Team Adjustments for Monday

The team that wins the series, is the team that makes the best adjustments. Lets leave out the comments about retaliation and what you want to do to Radulov, Hartnell or Trotz, and focus on the play/players where we need adjustments, or the play/players that are positive and need emphasis.

we found a hole in their defense. The two breakaways in OT in game one and the Rissmiller goal were created by splitting a defense that is not overly quick. Rivet's goal and a couple other chances happened today because we exploited that same hole. We just need to finish better. Also, we to block shots better and clear pucks out from in front of the net better.

I think the biggest adjustment is the PP. We have the #2 PP in the League and given a 5 minute major and part of a 5:3, we didn't score, and looked anemic in the process, not moving and not making quick passes. On the other hand, the Preds scored on their 5:3 chance - right at the end, but it was a pretty pass and Nabby had zero chance at the save.

The Preds have an awsome PK. They are blocking shots and taking passing lanes away with sticks and taking the bottom part of the net away. They are also doing a great job of standing up the team on the entry play, making the 5 minute PP look like a game of pong. We have to either get a better dump-in, or work on carrying the puck in a little.

And if we can't make them pay for their over-the-line physical play with a score on a PP, we will be run off the ice.

- If we have any 5-on-3 opportunities on Monday, we need to shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. It was pathetic watching 4 of the most skilled forwards in the entire league pass the puck to each other without shooting. SHOOT THE MOTHER-****ING PUCK!

- We need to establish the powerplay. Just get it set up. Once we do that, we will have no trouble scoring, because no team is going to be able to defend the type of players we can put out there on a powerplay, once they're set up. Nashville does an excellent job of getting sticks in passing lanes and bodies in shooting lanes, we must pull their PKers out of position. It's clear that the Sharks will not be able to skate the puck into the offensive zone on the powerplay, so they MUST adjust, and dump it in to where their own forward can get to it first.

- Most of all, the intensity that the Sharks had during Games 1 and 2 of the Edmonton series last year must be found again. They were at home, in front of a loud crowd, and they hit every white jersey that moved. This team is bigger and tougher than the one last year, and that should be no problem.

- Joe Thornton, that was the worst game I've ever seen you play as a Shark. You were solid in Game 1, but terrible in Game 2. You say, "I'm sure if he wants us to play this way, we can play this way. It's in his hands, and we'll see what happens." Back it up on the ice. If you will ever play to your potential in the playoffs, I would without hesitation call the Sharks the Stanley Cup winners. Find your game.

- I have no doubt that the Sharks will come out flying on Monday. They are at home, where they have thrived in recent years during first and second round play, and the last minute of Game 2 spoke loud words to me. The Sharks never, in the past, would line up and beat the pulp out of everything in sight when they were losing a game. They did that tonight, and it clearly irritated Barry Trotz.

The Sharks need to play bigger than they have. They need to be able to bring the puck into the offensive zone (i.e. stand tall), especially during the power play. They need to finish checks, and have smarter passes to linemates. The D really needs to step it up the most. They seemed totally unaware of what was going on on the ice tonight. Most of all, they must play motivated, and RW must stop changing the ****** lines every shift again. If 3 or 4 guys are playing hard and no one else, what message does it send to change lines? Just send those guys out en masse and stop rolling lines.

We need to capitalize on the power plays that are handed to us. We have a 5 minute power play and we don't convert it, are you kidding me? Shoot the puck! It's obviously known that if you shoot the puck good things will come. Since we're not converting any power plays, the Predators have no problem gooning it up and taking a penalty every once in a while just to get the puck out of their zone.

Intensity, they still look like they are lacking that fire.

I've been impressed with Clowe. He has been very visable physically, defensively, offensively. Cheechoo on the other hand should have taken the night off. He was mostly skating in big circles. If he can't stop quick, he needs to get in the Whirlpool and get his legs back.

Pavelski should be in, and I'd like to see Clowe moved to the first line. Smitty should get a game in as well and Bernier needs a night to heal. We have 14 forwards and that is a good thing because 2 of them are not 100%.

The Sharks extremely disappointed me and probably every other Sharks fan watching tonight. We all know what happened, but at the end the team finally began to finish their checks and play with intensity (what a concept). The Sharks need to find that physical game and use their size and grit to their advantage. This has nothing to do woth getting back at Hartnell or Radulov. It is a fact that the team plays better when the are banging the body. Like others have said, Big Joe needs to play BIG and everyone needs to use their assets to their advantage. It seems simple but by doing this the Sharks will do wonders.

I will be cheering the Sharks on in Section 215 on Monday!
Go Sharks!!!

