Evgeni Nabokov

SAN JOSE, Ca - The San Jose Sharks don’t need a good luck charm, they have a Russian netminder who goes by the name of Evgeni Nabakov. When the guys in front of the Sharks top goalie take time to adjust to the speed and tempo of their opponent, number 20 has their backs. Out of the 46 games he has started this season, you can count on one hand, the number nights that the Superman cape hanging off his back has not been evident.

The 35 year old is in a contract year and so far has shown that he has plenty left in the tank. Many people feel that he ran out of steam in the post season last spring, whether he did or not, the team around him was not good enough to advance to the next round.

Saturday night, Nabakov and the Sharks had to weather the storm of a quick Buffalo Sabres team that comes at you with four lines who can all contribute. Buffalo has seven skaters, with 11 to 14 goals on the season, so you can’t pinpoint all your defensive attack against the first or second lines. As was the case on Saturday night, the Sabres came out like gangbusters and peppered the Sharks netmeinder for one goal on 14 shots versus five for the home team after 20 minutes of play.

When playing a fast team like the Sabres, the best way to slow them down is to get physical and San Jose showed some signs of that towards the end of the first period. The Sharks are one of the few teams who have enough team speed to skate with the North East division leaders, but that would be playing Sabres hockey.

The answer for Saturday night’s 5-2 win was a combination of speed and a physical presence. The Sharks took some adjusting but once they got their wheels turning and figured out how to beat the NHL’s top statistical goaler, things got a touch easier.

Joe Pavelski

Proof came on Joe Pavelski’s first goal of the night when a persistent fore check created a turnover in the offensive zone. As a result of Manny Malhotra’s speed he was able to block a clearing pass and dish the puck out front to a streaking Pavelski who went upstairs with the puck to tie the game at one a piece.

The officiating was as stingy as it gets. The officials must have thought they were controlling the yard for grade school. By the end of it all, both teams endured bad calls.

The Sharks earned their first lead of the game, after sustained pressure by the Thornton, Heatley and Marleau line. It is much harder chasing the puck than it is controlling it. The big bodies of the Sharks top line dominated the boards down low and kept cycling the puck to the 6’4”, 235 pound, NHL leader in assists, Joe Thornton, behind the net until he found Heatley in front, for his thirtieth goal of the year.

The only season Heatley has not scored thirty goals or more, when playing at least forty games, was his rookie campaign. Yes, this man bulging the twine is as regular as beer chugging contests are at fraternity parties. The second period ended with San Jose killing another weak, but consistent, penalty call on Scott Nichol.

The penalty which carried over to the third period, resulted in a Jason Pominville goal to tie the game with most of the third frame still remaining.

When you play against a top net minder in the NHL, you don’t score a lot of goals on shots from afar. For Joe Pavelski’s second of the night, he went to the trenches willing to pay the price for scoring in close and was rewarded with an open cage from a Devin Setoguchi shot that dribbled past Ryan Miller, but would not have made it in without some help.

With a one-goal lead and well over half a period left, it was anyone’s game. It took the home squad some time to figure out how to play against the quick relentless Buffalo team. In the third period the best chances belonged to San Jose.

Ryane Clowe

Scott Nichol created the next scoring chance, by throwing his 5’9, 175 pound body into the fore check and taking out the Sabres d-man leaving the puck there for Ryan Clowe, who fed a money pass to Jed Ortmeyer, who was waiting in the slot and fired home a goal that would make you think he was fifty goal per year scorer in this league. In reality it was Ortmeyer’s sixth of the campaign, and his seventh came in the last minute of the game on an empty net.

With this win, San Jose took over top spot in the league and number one in the NHL power rankings. It was a good win for a team that didn’t play their best hockey, but found a way to earn two points. They did it without future Olympian Dan Boyle who is out with an upper body injury, but is expected to return for Thursday’s battle against the Chicago Blackhawks. This will be a highly anticipated game between the NHL’s top two teams and what many predict to be a future playoff series for the Western Conference Championship.

Contact the writer at cam.gore@prohockeynews.com

Contact the photographer at jack.lima@prohocheynews.com