SB Nation - Scott Nichol

Marty Turco and Dallas Stars Drop Sharks in Shootout, 3-2

Brandon Worley — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:32:54 -0000

Of all the players on the Dallas Stars that have taken the ice this season, none have received the amount of criticism as Matt Niskanen. The young defenseman that had shown so much promise two years ago, and lately he's struggled perhaps more that any other player on the team. Yet tonight, he emerged as the unlikely hero for the Stars in the 11th round of the shootout when he lifted a hard wrist shot over Evgeni Nabokov's glove.

The game started off shaky for the Stars as they attempted to match the Sharks physically and energy wise, and opened up the scoring with a nifty tip-in by Mike Ribeiro late in a power play. Yet the Stars found themselves down 2-1 after the first period as they allowed the Sharks to establish their forecheck, and allowed yet another seemingly soft goal. It was an emotional and penalty-filled first period and for a time it seemed as if the Stars were more focused on agitation and physicality than actual execution.

Yet led by a masterful performance by Brenden Morrow and Steve Ott, the Stars mounted an inspired comeback starting in the second period. Dallas outshot the Sharks 29-18 in the second and third periods and dictated play for a large chuck of time in the second half of the game. With Marc Crawford leaning heavily on his top three lines, the Stars were able to sustain pressure keep the Sharks away from their strength: their offensive firepower. Nabokov was masterful throughout the game, challenging the shooters and rarely allowing a rebound opportunity.

Eventually it was the Stars' aggression around the net that was the difference in this game. This was a theme through the game as the Stars had attempted to create as much havoc in front of Nabokov as possible, and had led to several scrums and a number of penalties for both sides. Midway through the third, as Brad Richards skated the puck out from behind the net, James Neal established position in front of the crease. Scott Nichol and Nabokov was more worried about Neal than the puck, and all three crashed to the ice as Richards' shot found the back of the net. Fittingly, the only way the Stars could score was to basically knock the goaltender out of the way.

Yet it was Marty Turco who stole the show in the final ten minutes of regulation, in overtime and then finally in the shootout. With the Sharks mounting a counterattack with the game tied Marty came up huge for the Stars, making 16 saves with the game on the line, including several tremendous stops on the penalty kill late in the game. He also made the save of the season when he stopped a rebound opportunity by reaching behind his back with his glove to snag a shot out of the air.

The shootout was a combination of incredible goaltending and questionable scoring skills; both teams combined for just three goals in 22 opportunities. Turco used the poke check to perfection while Nabokov was confident and forcing shooters to make moves with the puck. It was frustrating to see the Stars come up empty time and time again, but Turco was tremendous as he gave his team a chance at the win. Eventually, Niskanen was able to score when he snapped a big shot over the goalie's glove.

It was a big win for a Stars team that was reeling from two painful losses in the past week, and they'll get a chance to carry over the strong play tonight against Los Angeles.

Off the Post - December 7th

Conico do Mayo Miracle — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:37:44 -0000

1941 - Never forget. And don't forget what happened on Dec. 8th, 1980, while you're at it.
[NEW UPDATE] - Manny Malhotra will be signing autographs for free at the Sharks Store, Tuesday Dec. 15th, from 4:30 - 6pm. Be sure to slip a few greenbacks in the change jar - homeboy's only pulling in 6 figures.
[UPDATE] - McGinn and Vesce get reassigned... place yer bets on whether or not they'll be back by Wednesday.
TCY examines Patrick Marleau's potential price tag after this season, while Ivano27 investigates what Igor Larionov (and his hottie daughter) has been up to lately.
Devin Setoguchi answers questions from the masses, including the perrenial "Whose kitchen are you raiding this season?"
Dany Heatley, Dan Boyle, and Patrick Marleau (plus a 4th Shark TBD) will be signing autographs for a cool $169 per 2 persons @ Dave & Buster's, on January 31st. Reservations required.
A look at former Sharks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff as an Olympic hopeful.
Is Peter Laviolette the right replacement for John Stevens in Philadelphia?
The city of Edmonton begins preparations for the end of Rexall Place.
Size does matter for Gary Bettman - and he likes 'em small and boisterous.
For those that missed the Habs' 100th anniversary celebration, please consult Habs Eyes on the Prize (recommended).
Die by the Blade believes Andrej Sekera is the Sabres' Dan Boyle.
Signs your teammate is trying to kill you (big chuckle on the first one, huge groan on the last one).
Kris Versteeg gets an eyeful.