Put Murray in as the 7th D. Hope Bell will suffer from food poisoning. Rough up their top players. Injure Radulov. Vesa in net. Hipcheck Forsberg, in process break his ribs.

Put Murray in as the 7th D. Hope Bell will suffer from food poisoning. Rough up their top players. Injure Radulov. Vesa in net. Hipcheck Forsberg, in process break his ribs.

What no ":sarcasm:"?

1: FIX THE POWER PLAY!

2: Bring in intensity, finish every check

3: use the size and speed to gain the zone, no more dumping the puck

4: No dumb retaliation crap, and thus players in the sin bin (I'm talking to you Guerin)

5: If Cambell won't suspend anyone, let the gloves drop. First period, opening faceoff, have Bell/Clowe beat the **** out of whoevers next to him in a fight. Tootoo got owned and ran like a scalded dog after Clowe crushed him, this needs to happen at the start of the game, not end.

6: JT & Patty needs to lead by example. Get on the scoresheet and play 100% and not shell up when things get rough

7: take out Cheechoo & Bernier (regardless) add Smith and Davidson/Murray. Sharks play better with 7 D in cituations like this and having Davidson or Murray out there will make players think twice about taking cheapshots. Smith will also add in that sparkplug factor that the team needs and Clowe tried to bring in.

8: Play for 60 minuites dammit!

the first thing that we must do is.....
WIN THE BATTLES.....
then....Finish checks and make them pay physically

I believe that the sharks are a better team and their system will previal...but it wont happen until the sharks get back into the game emotionally...then things will fall into place...
IMVHO...

Smith really needs to be put back into the lineup. He'll get our players amped up.

Bell needs to be sitting.

JT? Guerin? Defense *cough McLaren *coughcough*? HELLOOOOOO??????

Get...Pissed...Off!!

POWERPLAY!!!! Echos of last year are ringing in my head again.

Guess I'm just preaching to the choir.

Another positive thing we need to keep doing - Kariya is normally a Sharks killer. He has been almost invisible this series. Somone is plaing good defense but I havent been watching to see who is normally matched with him, or what the strategy is.

Smith really needs to be put back into the lineup. He'll get our players amped up.

Bell needs to be sitting.

JT? Guerin? Defense *cough McLaren *coughcough*? HELLOOOOOO??????

Get...Pissed...Off!!

POWERPLAY!!!! Echos of last year are ringing in my head again.

Guess I'm just preaching to the choir.

You hit the nail on the head. Have not seen or heard from Guerin all series. Ryane ****ing Clowe, earning $525,000 k is having a far greater impact on the team.

Bell is a lost cause. I am so ****ing tired of him, yet, this whole board thought he would magically reappear during the playoffs. Yeah, ****ing right.

D, as a whole, hasn't been playing well in the two games.

Nabokov, save for the overtimes, have looked average.

Wilson makes no adjustments. With PP struggling, he continues to put Bell on with Guerin and Marleau. ****ing A.

Another positive thing we need to keep doing - Kariya is normally a Sharks killer. He has been almost invisible this series. Somone is plaing good defense but I havent been watching to see who is normally matched with him, or what the strategy is.

If I remember right I saw Pickles taking care of him couple of times today. Not sure if that Wilson's designated d man for Kariya though.

I think we gave up less than 20 shots in this game and the majority of the shots were from bad angles or from the outside. Only two of the goals were from bad defense, the other two because of Nabby

Wilson makes no adjustments. With PP struggling, he continues to put Bell on with Guerin and Marleau. ****ing A.

I agree. Poor Bell and Marleau are carrying Guerin.

Oh, you didn't mean it that way? ;)

Seriously though. Earth to Guerin. You're wanted to play a physical hockey game Monday night in San Jose. Please RSVP.

We need to capitalize on the power plays that are handed to us. We have a 5 minute power play and we don't convert it, are you kidding me? Shoot the puck! It's obviously known that if you shoot the puck good things will come. Since we're not converting any power plays, the Predators have no problem gooning it up and taking a penalty every once in a while just to get the puck out of their zone.

Gotta gain the zone before you can shoot though. Yes, I'd obviously like to see them shoot rather than overpassing... but if there's one part of the PP I'd like to make sure they fix in the next two days... it's zone entry.

Too many times guys will try to carry the blueline against 2 or 3... or even all 4 defenders. Carle, Ehrhoff, Thornton, Marleau... all guilty multiple times. Carle needs to stop thinking about the pass at the last second and trust the dump that works... Ehrhoff needs to realize he isn't fast enough to carry it through everyone... keep it simple... cross corner dump and overload if something isn't available. Pursue with speed. Outnumber. Win along the boards. This isn't exactly hockey masters theory :)

It's been a problem for quite some time though (in fact, at some times it was the only reason why the sharks weren't converting nearly every damn time).

