SJ Sharks vs. New Jersey Devils - 11/25/06

Shawnna and I attended this match-up between two teams who haven't faced each other in 3 years. Being a fan of Devil's goalie Martin Brodeur, I still wanted the Sharks to win, but I would have been happy with a 1-0 victory instead of running up the score on Brodeur. The Devils are a very defensive-minded team and that set the tone for the game.

The first two periods were very similar in style and outcome. There were a lot of sloppy passes, a good amount of play in the neutral zone, a few good scoring chances for each team, brilliant saves from the goaltenders, very few penalties and no scoring. Through the first 2 periods, each team were called for 2 penalties and the Sharks had the shot advantage 16-14, but the score was 0-0.

The third period was more of the same with one notable exception. At 8:49, Joe Thornton jumped on the ice when it wasn't his shift, intercepted a New Jersey pass and fired a bullet from the left faceoff circle past Brodeur to put the Sharks up 1-0. After that, the Devils really tried to keep the pressure on the Sharks and got a boost when the Sharks were called for a penalty with 1:30 remaining. The Devils pulled Brodeur for an extra attacker, so they essentially had a 2 man advantage. However, Nabokov stood on his head to keep the Devils off the scoreboard and Mike Grier scored a shorthanded, empty net goal from the Sharks zone with 8 seconds remaining to put the game on ice 2-0.

This game was Nabokov's 3rd shutout this season and 30th of his career. Brodeur also had a great game and only gave up 1 goal on 26 shots, but the Devils couldn't solve Nabokov. It was a great defensive game and proved the Sharks can match up well against any of the top teams in the league.

Score: W 2-0
1st Period
None
2nd Period
None
3rd Period
SJ - Joe Thornton (unassisted)
SJ - Mike Grier(SH, EN) (Marc-Edouard Vlasic)

SJ SOG: 27
Devils SOG: 24
Winning Goalie: Evgeni Nabokov
Losing Goalie: Martin Brodeur

Tickets: Section 220 Row 4

SJ Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings - 11/22/06

Shawnna and I went to this game with Angie and Sulak (friends we met on our trip to Hawaii). They had never been to a hockey game before, so we thought it would be fun to introduce them to the greatest sport on the planet. This was a great Sharks game to attend since it was against the interstate rival Kings and it was a "family four pack" game which means the tickets included a hot dog, soda and bag of chips - what a deal! It ended up being a great game for other reasons as well.

The first period got off to a shaky start as the Kings struck first with a soft goal from Scott Thornton (former Shark) that "unintentionally" went in off his skate. However, the Sharks struck back 2 minutes later when Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored his first NHL goal on the power-play by directing a Joe Thornton pass past Dan Cloutier to tie it up at 1. The rest of the period was uneventful with the Sharks registering only 4 shots in the first 20 minutes.

The second period was completely dominated by the Sharks. Just 39 seconds into the period, Steve Bernier scored on the power-play to put the Sharks up 2-1. Joe Thornton kept the momentum going by scoring 1:20 later to increase the Sharks lead to 3-1. Just 58 seconds later, Patrick Marleau added another goal to push the dagger in deeper. More importantly, that was Marleau's 200th goal of his NHL career. The Sharks weren't finished yet - Marcel Goc scored 6 minutes later to put the Sharks up 5-1. To this point, the Sharks had scored 5 goals on 12 shots midway through the second period and that was good enough (or bad enough, depending on your perspective) for the Kings to replace Dan Cloutier in net with Mathieu Garon. That seemed to stop the hemorrhage as there was no more scoring for the rest of the period.

The third period was very similar to the first in that the Kings started it off with a soft goal from Dustin Brown 6 minutes in to cut the lead 5-2. The Sharks struck back a few minutes later when Joe Pavelski scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game to increase the lead 6-2. After that, the Sharks just coasted through to the end and only registered 5 shots in the period. The Kings got their only quality goal of the game when Lubomir Visnovsky converted a Derek Armstrong pass across the crease to cut the lead 6-3, which is how it ended.

