1/12/08 SHARKS 3, toronto 2

You know the drill.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Vesa Toskala made his return to San Jose last night, looking for a win against his old teammates, and all went real well...for the first two periods of play. The much suffering Maple Leafs have had a less than par season, and a less than par California roadtrip as well. Looking for a win in their first visit to California since '03, the Leafs struck early, on a one-timer from Nik Antropov. Defenseman Pavel Kubina made it 2-0 in the 2nd with a slapper low glove on Evgeni Nabokov. However, after the horn sounded at the end of the 2nd, all started to change. Early in the third, a Patrick Marleau shot trickled it's way past Toskala. Craig Rivet followed that up with an absolute blast, his 3rd goal in the last four contests, and Joe Pavelski capped the scoring when he tipped a Jonathan Cheechoo shot past the former Shark. Evgeni "you kept the right goaltender, Doug Wilson" Nabokov turned 23 shots aside for his league leading 25th victory in the net.

The home win was the 9th of the season for the Sharks, and their 3rd consecutive victory on the sheet at 525 W. Santa Clara. It also caps a tremendous homestand, seeing the Teal capture 7 of 8 possible points. If you had said a month ago that the Sharks would win 3 of 4 games in this homestand, I would have hugged you for two reasons. 1) I would be in admiration of your ignorance of the truth, and blind optimism in your team and 2) You clearly are insane, and are in serious need of some affection. The newly discovered momentum will have to take a break, however, as the Sharks leave the Tank for a brief two game roadie.

The trip begins tonight, on the second end of a back-to-back (a situation in which the Sharks are 6-2 so far this season) when the Sharks head to Anaheim for a showdown with the Ducks (5:00). The season series has tilted to the south with the Ducks winning 4 of the 5 played, dropping only a shootout contest to the Teal on 12/16. San Jose has won 10 straight road contests. #11 anyone?

GO SHARKS (yes please)
-Jess




It's tradition now.