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GDT: Canes @ Sharks 10/16 10:30

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
Another episode of #CanesAfterDark

After a 2-0 win against the Kings, the Canes head north. Brind’Amour managed to spread out the minutes pretty well last night, even in a tight game. The 4th line got a couple of extra shifts and Slavin and Hamilton were the only players over 20 minutes. Expect Reimer in goal tonight.

The Sharks started the season 0-4 and then signed Patrick Marleau. Since then, they’ve won 2 straight, beating the Blackhawks and Flames and Marleau has 2 goals, tied for the team lead. They’re not scoring well, averaging 2.17 goals per game, tied for 28th and not defending that well either, allowing 3.67 goals per game, tied for 23rd. Their power play is bottom 10 at 13.6% but their PK is stout, 6th in the league at 90%. The $11 million man, Erik Karlsson has 3 assists and is -5. Marc-Edouard Vlasic is -8 and Kevin Labanc is -9 with no goals scored. Dell and Jones haven’t been great in goal, with save % below .890.
 
Yeah ... key words "beating the Blackhawks and Flames." Chicago sucks and Calgary is in one of the those Bill Peters induced existential vortexes early on this season. You know, the kind where he berates the goalie at length for going for a shot on net, despite the fact that they won the game. God, I miss him so. San Jose started rough and have more issues than can be addressed by simply adding one old man. Their offense has gone a bit unhinged and they're realizing just how important Pavelski was as a glue guy in all phases. Their power play could wake up at any minute, as befits a team with Burns and Karlsson, but that's maybe one of the 2 or 3 worst goalie tandems in the league and certainly the worst among teams that fancy themselves contenders. And while their D is really good going up the ice in attack, they aren't quite as good skating backwards ... which is a problem.

Bottom line ... get off to a good start, stay out of the box and this game is there for the plundering.
 
jeffbear said:
Calgary is in one of the those Bill Peters induced existential vortexes early on this season. You know, the kind where he berates the goalie at length for going for a shot on net, despite the fact that they won the game. God, I miss him so.
Click to expand...
There is no way I can possibly top this comment, so I won't even try.
 
It all comes crashing to a halt again tonight, our blessed Canes will push, pant and probe... to some success =D Canes 4 Sharks 2.
 
Honestly, I'd hate to predict this one. San Jose seems to feeling better about themselves after a couple of wins but they still have the same structural flaws that were on full display in the four game losing streak. Carolina should be built to take advantage of those weaknesses but San Jose is a tough out at home. Too close to call for me.
 
The second game of a back-to-back, both on the road, against a rested team (played three days ago, once in the last five), and we're three time zones away from home after only two days of acclimation. I'm not going to hold my breath on this one. If the guys can pull it off it will say more about their fortitude than anything else.
 
Tonight’s officials:

Referees:
Brad Meier #34, Jake Brenk #26

linesmen:
Kiel Murchison #79, Bevan Mills, #53

We had Brenk last night. Canes were 3-0 with Meier last year, the Sharks 3-2 with both him and Brenk. Murchison returns to a Sharks game after being the guy that Evander Kane “pushed” to get his 3 game suspension.
 
Here's a fun advanced stat from corsicahockey analytics. Dougie's 5-on-5 xG For % is 59.66, which ranks him 74th in the league (players with at least 50 minutes TOI). However, he's only 13th on the Canes. All top 9 forwards were higher (Brock was last of that group at 67). Slavin and Fleury were not in the top 100 of the league.
 
Outshooting outplaying, but all these d breakdowns, poor coverage etc. and then handing the momentum to them with those stupid penalties.
 
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