SHARKSPAGE

Logan Couture continues strongest San Jose Calder campaign in 10 years, scores twice in 5-2 win over Detroit Red Wings

For the San Jose Sharks, these are interesting times. The latest stretch of three road games, against division leaders in Montreal and Detroit, and in front of one of the most unruly NHL crowds in beer/jersey/ticket tossing Ottawa, were televised nationally in Canada and the U.S. TSN, HNIC/CBC and Versus viewers got a crash course in 2010-11 San Jose Sharks hockey, sometimes with a whithering offense and a balanced defense on display, other times undisciplined, porous and ceding wild momentum swings. All of that was contained in San Jose’s 5-2 win at Detroit on Monday night.

Like last year’s Stanley Cup Playoff run, many casual hockey fans are tuning in to see what Sharks club comes to play on any given night. Approaching the one third mark of the season, San Jose has not put back-to-back wins together since November 15th, and has not put back-to-back wins together on the road since October 23rd. Starting the season with three new forward combinations, two new defensive pairings and two new starting goaltenders neccessitated a period of adjustment, but the defending Western Conference regular season champs are rapidly approaching the point where qualifying for the playoffs for the seventh straight year is not a guaranteed venture.

Monday night at Joe Louis Arena, San Jose did not need any motivation. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg carved up the Sharks for a 5-3 win at HP Pavilion last Tuesday, combining for 7 points and at times they made their opponents look amateurish with defensive lapses. It was the first meeting since San Jose ousted the Red Wings from the 2010 Western Conference Semifinals in 5 games. In the rematch Monday night in Detroit, the first period followed much of the same script. With both teams looking to get the puck deep, it was the Red Wings displaying more urgency. A Brian Rafalski point shot deflected off of Logan Couture, and was pounced on in front of the net by Dan Cleary for two quick scoring chances. An extended Holmstrom-Pavelski battle in front of the net lead to another deflection opportunity.

Detroit was winning battles in front of the net, but when defenseman Derek Joslin took cross checking minor at 7:08, the Red Wings had an opportunity to get on the board with the man advantage. A wide Nicklas Lidstrom point shot was deflected under the arm of Niemi by Tomas Holmstrom for his 8th goal of the season. After a clean faceoff win on the next shift by Valtteri Filppula against Joe Thornton, Filppula curled behind the play gathering steam. Two quick passes broke Filppula through the neutral zone with speed, and a forehand to backhand move on Antti Niemi sent the puck trickling into the net 5-hole. The referee vehemently blew the whistle and waived off the goal, telling the surrounding Wings forwards that he had lost sight of the puck.

With the game in danger of getting out of hand early, San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan called a timeout. “I was very disappointed in our group. The first 10 or 11 minutes, we obviously didn’t understand what we were coming into and how good the red and white team has been playing and how good they are at home,” McLellan told NHL.com.

In a behind the bench interview with Versus rinkside reporter Lindsay Soto, McLellan was more blunt. “I am not very impressed with our start by any means. I don’t think we have many players that are here competing as hard as they have to, as a result we don’t have the puck, we aren’t coming through the neutral zone,” McLellan said. “We asked the players to start over, rethink what they are supposed to do, and see if they can get it going.”

Feel free to point to a behind the bench interview with a more direct, precise explanation of what isn’t working for a head coach. There isn’t one. One problem with former Sharks head coach Ron Wilson, who is currently facing ill-advised calls for his current job in Toronto, was that he waited until too late in the playoffs to call out his players for a lack of effort. McLellan has been doing that with this current Sharks roster since training camp.

The move worked, and it didn’t work. The fourth line of Mayers-Nichol-Mitchell created energy with hits on both sides of the ice, but Derek Joslin took his second penalty of the game with an elbowing call at 14:17. With Detroit exercising their puck possession power play in the Sharks zone, Dany Heatley stepped up to a loose puck and slipped a short pass to Joe Thornton. The quick give-and-go beat Jiri Hudler, and leat Heatley and Thornton alone for a 2-on-1 on defenseman Niklas Kronwall. Heatley got the pass across, as Thornton lifted a one-timer over the outstreched glove of Jimmy Howard. Score tied 1-1.

The momentum shift from the shorthanded goal was shortlived. With Ryane Clowe playing the puck with his head down along the boards, Kronwall stepped up and flattened him before Logan Couture skated by and gave him a shot to the head. Couture was clearly going to be given a penalty, but Clowe nearly goaded an agitated Drew Miller into taking a retailation penalty. The left wing was drafted and played his first two seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, and on Monday night with limited ice time he was one of the more animated forwards for Detroit.

