quotes from Will Ferrell movies. All I do know from sitting in my seat in the upper reaches of 213 is that the Sharks are a very talented bunch of guys who are playing a very uncoordinated style of hockey. When the boys have a direction on the ice that hasn't been recorded on video 300 times, that's when we'll see a major improvement.

After a bad loss, the best remedy is another shot at it. Luckily (hopefully it's luckily) the Sharks get a chance to avenge last night's loss when they line up against the Kings again tonight, this time at Staples (7:30). Tonight will probably see Jason LaBarbera and Dmitri Patzold (he's our back-up guy, supposedly) in the nets. There might be personnel changes for the Teal, but it's anybody's guess currently as to who (hint: scratch everybody but Mitchell and Pavelski).

GO SHARKS (TRY BEATING LA AGAIN, AND ACTUALLY DO IT THIS TIME)
-Jess