I think we gave up less than 20 shots in this game and the majority of the shots were from bad angles or from the outside. Only two of the goals were from bad defense, the other two because of Nabby

I was watching a different game I guess:


The first goal was a 2:1 with Vlassic not controlling Fiddler against the boards. He swung a pass in front of the crease that Hannan should have controlled, but Hannan tried to play Radulov and Radulov was able to chip it in. Bad defense.
Second goal Nabby got the first stop and pushed it out to the side and behind the net (good play). Marleau was late to react and cover Forsberg who lifted it by Nabby high ... I think he bounced it off him with Nabby hugging the post. It was a good shot and marginal defense but I doubt Marleau thought Forsberg could get a goal from that angle.
Dumont and Nichol came down on a 2:1, Nabby played Dumont (puck carrier) and he beat him high glove side from the dot. Good shot and maybe the only one Nabby could have stopped but it was a rocket in close and Nabby had to be ready for the pass across the crease too. Bad defense on the transition and a pretty hard one to stop in that close.
Preds on a full 2 minute 5:3. They scored with a couple seconds left when Zidlicky got a pass through the box to Dumont. The net was wide open and Nabby had no chance on that. Bad PK/Defense to allow the pass across the box.
Last goal was an EN. Hard to blame that on Nabby. Rivet could have made a better play on his man in the defensive zone, but it was all desperation time by that point.

I agree. Poor Bell and Marleau are carrying Guerin.

Oh, you didn't mean it that way? ;)

Seriously though. Earth to Guerin. You're wanted to play a physical hockey game Monday night in San Jose. Please RSVP.

Gotta wonder if Guerin is still really hurt with the groin pull. Maybe an adjustment is to get him a day off too and bring in Murray, Pavelski, and Smitty and sit Cheech, Guerin, Bernier. Go with 7 defensemen.

Gotta wonder if Guerin is still really hurt with the groin pull.

IMO, gotta hope that's what it is... because if he really is 100% (like he claimed prior to game 1)... well, he needs to step up and we'll leave it at that :)

I was watching a different game I guess:


The first goal was a 2:1 with Vlassic not controlling Fiddler against the boards. He swung a pass in front of the crease that Hannan should have controlled, but Hannan tried to play Radulov and Radulov was able to chip it in. Bad defense.
Second goal Nabby got the first stop and pushed it out to the side and behind the net (good play). Marleau was late to react and cover Forsberg who lifted it by Nabby high ... I think he bounced it off him with Nabby hugging the post. It was a good shot and marginal defense but I doubt Marleau thought Forsberg could get a goal from that angle.
Dumont and Nichol came down on a 2:1, Nabby played Dumont (puck carrier) and he beat him high glove side from the dot. Good shot and maybe the only one Nabby could have stopped but it was a rocket in close and Nabby had to be ready for the pass across the crease too. Bad defense on the transition and a pretty hard one to stop in that close.
Preds on a full 2 minute 5:3. They scored with a couple seconds left when Zidlicky got a pass through the box to Dumont. The net was wide open and Nabby had no chance on that. Bad PK/Defense to allow the pass across the box.
Last goal was an EN. Hard to blame that on Nabby. Rivet could have made a better play on his man in the defensive zone, but it was all desperation time by that point.

I agree with you. I don't blame Nabby for tonight's loss (believe me, there's plenty of blame to throw around). I think you highlighted the problems well. I was definitely frustrated with both Vlasic and Hannan on the first goal of the game, though Fiddler definitely deserves credit for winning the race and winning the puck out in front of the net. Now, once the puck there Hannan can concentrate on the puck or concentrate on the man... either will work there. Tie up/lift the stick or play the puck, but he got caught in the middle and didn't get either done. Maybe he was taking a peek for the puck or whatever, but he didn't look like he knew where the puck was until it was too late.

Nabby flopped out of position on the second goal and Forsberg made a great play to lift Vlasic's stick and then score... that was a stoppable goal if Nabby's not flopping on the initial shot, but still an even better play by Forsberg.

Regarding the third goal... I will never blame Nabby for letting in a goal on a 2-on-1 when he stopped as many other breakaways as he did in game 2. Great shot by Dumont. Rivet played the pass perfectly, but where was the other defenseman? Oh, that's right... it was Marleau on the other point. Sure glad RW went to that after hardly ever using it coming down the stretch.

Even worse, now RW has 2 days to kick around the idea of starting Vesa in game 3 and totally undermining any confidence that Nabby still had leftover from that awesome streak to end the year. The "joys" of having two goaltenders :)

Good point about using 4 forwards on the PP. That was used early in the year very effectively and somehow, not in any game situations coming down the stretch that I can recall.