The Red Wings again set up their puck possession power play, this time with Pavel Datsyuk curling behind the play to gather steam. A tic-tack-toe passing sequence from Datsyuk to Rafalski at the point, and then a quick pass and shot by Holmstrom and Franzen gave Detroit a 2-1 lead at 18:35. To add insult to injury, Joe Thornton took a hooking call with 47 seconds left in the first, leaving the dim prospect of another penalty kill to start the second.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Sharks head coach had to verbally dress down his team during the first intermission to get their attention. “I think we were all just pissed off we played like a bunch of blank in the first,” defenseman Dan Boyle told the newspaper. “It’s just a matter of when the puck is on your stick, are you afraid of having it on your stick or do you want it?”

After a shaky play by Niclas Wallin on Todd Bertuzzi, the Sharks settled down in the second period. Niclas Wallin and Jason Demers both returned to the lineup from injury, as San Jose dressed 7 defenseman and 11 forwards. Rotating linemates for Scott Nichol and Jamal Mayers paid off for the Sharks with a goal 4:53 into the period. This time aligned with Dany Heatley, a Niclas Wallin point shot deflected off the stick of Todd Bertuzzi and beat a prone Howard.

Logan Couture and Ryane Clowe combined to win the ensuing faceoff, and Couture danced around a Red Wing and lasered a wrist shot that beat Howard gloveside from 27 feet out. It was a total of 8 seconds between the Sharks second and third goals.

In last year’s Western Conference Semifinal series, the Red Wings played San Jose tight, but there were problems and second guessing for goaltender Jimmy Howard. After initial technical problems were raised, it then became an avalanche as fans and media speculated on what else was wrong. Instead of believing in what got him to that point, Howard tried to change what wasn’t working and it was the beginning of the end. Situations like that can remain in the head of a younger player, and as San Jose has to be concerned with Datsyuk and Zetterberg skating freely in their own zone, the Red Wings have to be concerned that the Sharks can get into Jimmy Howard’s head.

The Sharks may have been mired in last place in the Pacific division, but at one point all that seperated all 5 Pacific division teams was a mere three points. Even against the top team in the Western Conference, San Jose is not just a squad that can respond with a goal, they can respond with two or three. The third goal of the period came as defenseman Douglas Murray stepped up to soft Detroit pass at the blueline. Murray fired a quick breakout pass to Dany Heatley, and Heatley used Thornton as bait on the left wing as he deked the puck nearside for his 13th goal of the season. Score 4-2 Sharks.

This time it was Detroit head coach Mike Babcock calling his team out after a period, noting to Lindsay Soto his side’s “cute-fest” on the ice. A Valtteri Filppula penalty early in third seemed to put the Wings on their heels, and San Jose kept pushing forward. Logan Couture continued to pace NHL rookies with his 12th goal of the season, after a Ryane Clowe hard angle shot deflected off his stick, and then his skate to beat Jimmy Howard. The play went to review, a scarily routine proposition of late for San Jose, but it was ruled good. Fans at Joe Louis Arena then began heading towards the exits in streams at each subsequent stoppage of play.

“It’s a great reward for the players, but it’s really bittersweet because we were motivated for all the wrong reasons,” San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said after the game. “Once we figured it out and started to play, we showed we can play with a really good team right now. We need to do that on a daily basis.”

Two games hardcore and casual fans need to circle on the 2011 calender, February 22nd at Detroit, and March 3rd at San Jose. The professional hockey player cliche that every game is an equal two points in the standings does not apply. There is an opportunity for one side to make a statement and change the way their opponent prepares for a potential playoff rematch. Whether that edge goes to a Detroit Red Wings team looking to make the playoffs for the 20th straight year, or a San Jose Sharks team looking for its 4th straight pennant in the toughest division in the NHL remains to be seen.

[Update] Sharks put the bite on road-weary Red Wings – Detroit Free Press.

[Update2] Talk about your turnaround — Sharks get revenge against Detroit, but coach still unhappy over start – David Pollak’s Working the Corners blog.

[Update3] Ratto: Sharks to show true colors Wednesday – Comcast Sportsnet.

We won’t know for sure whether the Sharks played well Monday night in Detroit until Wednesday in Philadelphia. By then, we’ll know whether they figured it out. Casual fans would swear they did, but they don’t know what the Sharks are just now learning – that for them, it seems to take a kick in the groin to get the heart started.

It was clearly an impressive win. Not only was it a win against the top team in the Western Conference, but it was also a win on the road at a Joe Louis Arena where they had a 5-26-1-3 franchise record prior to Monday night. Earning the 6th franchise win in Detroit during the 20th anniversary season is notable, whether they can overcome occasional bouts of lethargic play and build upon that win in Philadelphia is another story.