Sharks uphill battle to make the playoffs

Over the past four years the Sharks have not had to worry to much about their performance in the final month of the season.  They have won the Pacific division four consecutive years and it looks like that streak is in danger this year.  They sit in fourth place in the pacific division (75 points) six points behind the leading Dallas Stars (with 81 points).  The good news is that the Sharks have two games in hand on every team in their division and they are also only one point behind a numbers of teams for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.  The bad news is the Sharks can't buy a win.  They let one slip away in Dallas last week and followed it up with a stinker in Phoenix.  The Sharks haven't won a game in five straight and are 2-6-2 in their last 10.  This team has what it takes to be a contender in the West but they need to do a number of things better to even have a chance for a cup run.  For starts they need to put more quality shots on net.  The Sharks are one of the top teams, if not the top teams in shots per game in the league.  If you follow the Sharks, you would notice that a lot of the time these shots are useless and aren't real scoring chances so this stat is a little misleading.  Another thing they need to do is get "their game" working right away in the 1st period.  Just like in most sports, if you can force the other team to play at your pace and you control the tempo of the game, you are going to have an edge in winning each game.  If they can focus on working on these types of things, their talent will do the rest of the work and hopefully spark this team for a late season run going into the playoffs.  Let's hope they can get this ship turned around in time for an exciting run.  Jumbo and company get it started tonight way up north in Edmonton, Alberta.

They better dig it ooout of the corners and run their cycles well because that team is fast and will make you pay for not moving your feet.

I say the Sharks take this one after falling to the Oilers in a shootout down at the tank last week. #SJSHARKS #NHLplayoffs

Cheers,

Mr. A