Scott Reynolds at Copper & Blue has been producing tweaked Bible verses for game day, and his latest for the Oilers victory over the Stars is a gem.
Speaking of the Stars (whom we play on Friday), Defending Big D examines the current state of the Dallas fanbase.
Buddha at Hockey Wilderness, on "He Who Shall No Longer Be Mentioned" (and no, it's not Gaborik).
With Cam Ward returning, the Canes have a goaltending decision to make.
Behind the Net debunks the argument that goalies need to see action in order to stop shots.
St. Louis Game Time has utterly corrupted Bart Simpson.
Hockey bigamy, as Vince Vaughn (a Blackhawks / J.R. fan) invades the Phoenix locker room.
On the off chance you haven't seen it in detail, Miikka Kiprusoff's save on Scott Nichol is (tragic? heart-breaking? nauseating?) destined for highlight reels for years to come.

The NHL's top defensive forwards

James Mirtle — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:49:06 -0000

More photos » by David Banks - AP

Montreal Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec and Chicago Blackhawks' John Madden.

Browse more photos »

We're about far enough into the season that we can start to look at some individual stats and have enough of a sample size to draw some conclusions. This list is the same one I've been churning out for a couple years now, and ranks players defensively based on (a) quality of competition at even strength, (b) goals against per minute played at even strength and (c) goals against per minute played on the penalty kill.

Players also have to have played at least 15 games and fill a significant role on their team's shorthanded unit. Credit, as always, to Behind The Net for the data.

Here are the top 25 at the quarter-way mark:

	NAME	TEAM	GP	QCMP	EVGA/60	SHGA/60
1	BRANDON CROMBEEN	STL	21	0.12	1.44	1.33
2	KRIS VERSTEEG	CHI	22	0.13	1.49	5.25
3	JAY MCCLEMENT	STL	21	0.13	1.75	6.27
4	VERNON FIDDLER	PHX	25	0.03	1.86	3.61
5	JOHN MADDEN	CHI	23	0.12	2.17	5.61
6	DAVID LEGWAND	NSH	23	0.09	2.28	4.43
7	TRAVIS ZAJAC	N.J	22	0.16	0.73	9.20
8	MILAN MICHALEK	OTT	22	0.22	2.57	5.27
9	JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER	N.J	22	0.09	1.69	7.47
10	DANIEL WINNIK	PHX	25	-0.05	1.59	1.54
11	SAKU KOIVU	ANA	17	0.12	1.62	8.64
12	RYAN MALONE	T.B	21	0.18	2.20	7.49
13	MIKE FISHER	OTT	21	0.08	2.32	5.41
14	JOCHEN HECHT	BUF	20	-0.04	1.64	4.10
15	MIKE GRIER	BUF	15	-0.05	1.60	3.53
16	COLIN FRASER	CHI	23	0.04	2.33	4.39
17	JAMES WRIGHT	T.B	21	0.07	1.29	8.13
18	STEVE BEGIN	BOS	24	0.03	1.96	5.34
19	DANIEL ALFREDSSON	OTT	22	0.25	3.02	5.25
20	TOMAS PLEKANEC	MTL	24	-0.01	1.94	5.06
21	DAVID BACKES	STL	21	0.01	2.03	5.19
22	BRANDON DUBINSKY	NYR	18	0.06	2.20	5.72
23	JEFF HALPERN	T.B	21	0.06	2.34	5.54
24	SCOTT NICHOL	S.J	26	-0.07	1.89	2.35
25	JOEL WARD	NSH	21	0.14	2.10	8.81

There are a lot of different names so far than what we saw last season, and I don't know if that's due to the small sample size or if we're simply seeing new players step into these roles and excel. Players on the list who have gotten recognition as top defensive forwards in the past include Versteeg, McClement, Madden, Fisher, Grier, Alfredsson and Ward.

Without a lot of high profile names in there so far (i.e. Datsyuk, Zetterberg) it'll be interesting to see what the Selke candidates look like this season. I don't think you could go wrong giving it to Alfredsson, who always does a nice job on the Sens' PK.

Players who scored on the low end among those that qualified include Wayne Primeau, Craig Adams, Lee Stempniak, Greg Campbell and Rod Brind'Amour.

I'll look at the top defensive defencemen in the near future.

Tuesday's news: Predators welcome back Nichol and Ortmeyer as Sharks

Dirk Hoag — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:08:31 -0000

More photos » by Sam Leung - AP

With 4 goals already, Jed Ortmeyer is on track to blow away his personal best of 5 in a season now that he's with San Jose.

