GDT: On the road in Alberta...Edmonton 6:30pm

[tiburon12]

I know Ferraro had a bad showing but to me the bigger concern is Simek. He really has not got better as the season has gone on. People here have him pencilled in for top-4 D minutes with Burns next year, but that will stink if Simek does not play better. I would rather play Ferraro with Burns than Simek given their play this year.

I wonder if he is gassed and could use a break. He's never played this much in his life

 

[tony d]

Another win for our team last night, could the Sharks be this season's Blues? Even a late season run for a playoff spot would be nice.

 

[Mafoofoo]

You know your cats birthday...? And I thought I liked cats a lot.

Heck yeah I know his birthday. Celebrated it last night! I got him some extra treats and a new stuffed animal for him too.

Then Timo Meier went out and scored hella to give my cat a win.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

How was E.Karlsson in this one?

 

[hohosaregood]

I know Ferraro had a bad showing but to me the bigger concern is Simek. He really has not got better as the season has gone on. People here have him pencilled in for top-4 D minutes with Burns next year, but that will stink if Simek does not play better. I would rather play Ferraro with Burns than Simek given their play this year.

I think it makes a lot of sense to do that. Dillon has been really active in the offensive zone and transitioning Ferraro into the spot next to Burns will probably work similarly once they build a rapport. Simek isn't quite as active offensively and seems more likely to back off rather than pinch which makes me think Simek would work better next to Karlsson

 

[LadyStanley]

 

[Led Zappa]

What team did I watch last night?

 

[Lebanezer]

What team did I watch last night?

Washington Generals.

 

[hockfan1991]

Another win for our team last night, could the Sharks be this season's Blues? Even a late season run for a playoff spot would be nice.

We are devastated with injuries and a month late, not the case with the blues.

I will root for them but likely need 19-8 down the stretch to have a shot.

If they can win another 3-4 in a row and get couture back for the final 20 who knows.

Our division is weak

 

[Barrie22]

We are devastated with injuries and a month late, not the case with the blues.

I will root for them but likely need 19-8 down the stretch to have a shot.

If they can win another 3-4 in a row and get couture back for the final 20 who knows.

Our division is weak

Our division is weak but yet we control 5 of the possible 8 playoff spots. How does this make sense to you if the division is weak? A weak division would not have the majority of the playoff teams.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Our division is weak but yet we control 5 of the possible 8 playoff spots. How does this make sense to you if the division is weak? A weak division would not have the majority of the playoff teams.

The division is weak but the Central after the top three suck just as much. It doesn't matter. The Sharks are down 8 points from a playoff spot. They have simply sucked more. lol

 

[Used As A Shield]

For what it's worth, winning when feeling like the underdog is pretty fun.

 

[Pistol Pete]

I’m not saying it’s realistic (or accurate since I’m terrible at math) but the Sharks currently have 52 points through 55 games. They have 27 games left (54 points available). Most pundits believe it takes ~95 points to get in. So the Sharks would need to go on a burner of winning 21.5 games of their last 27. Did I do that right?

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I’m not saying it’s realistic (or accurate since I’m terrible at math) but the Sharks currently have 52 points through 55 games. They have 27 games left (54 points available). Most pundits believe it takes ~95 points to get in. So the Sharks would need to go on a burner of winning 21.5 games of their last 27. Did I do that right?

There's some wiggle room but it's accurate to an extent. The OT point is hard to account for with what you're trying to say.

 

[Pavelski2112]

The Sharks aren't making the playoffs this year barring an absolute miracle, but it's good to see the team playing with pride for once. End the year on a good note, give Ottawa a worse pick. Works for me.

 

[hohosaregood]

The division is weak but the Central after the top three suck just as much. It doesn't matter. The Sharks are down 8 points from a playoff spot. They have simply sucked more. lol

The West is just really weak right now besides the top 3 or so

 

[The Ice Hockey Dude]

I’m not saying it’s realistic (or accurate since I’m terrible at math) but the Sharks currently have 52 points through 55 games. They have 27 games left (54 points available). Most pundits believe it takes ~95 points to get in. So the Sharks would need to go on a burner of winning 21.5 games of their last 27. Did I do that right?

Yeah, pretty close for sure. I'm saying no more that 5-6 regulation losses this season and we have
a chance. We're lucky teams in the Pacific are not doing so well this season (e.g. lower point total
projection to make playoffs)

 

[Pinkfloyd]

The West is just really weak right now besides the top 3 or so

Yeah it just shows how bad this team has been this season that they're pretty far back of this group.

 

[hohosaregood]

So we may be down some crucial forwards but it may have forced a lot of guys on the team to start taking things seriously seeing how Burns looks like he actually cares right now. Not to mention, guys like Letunov and True are getting ice time and they look like winning gambles for now. Also, underlying metrics have been on a major rise since the start of the year. top 10 xGF% since Jan 1 at about ~52%. So there's a minor minor minor chance we make the playoffs but there's some reason to believe. At least the end of the season will be fun-ish to watch.

 

[Mattb124]

I wonder if he is gassed and could use a break. He's never played this much in his life

It is really common for freshmen in NHL to hit a wall at some point past mid-season.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Yeah it just shows how bad this team has been this season that they're pretty far back of this group.

Bad coaching and even worse goaltending. If one of those had been average, I think we would have been in a playoff spot or within a couple of points.

I am shocked how decent this team has looked for the last 2 games without Hertl and Couture. Not that I expect them to keep winning but I am just happy with the overall effort on the ice.

 

[OrrNumber4]

I am shocked how decent this team has looked for the last 2 games without Hertl and Couture. Not that I expect them to keep winning but I am just happy with the overall effort on the ice.

It actually isn't that unusual. Players seizing their spots play lights out, the team rallies around the adversity, and coaches ride their other star players more. But eventually, the true talent is revealed, the emotions go full, and fatigue sets in.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Bad coaching and even worse goaltending. If one of those had been average, I think we would have been in a playoff spot or within a couple of points.

I am shocked how decent this team has looked for the last 2 games without Hertl and Couture. Not that I expect them to keep winning but I am just happy with the overall effort on the ice.

I don't expect them to continue to score at that sort of clip but if they could then they could win a lot more consistently. I think it was more bad coaching than bad goaltending. Jones was certainly a problem but so was Dell and Dell turned it around when the defense became more committed. Jones seems to be too far gone at this point with his mechanics being shot but coaching should've been able to identify that long before December.

 

[one2gamble]

I don't expect them to continue to score at that sort of clip but if they could then they could win a lot more consistently. I think it was more bad coaching than bad goaltending. Jones was certainly a problem but so was Dell and Dell turned it around when the defense became more committed. Jones seems to be too far gone at this point with his mechanics being shot but coaching should've been able to identify that long before December.

Dude...the goaltending was borderline nhl record books bad

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Dude...the goaltending was borderline nhl record books bad

Because in large part, the defense was also that bad. If you think it's goaltending then how do you square Aaron Dell being just as bad or worse than Jones yet turning it around when the coaching changed?