1/10/08 SHARKS 3, canucks 1

Guess what...yup...they did it again...no fooling, I promise...see, I even have the visual evidence to prove it.


Told you so. 2 in a row even. May I just say, this calls for another

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Jeremy Roenick's powerplay #503 was the difference maker yet again, his 6th GWG of the year, in a 3-1 victory last night. JR crashed the net, backhanding a Craig Rivet shot that bounced right off goalie Roberto Luongo and onto the stick of Roenick. The goal was #503, putting him ahead of Joey Mullen, elevating him to 2nd all-time on the list of American born goal scorers. Rivet had a goal himself, trailing a 4-on-2, getting the pass, and flipping a wrister past Luongo. Milan Michalek had the other goal, a pretty wrister roofed top shelf on Luongo, also on the powerplay, which ended the night going 2 for 7. All-Star center Joe Thornton had a hand in all three goals, and fellow All-Star Evgeni "Evgeni" Nabokov made consecutive start #42, making 20 saves for his league leading 24th win.

The win over the Canucks last night was consecutive home win #2, and their 6th in the last 7. More importantly, as least as it pertains to Vancouver, was their 4th win over the Canucks this year, finishing out the season series at a very clean sweep of 4 games to none. Nobody can fully figure out what it is that allows a team that has been struggling with consistency this year (San Jose) to beat arguably the best goalie in the NHL 3 times (Curtis Sanford started the first game in SJ for an injured Luongo) in the same season. If the playoffs are kind, at least to Teal Town, these two will meet up in the second season, but that's a long way off.

The invite to Spring hockey might come one game closer to landing in the Sharks mailbox after Saturday's run in with cross continent visitors Toronto Maple Leafs (NOTE: GAME IS AT 7:00 PM). The Leafs are going through what could be severely understated as a "less than optimal season". Through 44 games, Toronto has just 16 wins and 40 points overall. Their goaltending savior in Former Shark Vesa Toskala has been strong, but his defense has let him down countless times. The offense isn't bad, but overmatched often. They've won just 3 of their last 13, including coming into town on a 4 game losing streak, most recently getting blown out in Southern California (5-0 in Anaheim on Wednesday, 5-2 in LA on Thursday).

Basically, the Leafs are in shambles right now, and the two points are there for the taking. In the past, the Sharks have looked at games like this, and quickly glanced past their seemingly inferior opponents, like they did last month with the Sabres. Long story short with that one, it didn't turn out too well (7-1 Buffalo victory). Ideally, the Sharks come out tomorrow like they finished Thursday, like gangbusters. If it results in an easy win, great. If it doesn't, then they'll be ready to scrap for the two points like they would anyway. As a friend of mine has coined, get ready for "Hockey Night in San JosEh?"

GO SHARKS (all of Canada is watching, but, hey, no pressure)
-Jess



Again, too nice to avoid posting twice. And better quality than last time too.



Hey Mr. Modano, someone is coming...