Browse more photos »

There's a big battle on tap tonight at the Sommet Center as the Sharks come in to town to face the Predators, in a rematch of last week's tight 4-3 win by San Jose. Tonight's game will not be televised, but you still have time to get tickets - you can follow this link and use the special offer code "PREDS" to get discounted seats.

After the jump, however, we've got your morning news and notes; there's a look at how Scott Nichol and Jed Ortmeyer are wearing the teal of San Jose, news about a Columbus winger possibly heading back to Russia, and a possible goaltender controversy shaping up down on the farm in Milwaukee...

Predators News

Nashville is all about the music - Montreal Gazette
Pat Hickey writes that he's pulling for Nashville to survive as an NHL market, due in no small part to the historical ties between Music City and the province of Quebec. Hey, we'll take boosters no matter what direction they're coming from.

Central: Poile going D-first an A-plus move - NHL.com
In his weekly check on the Central Division, Larry Wigge writes that developing defensemen has been a worthy course for Nashville to take over the years.

NHL Power Rankings - TSN
The Preds make a major move upwards in TSN's latest Power Rankings.

Preds On The Glass: Predators Reborn After Slow Start
Buddy looks at the way the Preds have rebounded over the last few weeks, including quotes from Pekka Rinne, Steve Sullivan, and Barry Trotz.

Goalie Controversy Brewing? - Admirals Short Shifts
After just three professional starts, is Chet Pickard challenging for the #1 job in Milwaukee?

Around the NHL

SB Nation News Update - Defending Big D
We have a new supreme leader within the hockey ranks at SB Nation, as Defending Big D's Brandon Worley assumes the role of NHL League Manager. James Mirtle will still write at From the Rink, but his new gig as the Globe & Mail's beat writer covering the Toronto Maple Leafs demands his day-to-day attention.

San Jose Sharks newcomers jelling on third line - San Jose Mercury News
David Pollak tells how former Predators Scott Nichol and Jed Ortmeyer are fitting in quite well as San Jose Sharks.

Greatest Hockey Legends.com: Howie Morenz's Death Bed
Joe Pelletier looks at the last days of hockey's first major star (and great-grandfather of Nashville prospect Blake Geoffrion).

New Jersey Devils Outplayed by the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 Loss Ends Devils' 8 Game Winning Streak - In Lou We Trust
The Devils, who come into the Sommet Center on Thursday, have been as hot as H-E-double-hockey-sticks, but got cooled off by the Flyers last night.

Filatov Returning to Russia? (Puck-rakers)
Nikita Filatov, hyped as the odds-on favorite for the Calder Trophy this season in Columbus, has instead been a healthy scratch lately, and might head back to Russia to play in the KHL for the remainder of the campaign, with the intent to come back to the NHL next fall. This isn't a Radulov-type departure, but his play has been a major disappointment for the Blue Jackets.

Penguins No. 1 in the NHL in pain and suffering - USATODAY.com
As much as Nashville has had difficulty with injuries so far this season, Pittsburgh has had it worse, writes Kevin Allen. It's amazing how many high-profile NHL players have missed significant action already.

Bud Adams Fined $250K for Flipping off the Bills - Music City Miracles
Over on the other side of the Cumberland River, Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams drew a hefty fine for giving the one-finger salute to the Buffalo Bills. I don't think we have to worry about the soft-spoken David Freeman doing the same to the Red Wings... and for your amusement, here's the video of ol' Bud:

Shark Sandwich - Hawks 4, Sharks 3 (OT)

McClure — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:40:34 -0000

Eight of eight points against 3 top conference foes and one truculent opponent? Yeah, we'll take it. Tonight's win wasn't pretty, but an ugly win is still a win.

Things started off well enough with Brent Sopel (yes, BRENT SOPEL) notching his first of the year on a one time feed from Jordan Hendry who won the puck down low skating at forward tonight. Fresh call-up Bryan Bickell provided a nice screen on a shot that Evgeni Nabokov never saw. The Sharks answered later on in the period when dickweed Dany Heatley took a feed from Joe Thornton on a play that the Hawks should have cleared the zone on, but Jason Demers made a nice play to cut off Troy Brouwer receiving the exit pass.

