What is up with the Sharks?

I’m watching the Sharks season Home Ice opener, and they are down 1-0. Have been since the 1st period, then with a great assist from Joe Thornton to Michalek tied the game with thirty four seconds left. Then, with about eleven seconds left on the clock, ex Shark Marcos Sturm scored the game winner for Boston, after the puck bounced off of a referee.

This is a game the Sharks should have won. After the first period they dominated the game. They won at least seventeen more face-offs than the Bruins, and out-shot them by an insane number, at one point the Sharks had twenty four shots on goal after the first period, compared to Boston’s three; and Boston had no shots during the second period.

The story of this game, without a doubt was Tim Thomas, Boston’s goaltender. The man was solid tonight, swallowing up shots like they were nothing, all the while allowing very few rebounds. The Sharks should have won this game, but Boston deserved to win because they played hard, and just got the better luck tonight because really, it could have gone either way.

The only thing the Sharks could have done better this game (aside from winning) would have been to score on the power play. They did not allow any power play goals, but they had at least three power play advantages and they could not get the puck in the net, and for the most part it was due to lack of trying. The Shark’s power play can be great, but they tend to move the puck around too much. They wait for the perfect shot to open up rather than firing away, creating chaos on the ice, and coming up with a sloppy goal. It is still early in the season, but this is something that they need to work on to be the best competitors in the league.