That being said, there is a day of practice on Sunday. Maybe that will be something that they work on. But personally I'm with the poster who said figuring out how to get in the offensive zone was probably one of the most critical issues. If you cant get in the zone, you can't score.

Too many times one guy is skating in on the PP past the Blue line and getting swallowed up. RW should've fixed this after game one but he didn't. :shakehead

Bell took no penalties and played less than 10 minutes, he didn't even get into a fight (the one decent thing he does) - I don't get why RW insists on dressing him and then end up playing him marginal minutes away. I don't understand it - is it about not wanting to admit that he's been a bust? To try and shake him from a slump that never seems to end? If that's the plan, starting him off as as the second-line LW and then end up giving him less minutes than everyone but Bernier and Rissmiler probably isn't the way to go about i :shakehead

Scratch him and put in Smitty, who I'm sure is just itching to get in there and throw the body around, which is more than can be said for most of this team.

If Parker was still around (:(), I'd totally dump Bell for him and let him do his thing in his usual 4-6 minutes and give the leftover minutes to Clowe or someone. Oh, well.

Bell took no penalties and played less than 10 minutes, he didn't even get into a fight (the one decent thing he does) - I don't get why RW insists on dressing him and then end up playing him marginal minutes away. I don't understand it - is it about not wanting to admit that he's been a bust? To try and shake him from a slump that never seems to end? If that's the plan, starting him off as as the second-line LW and then end up giving him less minutes than everyone but Bernier and Rissmiler probably isn't the way to go about i :shakehead

Scratch him and put in Smitty, who I'm sure is just itching to get in there and throw the body around, which is more than can be said for most of this team.

If Parker was still around (:(), I'd totally dump Bell for him and let him do his thing in his usual 4-6 minutes and give the leftover minutes to Clowe or someone. Oh, well.


I would love to have Bell removed and put in Smitty and Pavelski. I can totally see Pavelski helping on the PP and he is one of the few Sharks who can create with the puck. Smitty brings energy and lots of it.

As far as D. Wilson has mentioned, I agree you about shooting that freaking puck. Put it on net, make something happen, use your size to bang bodies around and hover Vokoun. The man isn't Luongo, screen him and he's one and done on our scoring chances. Not to mention, the more they lay out the Nash players, the more and more these guys will get bruised. They are small and they aren't deep. This is anonymous to throwing body punches in boxing: keep hitting them and hitting them and they will fall.

Sharks in 6!

JT? Guerin? Defense *cough McLaren *coughcough*? HELLOOOOOO??????

Get...Pissed...Off!!

McLaren rarely gets pissed, no matter what happens, that's his problem. I don't expect big intensity level from McLaren, ever. But I do expect it from Joe and Billy. Bill has been talking the talk though, I luv dat.

Bill has been talking the talk though, I luv dat.

Too bad he hasn't done a thing to back it up.

Too bad he hasn't done a thing to back it up.
That's kinda true sir. I expected him to hit somebody last night. At least he has played some mind playin tricks with the guys..... But I gotta say that this is not the Guerin, DW/RW wanted to see in the playoffs. He gots to step up and do things, you're right man.

Too bad he hasn't done a thing to back it up.

well the problem is that he got thrown in the box for talking it up :biglaugh:

In terms of gaining the zone on PP, look at the Preds. They use a little three person play that is practiced and fairly effective. I don't want to see any more 1 on 4's. If the Preds own play doesn't work, use the cross ice dump, please.

Skip the retaliation, just win the games. Check hard but play hockey first.

Skip the retaliation, just win the games. Check hard but play hockey first.

They did neither in Game 2 with a few notable exceptions and IMO they have to do both to win this series and survive the playoff wars.

Aside from there needing to be an instantaneous and brutal response any and every time a Nashville player intentionally injures a shark, the Sharks need to concentrate on playing better hockey.

Their transition game has been terrible. Whenever the Sharks turn over the puck to a predator, two predators without the puck turn on the jets up ice. The same thing isn't happening when the Sharks get the puck. On one of the penalty kills last night, late in the game with the Sharks trailing by 2, JT intercepted a pass with time and room. None of his penalty-killing colleagues reacted to the turnover. Michalek should have been on the jets as soon as JT knocked down the pass, but he didn't budge. (This was with JT and Michalek killing because, obviously, offense was desperately needed. You have to be going for a shorty in that situation.)

Too many times one guy is skating in on the PP past the Blue line and getting swallowed up. RW should've fixed this after game one but he didn't. :shakehead

This drove me nuts last night with Carle and Ehrhoff continuing to do it over and over again.

1) All predator hits must receive an immediate and direct reciprocation. Doesn't need to be dirty, but there is no excuse to get out-checked by Nashville.