Early in the second, we got to see the numbskullery we had been missing from Ben Eager, where he somehow managed to earn an extra two minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from his scrap with cro-magnon Douglas Murray. On the ensuing power play, the Sharks broke the Hawks streak of 18 straight penalties killed when Demers picked up a loose puck in the left circle on a broken play. It was a shot Huet did not get over to his post in time to cover. Forty-five seconds later, Patrick Marleau got a pass from Joe Pavelski in the slot, where he was left alone in a defensive breakdown, and was allowed to get two cracks at the net, the second of which he punched through. For the rest of the period, the ice was tilted in the Hawks favor. Patrick Kane picked a corner over Nabokov's glove to cut the deficit in half. With about a minute and a half to go, John Madden tied things up after skating through four Sharks to bury a rebound of a shot that was generated between he, Andrew Ladd, and Troy Brouwer. There was a scare in the middle of the frame when the puck squirted behind Huet and the Sharks had thought they had scored, but there was no indication on the ice, and the war room in Toronto determined no goal.

The third period was a rather tenative affair, with neither team generating much offensively, almost playing as if they were resigned to the fate of overtime as teams once did in the pre-lockout era. The Hawks ended things quickly with a great shift from Troy Brouwer and Jonathan Toews, who won the puck after hard work in behind the Shark net, with Toews finally able to slip it to a pinching Brent Seabrook who shot the puck through Nabokov for his second of the year, and second OT winner. Ballgame.

The Hawks were without the services of Kris Versteeg tonight, who was likely banged up after getting demolished by Jeff Finger on Friday night. Bryan "Don't Call me Travis" Bickell filled in admirably, and proving to be basically the left handed version of Troy Brouwer, which isn't a bad thing to be at this point.
Glad to see the Hawks hang tough and win over the top team in the league with basically half of their top 6 out for tonight's game (Bolland, Versteeg, Hossa).
Niklas Hjalmarsson continues to impress with his patience and smarts in his own end. As we've mentioned before here, and in the Indian, pay attention and marvel at his knack for absorbing a hit to make the correct pass. Additionally, he had a nice break up of a rush by dropping to a knee and taking away a passing lane.
Coach Q broke form and got way less matchup happy in the second period when the Hawks were down two goals, in an effort to generate some offense. Of course, with the score knotted in the third, John Madden once again resumed shadow detail on Thornton.
It wasn't Huet's best night, but he made a gigantic save on Scott Nichol in the waning seconds of regulation, so credit has to be given. All we as fans have asked from him is to just make the key save, and there was none bigger in the contest than that one.
The Hawks again limited one of the top offensive teams in the league to just 23 shots.
EDIT: John Madden was 9-0 on draws. The man love grows ever stronger.

Player of the Game

Though realistically, the honor should have gone to Patrick Marleau, who was everywhere tonight, you don't really think we'd pick someone from the other team, do you? So in that case, I'm going to go ahead and hand this out to Hammer, who was again rock solid tonight, in spite of being -1. Stats be damned, I know what I saw.

The Importance of Faceoffs

Mr. Plank — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:00:34 -0000

Courtesy of sharkspage.com

View full size photo »

In the 2008-2009 season, 70,417 faceoffs were won in 1,230 games. That's roughly 57.25 faceoffs per game, nearly one per minute. The San Jose Sharks were second in the league in this metric behind the Detroit Red Wings, with the teams posting a 53.8% and 55.1% conversion rate respectively.

This season, the Sharks are currently tops in the league with a 56.9% conversion rate. Sjsharks.com ran a piece on Monday night that highlighted this faceoff success. Todd McLellan stated, "When you win on the penalty kill, you can erase 20-30 seconds," which makes sense intuitively-- centerman wins the draw clean, the puck goes to the defenseman, and he clears it up the boards and out of the zone. The team with the man advantage must retrieve the puck, bring it up the ice, enter the zone, and set up in the umbrella or whatever they happen to be using. If the Sharks do a good job of holding the blueline and force the opposing team to dump it in to engage in puck battles along the boards, 20-30 seconds could theoretically tick off the clock. Simple enough.

In the same piece, Scott Nichol said, "A lot of guys make a living on faceoffs." Which got me to thinking-- how much do they really matter?

Last season, the correlation of faceoff percentage and total standings points was 0.51; when compared to other statistics such as goal differential (0.95) and shot differential (0.63), it ends up low on the totem pole of things that correlate with teams winning hockey games. I came into this expecting as much-- the purpose of a hockey game is to score more goals than your opponent, and the more you do that, the more you are going to win. Same goes for shots on net-- the more opportunities you have to score goals, the greater likelihood it is that you will do so.

If this sounds like a complete fluff piece, don't jump off the train just yet. I don't really care if you do, but just don't.

