Everyone has a nemesis, whether it be a person, place or thing it’s one factor that can completely undo you or defeat you no matter what the circumstance.
For Superman its Kryptonite, Wile E Coyote has the Road Runner, and for the Sharks or more specifically Joe Pavelski, it’s Jonas Hiller.
Yes, once again Jonas ‘Vanilla Sky’ Hiller could do no wrong as the Sharks peppered him with vulcanized rubber discs only to be rebuked at every turn.
More specifically Pavelski, who was categorically denied 6 times, including a golden point blank shot midway through the third.
The Sharks looked flat early on, and paid the price as the Ducks jumped out ahead and didn’t look back. The Yucks may be last place but don’t tell that to San Jose who has gone 1-5 against their Southern California counterparts.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way for the San Jose Sharks. Coming off an impressive 3-0 stretch and a dominant performance against the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose did exactly what I thought they would do against the cellar dwelling Ducks of Anaheim.
And that is, lose their focus, lose their confidence and lose their slim Pacific Division lead. All the talk of taking care of business and rolling all four lines against the Avalanche, the Sharks promptly went out and laid a mental egg.
But wait! It gets better! Did I mention Dallas defeated Edmonton 3-1 to hop back into the division lead with 89 points and the Kings dominated the Flames 3-0?
The Sharks now find themselves on the bubble looking up at the Stars and Kings and deadlocked with the Calgary Flames of all teams.
The Sharks still control their fate, but they’ll need to get their shit together on the road as they are now 2-11 in their last 13 road games. Next up is the Coyotes who get captain Shane Doan back from suspension, after which the Sharks face home and home sets against Dallas and Los Angeles, three of those games are on the road.
The Sharks have got to get back to playing focused, mistake free hockey in order to try and make the postseason. It’s time for the play on the ice to match the words spoken in the locker room.
Let’s go boys. Go Sharks
It kills me that the Sharks continually find ways to fall short of winning the Cup. Let’s hope that things end up differently this season. Cheers!
Definitely heartbreaking, this core doesnt seem to have the will or desire to get the job done on a championship level, maybe it’s time for fans to start accepting that fact. Hard to see this year’s version any better, the team has regressed since 09 in almost every major category. Life goes on though! thanks for commenting!