2) Less ice time for Carle. I'm almost open to the idea of Murray as a 7th d for 5on5 time, but not quite yet.

3) As others have said, split the D. They're not catching that.

4) For the love of god, practice the 5-on-3 this weekend.

5) Drop Bell to the 4th line. The only time I notice the guy on the ice is when a puck his near him and 3 preds beat him to it.. when he had position.

6) Clowe dial it back. I like the physicality, but one guy can't do it for the whole team. Make sure Clowe doesn't get unnecessary penalties, but keeps throwing checks.

7) Create a search party to find McLaren's hip-check.

Thornton, Marleau, Bell, and Guerin need to show up. Bell has been such a waste of space all year long, time to play hard or get out. Guerin needs to play like the premier powereforward that he once was.

2) Less ice time for Carle. I'm almost open to the idea of Murray as a 7th d for 5on5 time, but not quite yet.

What's he done wrong this time? He's playing much more physical and he's only been on the ice for one nashville goal against in the series.

Has he been the most physical or most solid? Certainly not, but there's no reason to further limit his ice time to play a slug like Murray who couldn't even catch up to try to make a hit.

Looks like Cheechoo will play based on Wilson's comments"

Wilson lamented having played Cheechoo in Game 2 ("His knee was stiff, and he was maybe at 60 percent. If I knew before the game what I knew after it, I wouldn't have played him"), but said Cheechoo will play again Monday.

That probably means:
Michalek-Thornton-Cheechoo
Bell-Marleau-Grier

Then what? Smitty or Pavelski? Move Pavelski to center Bells line and drop Bell, or move Smitty into Berniers slot?

.....and BTW ..... anyone seen Kyle McLaren this series? You know, the guy who punishes wings entering the zone?

forecheck. The sharks are the only team that always lets the other team get to at least the redline untouched. Then the sharks expect teams to give them the same liberty, but it never happens so we see 60 minutes of horrible passing and never getting established in the offensive zone.

I tend to agree with the majority of these comments. Sharks don't need to be bigger they need to be better and more skilled. Bell is not contributing anything. Pavelski needs to play. Smith needs to play. I would take out Bell (and Bernier).

I tend to agree with the majority of these comments. Sharks don't need to be bigger they need to be better and more skilled. Bell is not contributing anything. Pavelski needs to play. Smith needs to play. I would take out Bell (and Bernier).

Agreed, Bell and Bernie out, JoePa and Smith in.

Stack the top two lines with the guys who are playing well at the moment. The old checking line (Ris-Brown-Grier) has been a disappointment so far this series with their inability to clear the puck in defensive situations- we need a third line who can match up defensively against the Preds top lines (possibly by adding more speed). Drop Cheech to reduce his ice time and possibly double shift Joe and Marleau and maybe move Cheech up throughout the game. The initial lines could look something like this:

Michalek-Thornton-Guerin
Marleau-Pavelski-Clowe
Smith-Goc-Grier
Rismiller-Brown-Cheechoo (60%?)

Scratches:
Bernier (noggin)
Bell (can't skate)

Sharks might have needed the loose to seriously look at the weak spots In their armor... like lack of leadership when they are being punished....

if they can address the issues they can seriously come back and have a high scoring game.

why isn't there more 'fire in the belly' of players on this team?

it's frustrating when you know the team can do so much more.

why isn't there more 'fire in the belly' of players on this team? it's frustrating when you know the team can do so much more.

Its been a year-long problem, highlighted by an 8-0 shellacking by Phoenix where they were manhandled and NOBODY responded. Its a paradox to have youth and size, and yet have the team decide to play a perimeter game with pretty passes and stick handling into the offensive zone instead.

The skill is there to play that game, and we can easily play that way against the weaker teams in the League as we did in the last two weeks leading up to the P/O's. But for the Sharks to be effective against the best teams in the League, they have to get two into the offensive zone on the forecheck, and go to the body on the boards to pry pucks lose. That happened in the last 3 games leading up to this series, and the first period of the first game.

With the home ice and last change, we should get the better match-ups and be able to play more of that game on our own ice. If we can get some hits on the Preds trying to exit the zone, we'll get the turnovers we need to get some odd-man rushes 5:5.

My fear is the League is going to call the game extremely tightly, and we are going to see lots of PP/PK. So far, that is where the Preds have won the series.

http://www.sjsharks.com/news/news.asp?story_id=3402

Seems his head is clear - at least, he has some recollection. Would have been worse news if he didn't remember a thing (i.e., concussion). Also, looks like Bell is odd man out. Lil Joe to get his chance.