Overall, it was a great game and had so many exciting moments that is was perfect for Angie and Sulak's first time. It was fun to experience it with them as it reminded me of when I first saw a hockey game and became hooked on the action, power and speed. I'm not sure if they'll become as fanatical as I am, but at least they've now been introduced to the greatest game on ice - the rest is up to them... There will be a test on the rules we covered in two weeks :-)

Score: W 6-3
1st Period
Kings - Scott Thornton (Kevin Dallman, Derek Armstrong)
SJ - Marc-Edouard Vlasic(PP) (Joe Thornton)
2nd Period
SJ - Steve Bernier(PP) (Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau)
SJ - Joe Thornton (Mark Smith, Mike Grier)
SJ - Patrick Marleau (Steve Bernier, Marc-Edouard Vlasic)
SJ - Marcel Goc (Scott Hannan, Mark Bell)
3rd Period
Kings - Dustin Brown (Peter Harrold, Michael Cammalleri)
SJ - Joe Pavelski (Scott Hannan, Patrick Marleau)
Kings - Lubomir Visnovsky (Derek Armstrong, Michael Cammalleri)

SJ SOG: 20
Kings SOG: 27
Winning Goalie: Vesa Toskala
Losing Goalie: Dan Cloutier

Tickets: Section 219 Row 7

SJ Sharks vs. Philadelphia Flyers - 11/18/06

Dan and I attend this game to check out the Flyers who have plenty of big name players, but for some reason, haven't had much luck winning many games. Of course, the fact that the Flyers are one of the worst teams this year meant that the Sharks had a good chance of winning big - which they proceeded to do.

Right off the bat, the Sharks wasted no time in setting the pace of the game as Patrick Rissmiller scored 2:30 in and 2 minutes later, Milan Michalek tapped in a nice pass from Joe Thornton to put the Sharks up 2-0. The Flyers took their timeout to try to slow things down and it seemed to work as Geoff Sanderson scored on the power-play 5 minutes later to cut the lead to 2-1. The Sharks got back on track 2 minutes later when Mike Grier scored a short-handed goal to close out the period with the Sharks leading 3-1.

The second period was filled with lots of penalties and a few Sharks goals. Kyle McLaren kicked things off with a power-play goal 4 minutes in to increase the lead to 4-1. Five minutes later, Ryane Clowe got into the action when he scored on a pass from Patrick Marleau. Just 3 minutes after that, Curtis Brown put the exclamation mark on a game that was being dominated by the Sharks 6-1. After that goal, the Flyers figured Robert Esche had seen enough (he gave up 6 goals on 18 shots) and pulled him in favor of Antero Niittymaki. That move worked (or the Sharks stopped trying) as the Sharks didn't score for the rest of the game.

The third period was very boring. There wasn't any scoring and there were no penalties called. The Sharks had only 6 shots in the entire period as they were clearly just trying to run out the clock and finish a game that was completely out of reach for the Flyers. The crowd even started to leave mid-way through the period and by the end, the arena was only half full. I guess that's what happens when there's no suspense. Overall, the Sharks played a great game, scored early and often, took advantage of the Flyers weaknesses, won a couple of fights and put on a great show for the fans. It was the perfect game if you were a Sharks fan.

Score: W 6-1
1st Period
SJ - Patrick Rissmiller (Ville Nieminen, Marcel Goc)
SJ - Milan Michalek (Joe Thornton, Kyle McLaren)
Flyers - Geoff Sanderson(PP) (Mike Richards, Randy Robitaille)
SJ - Mike Grier(SH) (Curtis Brown)
2nd Period
SJ - Kyle McLaren(PP) (Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Patrick Rissmiller)
SJ - Ryane Clowe (Patrick Marleau, Steve Bernier)
SJ - Curtis Brown (Ryane Clowe)
3rd Period
None

SJ SOG: 25
Flyers SOG: 18
Winning Goalie: Vesa Toskala
Losing Goalie: Robert Esche

Tickets: Section 221 Row 3

First Ultrasound

After visiting the ob/gyn to confirm the pregnancy and begin a series of regular checkups, the doctor ordered an ultrasound to determine the age of the embryo which would define the due date. At the hospital, Shawnna got jellied up and the physician ran the transducer probe across her belly to view the fetus on the screen. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but the yolk sac and embryo were small, yet clearly visible. Then an amazing thing happened - since the heart is one of the first things to develop, the heartbeat was audible through the ultrasound machine. Hearing the beating heart of our future baby was incredible and surreal. Ultimately, it really helped sink in the fact that we're going to be parents.

The physician took several pictures and measurements of the embryo to make sure all was well - which it was. Based on his calculations, the embryo was 6 weeks along at this point which makes the due date July 3, 2007. It's a bit of coincidence that I was due on July 4th, but popped out June 18th - I couldn't wait to see the world. I wonder how close to my birthday our child will be born.

SJ Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins - 11/4/06

Dan and I went to the game and were ready to see what the hype surrounding Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin was all about. The arena was packed and there was a huge line outside waiting to see if any extra tickets went on sale. The buzz was electric as the game began.

