12/13/07 SHARKS 5, vancouver 2

2 in a row. At home. Not against Phoenix.

Another wounded opponent limped into the Tank Thursday night, and the Sharks devoured them quite thoroughly.

Ok, so it wasn't that majestic, but hey, give me a break here. I've seen 14 Sharks games this season in the friendly confines of the Tank, and Thursday's victory was just the 6th of the campaign. Joe Thornton lead the Teal with a rocket slapshot goal and added an assist. Steve Bernier, Joe Pavelski, Captain Patrick Marleau, and Milan Michalek also hit the scoresheet for the Sharks, who notched their third win against Vancouver this year. Sir Evgeni Nabokov of the goaltending kingdom known as Kazakhstan made his 30th start in 30 games this year, stopping 15 of the 17 shots he faced.

Another game, another strong effort. Forechecking, backchecking, body checking, poke checking, digging pucks out of corners, rapid puck pursuit, you name it, the Sharks have probably been doing it, and pretty well, at least as of late. It's unknown what, but something has seemingly brought this team alive, hopefully more than temporarily. As the calender approaches Christmas time, the season nears it's halfway point, and the games start to mean more. Teams start to come together, the strong teams emerge and rise atop their divisions and conferences, the men and the boys are separated, blah blah blah and etc... happens. In the Pacific, the Stars don't seem to be going away, the Ducks are getting Scott Niedermayer back (just in time for Sunday's showdown at the Pond, go figure), the Coyotes are sorta lurking a bit maybe, and the Kings are dangerous on any given night, but can't seem to string those nights together. The Pacific Division is definitely up for grabs, and the Sharks are pretty tall, but it remains to be seen still if they want to jump.

The willingness to leap can be viewed Saturday, in a rare matinee showing, when the aforementioned Dallas Stars (boo) come to town (1:00). The Sharks lead the season series 3-1. Each game has seen the road team come out victorious, with the Sharks winning 4-2 on 10/29, 4-3 on 11/14, and 3-2 on 12/5. Dallas has taken the lone game in SJ played on 11/7 by a score of 3-1. The winner of tomorrow's contest will see themselves atop the Pacific, so expect a good one.

GO SHARKS (STARS [boo], just practicing)
-Jess