I think game two was just a bad night all around with the puck. They rarely made a good tape-to-tape pass and the puck was jumping around all night. Just getting one or two good passes off is all they need to do. Everything else with the Sharks offense comes after that.

In terms of the 5-on-3 stuff, their problems were still the same as it was with the regular power play and it was just getting set. Part of that starts with the breakout and the passing, or lack thereof, being the issue.

Crisper passes will fix the power play and the crisper it gets, the quicker it becomes, and the easier the chances will come.

I still don't believe the BS that some people say after every single loss the Sharks have about their 'fire'. The fire is there. There's more to winning hockey games than fire. The biggest thing is being clutch and not letting the opposition off easy. Last season, they let teams off easy but this playoff, they are not. Sure, Nashville won and you can't expect San Jose to win 16 straight so when you lose, you have to make it as hard as you can and they did.

I think game two was just a bad night all around with the puck. They rarely made a good tape-to-tape pass and the puck was jumping around all night. Just getting one or two good passes off is all they need to do. Everything else with the Sharks offense comes after that.

In terms of the 5-on-3 stuff, their problems were still the same as it was with the regular power play and it was just getting set. Part of that starts with the breakout and the passing, or lack thereof, being the issue.

Crisper passes will fix the power play and the crisper it gets, the quicker it becomes, and the easier the chances will come.

I still don't believe the BS that some people say after every single loss the Sharks have about their 'fire'. The fire is there. There's more to winning hockey games than fire. The biggest thing is being clutch and not letting the opposition off easy. Last season, they let teams off easy but this playoff, they are not. Sure, Nashville won and you can't expect San Jose to win 16 straight so when you lose, you have to make it as hard as you can and they did.

I say they lost their fire in the 2nd game. The only player that seemed to give a damm was Clowe. There were others, but he was the only one that really showed it. If all the players put as much passion into the game as Clowe did, the score woulda been 8-5 Sharks

I say they lost their fire in the 2nd game. The only player that seemed to give a damm was Clowe. There were others, but he was the only one that really showed it. If all the players put as much passion into the game as Clowe did, the score woulda been 8-5 Sharks

I think some of the blame needs to be on Cheech. He should have sat game two and let the healthy players respond to his absence. Instead Cheech plays and I think that Joe and others were distracted because of it.

During the game Joe was interviewed and asked about Cheech and by his comments Joe sounded like he didn't agree with Cheech's decision about playing.

I believe the Sharks haven't played their A game yet or even their B game. We won one out of the two games in Nashville playing our C game.

If the Sharks play to their potential (I'm look directly at you Joe Thornton) the Sharks should take charge of the series starting with a big game on Monday.

I say they lost their fire in the 2nd game. The only player that seemed to give a damm was Clowe. There were others, but he was the only one that really showed it. If all the players put as much passion into the game as Clowe did, the score woulda been 8-5 Sharks

Call it what you want - jump, fire, intensity - the Sharks had it in the first period and a half in NAS in game 1 then stopped pressing the play and allowed NAS to get back in the game. I think that carried over into game 2 as the Preds were the more physical team and carried the play, and never let up.

So fire, passion, jump, intensity - what ever you want to call it, the Sharks need to play with it like they did in the first period and a half in the first game of the series. I think they will come out hitting. I hope the come out with a good forecheck again, knocking some pucks lose. Pavelski will help there.

Call it what you want - jump, fire, intensity - the Sharks had it in the first period and a half in NAS in game 1 then stopped pressing the play and allowed NAS to get back in the game. I think that carried over into game 2 as the Preds were the more physical team and carried the play, and never let up.

So fire, passion, jump, intensity - what ever you want to call it, the Sharks need to play with it like they did in the first period and a half in the first game of the series. I think they will come out hitting. I hope the come out with a good forecheck again, knocking some pucks lose. Pavelski will help there.

I think it was the Bernier hit that took the wind out of our sails. Once he went down it was like we lost our composure. We'll be fine in game 3 as long as we play with a lead. Drive the puck deep into corners, forecheck and get a cycle going down low. We'll force Nashville's dmen to take penalties if we do that and if we try to force the break away pass we can beat their defense which has looked slow footed in the neutral zone this series so far.

My keys that most likely won't be fulfilled:

1) Play a more quality physical tone. The Sharks outhit Nashville on Friday, but the timing and severity of Nashville's play was the thing that turned the game around. Dirty or not, the hit on Bernier changed the game in Nashville's favor. There's no need to go head hunting tomorrow night, but play a playoff game. Play a game that finishes every check possible. Take people out of the play, make them hesitate to skate near you again. Take advantage of the size difference. Kariya's barely been touched this series. He should be the #1 target to hit. Setting an early and consistently strong physical tone should not only get the team going, but get the crowd into the game more as well.