The first period began on a sour note as Jonathan Cheechoo was ejected 1 minute in when he ran Mark Eaton into the boards and was called for boarding and a game misconduct. That set the tone for the entire period as the teams rarely played 5 on 5 while 10 penalties were called. Even with all of the power plays, nobody scored and the period ended with each team totaling 8 shots on goal.

The second period started much better when Kyle McLaren scored on a Joe Thornton rebound to put the Sharks up 1-0. Six minutes later, Pittsburgh tied it up on Michel Oullet's breakaway goal and the game was on. Just two minutes later, Matt Carle scored on the power play and the period ended with the Sharks up 2-1.

The Sharks started the third period with a bang as Mike Grier scored 33 second in, but Dominic Moore answered for the Penguins 1 minute later to keep it a 1 goal game. The rest of the game was a nail biter as the Penguins kept Crosby and Malkin on the ice as much as possible to try to tie it up. With 1 minute left, they pulled their goalie for an extra attacker to put the pressure on the Sharks. Toskala held strong in net and didn't allow anything get by during the final push and the Sharks won 3-2.

In the end, the Sharks held Crosby shotless and Malkin, while taking 3 shots on goal, was held scoreless for the first time in his 7 game career (he was trying to set a record for the most consecutive games with a goal to start a career). Joe Thornton had three assists and the Sharks looked much better than they did against the Rangers on Thursday. All in all, it was a fun game to attend, the crowd had a ton of energy and it was nice to see the Sharks back on track.

Score: W 3-2
1st Period
None
2nd Period
SJ - Kyle McLaren (Joe Thornton, Patrick Rissmiller)
Penguins - Michel Ouellet (Josef Melichar)
SJ - Matt Carle(PP) (Milan Michalek, Joe Thornton)
3rd Period
SJ - Mike Grier (Joe Thornton, Kyle McLaren)
Penguins - Dominic Moore (John LeClair, Michel Ouellet)

SJ SOG: 34
Penguins SOG: 27
Winning Goalie: Vesa Toskala
Losing Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury

Tickets: Section 223 Row 3

SJ Sharks vs. NY Rangers - 11/2/06

Shawnna and I went to the game after feasting at the Sonoma Chicken Coop - good food, big portions, decent prices - Inexpensive Excellence :) It was a rainy, drab night which was an indicator of things to come.

The Sharks were home after a 5 game road trip and the Rangers were playing for the 2nd consecutive night after beating the Ducks in overtime on Wednesday. Needless to say, both teams looked tired and sluggish during the game. The Sharks seemed to dominate the first period, finishing with a 9-4 shot advantage. However, the Rangers final shot of the period was a breakaway goal by Matt Cullen with .7 seconds left on the clock. Not a good way to end the period.

The second period was more of the same. The Sharks dominated in every way except where it counts. Despite a 12-9 shot advantage, the Rangers got the only goal of the period as Martin Straka knocked in a rebound to put the Rangers up 2-0. By the third period, the crowd seemed to literally be asleep and the players weren't far behind. Nothing happened of note until 2.5 minutes left in the game when Kyle McLaren fired a long shot that made its way past Kevin Weekes for the Sharks only goal of the game. After the goal went in, there was a delay of about 5 seconds before the crowd started to cheer - very strange. After that, the Sharks finally seemed to have a fire in their belly and had a couple of great chances to tie it up, but Weekes was too strong in net. The game ended after Brendan Shanahan threw the puck down the ice to clear the zone and it went in the Sharks empty net with 3.6 seconds left giving the Rangers a 3-1 victory.

Overall, it was a pretty boring game and the Sharks power play (the best in the NHL) looked horrible as they went 0 for 5 with the man advantage. It was good to see Jaromir Jagr who, despite not getting on the scoreboard, is a threat anytime he touches the puck and had 3 good shots that were stopped by Nabokov. Next up are the Penguins where the Sharks will have their hands full with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin who are on their way to being the next superstars. The Sharks better wake up or it's going to be another long season.

Score: L 3-1
1st Period
Rangers - Matt Cullen (Petr Prucha, Brendan Shanahan)
2nd Period
Rangers - Martin Straka (Michael Nylander, Fedor Tyutin)
3rd Period
SJ - Kyle McLaren (Mike Grier)
Rangers - Brendan Shanahan(EN) (unassisted)

SJ SOG: 30
Rangers SOG: 19
Winning Goalie: Kevin Weekes
Losing Goalie: Evgeni Nabokov

Tickets: Section 219 Row 5