With the season having a little over a week left in regular play, it’s the perfect time for the San Jose Sharks to start getting some of their injured players back out on the ice.  Those names we love to see are back on the roster, Blake, Cheechoo, Goc, Plihal and Roenick.  Captain Patrick Marleau has been back on the ice but will not be playing for at least the next couple of games and there has been talk of the return of Mike Grier in the not too distant future.  The Sharks are getting healthy at just about the right time.

 Saturday night the San Jose Sharks took on the rival Anaheim Ducks at HP Pavilion which always seems to draw a lot of confrontation but that did not even happen.  The first ten minutes saw the Ducks control the game taking the lead 2-0 with goals by #9 Bobby Ryan and #10 Corey Perry.  It was not until 9:35 in the first period that San Jose was able to break through on a goal by #19 Joe Thornton (25^th goal of the season) assisted by #22 Dan Boyle (39^th assist).  At the end of the first period Anaheim led 2-1.

 The second period saw San Jose pick up the pace tying the game at 4:07 on a goal by #9 Milan Mihalek (23^rd goal of the season).  He was assisted by #10 Christian Ehrhoff and ##20 Evgeni Nabokov (1^st assist).  Although it looked as if the Sharks had gotten back into the game, they were unable to sustain very much throughout the second and third periods. The Ducks then started to pile it on scoring a couple of goals to finish the period leading 4-2.  #13 Mike Brown and #8 Teemu Selanne both scored goals to give their team a comfortable lead as the period ended. 

At 13:14 in the third period, #9 Bobby Ryan scored on the power play his second goal of the game giving the Ducks a 5-2 lead.  He was assisted by #15 Ryan Getzlaf and #26 Erik Christensen.  That about did it for the Sharks in a lackluster performance.  With three minutes left in the game, San Jose went on the power play but it was just too little too late.  Having multiple scoring opportunities, the Sharks could not get one past Duck goalie Jonas Hiller and teammates.

 Anaheim’s right wing Teemu Selanne explained his team’s approach to this game.  “The focus is just to play 60 minutes at your own level and good things happen,” he said.  That certainly proved true of tonight’s game.  “I wouldn’t focus too much about the teams we play against,” Selanne went on to say.

“As a group we’re probably more confident, especially after you get a streak going like we’ve been on,” said right wind Rob Niedermayer of the team’s 9-2 surge coming into this game. They now go on to make it a 10-2 streak.  “It gets everyone sort of feeling good.  And everyone has been contributing-that’s the thing.”

 Tomorrow night the two teams will clash once again down in Anaheim where the Sharks will attempt to bounce back as the countdown to the playoffs continues.

Contact: Bay Area Sports Drive (BASD)

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