2)Don't play scared. Radulov is out, take advantage of it. He has been the sparkplug for Nashville and now he's gone. Make Forsberg invisible out there. Intimidate Kariya physically and their offense suddenly becomes miniscule and frightened.

3)Attack the defense. Don't be cute and try and play a slow game. Use the speed and put pressure on their defense. They have a solid defensive core, but their one weakness could be a little inexperience in guys like Suter and Weber. Attack them and play a power game.

4)Thornton needs to step up his game. When the Sharks are playing poorly, it's no coincidence that Thornton becomes invisible out there. When the Sharks are playing a good game, he does something noticeable every shift. He can't take the chance that the Sharks will come out flat. He needs to dictate the play early on the establish exactly how the game is going to be played. He's trying to create too much for his teammates and is forcing too much. Get speed through the neutral zone and drive the puck to the net with a desire. When he gets going with a purpose, he can blow by people. Do it. If anything, it establishes what the game is going to be like.

I'm going to the game tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be loud.

My keys that most likely won't be fulfilled:

1) Play a more quality physical tone. The Sharks outhit Nashville on Friday, but the timing and severity of Nashville's play was the thing that turned the game around. Dirty or not, the hit on Bernier changed the game in Nashville's favor. There's no need to go head hunting tomorrow night, but play a playoff game. Play a game that finishes every check possible. Take people out of the play, make them hesitate to skate near you again. Take advantage of the size difference. Kariya's barely been touched this series. He should be the #1 target to hit. Setting an early and consistently strong physical tone should not only get the team going, but get the crowd into the game more as well.

2)Don't play scared. Radulov is out, take advantage of it. He has been the sparkplug for Nashville and now he's gone. Make Forsberg invisible out there. Intimidate Kariya physically and their offense suddenly becomes miniscule and frightened.

3)Attack the defense. Don't be cute and try and play a slow game. Use the speed and put pressure on their defense. They have a solid defensive core, but their one weakness could be a little inexperience in guys like Suter and Weber. Attack them and play a power game.

4)Thornton needs to step up his game. When the Sharks are playing poorly, it's no coincidence that Thornton becomes invisible out there. When the Sharks are playing a good game, he does something noticeable every shift. He can't take the chance that the Sharks will come out flat. He needs to dictate the play early on the establish exactly how the game is going to be played. He's trying to create too much for his teammates and is forcing too much. Get speed through the neutral zone and drive the puck to the net with a desire. When he gets going with a purpose, he can blow by people. Do it. If anything, it establishes what the game is going to be like.

I'm going to the game tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be loud.

Dont sound so positive next time......:sarcasm:

you have some good points and i believe that there will be a momentum shift in this series..starting tommorow and some of your points will be used....

My keys that most likely won't be fulfilled:

1) Play a more quality physical tone. The Sharks outhit Nashville on Friday, but the timing and severity of Nashville's play was the thing that turned the game around. Dirty or not, the hit on Bernier changed the game in Nashville's favor. There's no need to go head hunting tomorrow night, but play a playoff game. Play a game that finishes every check possible. Take people out of the play, make them hesitate to skate near you again. Take advantage of the size difference. Kariya's barely been touched this series. He should be the #1 target to hit. Setting an early and consistently strong physical tone should not only get the team going, but get the crowd into the game more as well.

2)Don't play scared. Radulov is out, take advantage of it. He has been the sparkplug for Nashville and now he's gone. Make Forsberg invisible out there. Intimidate Kariya physically and their offense suddenly becomes miniscule and frightened.

3)Attack the defense. Don't be cute and try and play a slow game. Use the speed and put pressure on their defense. They have a solid defensive core, but their one weakness could be a little inexperience in guys like Suter and Weber. Attack them and play a power game.

4)Thornton needs to step up his game. When the Sharks are playing poorly, it's no coincidence that Thornton becomes invisible out there. When the Sharks are playing a good game, he does something noticeable every shift. He can't take the chance that the Sharks will come out flat. He needs to dictate the play early on the establish exactly how the game is going to be played. He's trying to create too much for his teammates and is forcing too much. Get speed through the neutral zone and drive the puck to the net with a desire. When he gets going with a purpose, he can blow by people. Do it. If anything, it establishes what the game is going to be like.

I'm going to the game tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be loud.

Great post, I'm thinking the same things plus...

hopefully RW will take advantage of the last line change to create favorable matchups on both ends.

Line changes from what I've read. Pavelski in, Bell out. Cheech in, Bernier GT decision, but probably in. Clowe is moving up to the second line. Don't know about lines 3-4. Pavelski has not been as good at wing, but Goc can play a wing. I think both Pavelski and Goc are both more comfortable at RW though. Bernier and Grier are RW's. Riss can play either wing If Smitty plays instead of Bernier, we have 3 centers on one line.

Michalek-Thornton-Cheechoo
Clowe-Marleau-Guerin
????
Goc-Pavelski-Bernier/Smith
Rissmiller-Brown-Grier

It would not surprise me to see Pavelski play some on Marleau's line with Patty sliding to LW, and Goc centering Clowe on his left. Depending on how Cheech is skating, Wilson may move Cheechoo down to a line Centered by Pavelski with Bernier/Smith, and move Clowe up to the top line again. There are lots of combinations that might makes sense, depending on health.

I am going to be interested to see how the Preds adjust to Lil'Joes creativity. I suspect they may not give him the respect he deserves given his rookie status.

Three things:
Preds put intense pressure on the puck and forced a lot of bad passes and turnovers. They didn't give the sharks time. The Sharks need to spread it out a bit and make them run around more. Conversely, the Sharks might try a little more puck pressure.

In analyzing the Wings drubbing of Calgary again today, Brett Hull made an interesting observation: that the Flames haven't been able to play an overly physical game because the wings are moving the puck so well and so quickly. You can't hit a guy if he doesn't have the puck. Calgary took lots of undisciplined penalties trying to 'play physical'. Sharks could learn from that. Wings outshot the Flames 51-15 by the way.

Randy Hahn has been talking about the Sharks 2nd ranked power play, but it's been fairly cold the second half. The problem last game was they were not getting any movement. When denied entry to the zone they just turned it over. When they did get set up, they passed around the perimeter to stationary teamates. They need to have guys in CONSTANT movement in and out of scoring position to keep the PK from foiling them.

Three things:
Preds put intense pressure on the puck and forced a lot of bad passes and turnovers. They didn't give the sharks time. The Sharks need to spread it out a bit and make them run around more. Conversely, the Sharks might try a little more puck pressure.
I think this has been the key difference in this series since the midpoint of Game 1. The Predators figured out that if they get the puck deep and use their speed to apply pressure...the Sharks are turning it over and the Predators are getting a lot of their scoring chances off of this at even-stength.

Conversely, the Sharks are having their success when they are able to either carry the puck across the blueline or when they are able to outmuscle the Predators wingers/defensemen as they attempt to breakout.

The Sharks definitely need to do a better job of getting to the puck quicker and moving it more efficiently out of their zone. The Predators need to stay out of the penalty box (eventually the SJ PP is going to come to life again) and continue to get pucks deep and get after them.

Looking forward to tonight!

Wilsons comments no surprise as many pointed this out:

The Sharks went 1-for-7 on the power play in Game 1 (they also scored a goal three seconds after a power play expired) and went 5-for-5 on the kill for a 5-4 win. In Game 2, San Jose went 0-for-5 on the power play, allowed a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal to the Predators, and lost 5-2.


"What we have to fix is simple, our power play," Wilson said. "Our power play is always going to be our toughest player if it works."

Wilson also plans to give one of the two power-play units a different look by adding Joe Pavelski as the rookie center figures to make his playoff debut tonight.

"He can add a little bit more offense, more punch up front and he can help our power play," Wilson said. "He's a right-hander who can help on face-offs as well. He shows a hell of a lot of poise. Nothing seems to faze him."

I believe the Sharks haven't played their A game yet or even their B game. We won one out of the two games in Nashville playing our C game.

If the Sharks play to their potential (I'm look directly at you Joe Thornton) the Sharks should take charge of the series starting with a big game on Monday.

Exactly. The guys doing the talking are the guys who should be and they are saying the right things. Unfortunatley they are the ones not practicing what they preach.

Preds adjustments from the Tennessean:

PREDS KEYS TO VICTORY
1. STAY OUT OF THE BOX. The Predators tempted fate in Game 2, as they gave the Sharks five power-play opportunities in the first two periods without surrendering a score. Give the Sharks enough chances and they will start clicking on the power play.
2. PICK UP THE SLACK. Rookie forward Alexander Radulov is tied for the team lead with four points in the first two playoff games. He's out with a suspension tonight, so teammates will have to supply the same spirit and scoring punch he was providing.
3. IMPROVE FACE-OFF WORK. The Predators were dominated in the face-off circle in Game 2 on Friday, losing 41 of 59 draws. Centers Jason Arnott and David Legwand have to do a better job of helping Nashville gain possession of the puck.
4. WIN THE THIRD AGAIN. The Predators have been the better team in the third period of games 1 and 2, rallying to tie San Jose in the opener and maintaining a comfortable lead Friday. That confidence could prove handy if things go down to the wire tonight.




It is true the Sharks have been strong on face-offs. That is one thing to continue doing well.