Back to the original idea for this exercise-- the article on sjsharks.com. If you've read through it already, you'll remember that a fair amount of emphasis was placed on winning draws during the penalty kill. In 2008-2009, the NHL adopted a new rule which required the initial faceoff of a powerplay to take place in the offensive zone. Therefore, winning draws while shorthanded should mean that your penalty kill will have greater success. Right?

Surprisingly, that's wrong. The correlation of shorthanded faceoff percentage and penalty kill percentage is actually in the negative at -.17. Now these numbers don't confirm that the lower your faceoff percentage is the higher your PK percentage will be-- after all, correlation does not imply causation, and saying that you would be better off losing all your draws doesn't make sense at all. However, this is suggesting that, amongst the league as a whole, a good faceoff percentage does not equal a good kill over the course of a season.

To illustrate this, here's a pretty little chart to swoon your eyes at. The top seven teams in each PK category are highlighted in red, while the bottom seven are highlighted in blue.

Now there's many reasons why this is the case-- winning a PK faceoff doesn't necessarily mean your team clears the puck directly afterwards, nor does it mean that you're a world beater when it comes to getting your stick in passing lanes. Blocking shots have nothing to do with faceoffs, along with the performance of your goaltender. The list goes on and on. The biggest factor though may be that faceoff percentages don't have all that big of a range. The average success rate last season was around 45.7%. Over the course of 100 trips to the dot, that comes out to roughly 8 extra faceoffs lost, or in other words, two in 25 extra faceoffs. Not exactly a damning setback at the end of the day.

The funny thing about it is, a small sample can really skew things to shit, and that should be considered as we make our way towards the thing that happens in mid-April (not saying that word just yet). Over the course of the season goals and faceoff wins tend to balance out, but in a compressed set of highly intensified games (really trying not to say that word just yet) winning faceoffs can make an impact. And a rather big one at that.

Just don't give all the credit for San Jose's fourth ranked penalty kill to the guys in the dot this season. Even if they're making their living off it.

Go Sharks.

Tuesday's news: Former Predators finding new life in San Jose

Dirk Hoag — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:43:15 -0000

More photos » by Sam Leung - AP

Former Nashville Predators winger Jed Ortmeyer has played well for San Jose, scoring three goals this season.

Browse more photos »

The Predators face off with the Sharks in a late game in San Jose this evening, but for now you can catch up on your morning news and notes.

After the jump, we have word that Shea Weber may be ready to play tonight after missing the last two games, an update of former Predators Scott Nichol and Jed Ortmeyer, and word that another former Nashville player isn't faring well in Florida...

Predators News

Weber may return against Sharks - Predators Insider
John Glennon brings word that Shea Weber might be in the lineup tonight, while J.P. Dumont and Colin Wilson will not.

Setoguchi and Vesce should be good to go against Nashville — and Nichol talks about his former team | Working the Corners
David Pollak gets some words from Scott Nichol as he prepares to play against the Preds for the first time since leaving as a free agent over the summer.

San Jose Sharks' Jed Ortmeyer battles blood-clotting disorder - San Jose Mercury News
In order to round out your former-Predator-turned-Shark news, Jed Ortmeyer continues to deal with the blood clotting issues that have plagued him for years.

Former Predators thrive elsewhere - The Tennessean
Glennon also writes about Nichol and Ortmeyer in their new setting. Jed's so hot, actually, that he's scored as many goals as Jerred Smithson.

Ask Matty - Faceoff.com
More speculation about a possible Edmonton-Nashville deal involving enigmatic winger Robert Nilsson. I wouldn't expect the Predators to make any deals until they at least get a chance to see how their team rolls with a healthy lineup, which they've yet to enjoy this season.

Around the NHL

Where Is Martin Havlat? - Hockey Wilderness
Minnesota fans aren't exactly "Wild" about their top winger's performance so far.

All Habs: Do Not Adjust Your Sets...
The Montreal Canadiens will wear a unique jersey in tonight's game against Calgary... hop over here to take a look at their throwback to the 1910-11 Le Club Athletique Canadien...

NHL general managers to discuss head shots - The Globe and Mail
David Shoalts reports that while head shots are likely to be talked about during this week's GM meetings, it's extremely unlikely that we'll see significant progress towards removing them from the game.

Nabokov on Last Summer, on His Priorities and on Sharks' Playoffs Exits - Fear The Fin
SB Nation's San Jose blog prints a translated Russian interview that Evgeny Nabokov recently gave.

Panthers coach on Koistinen benching: "He couldn't help us" - Litter Box Cats
It looks like Ville Koistinen might not be the Rich Peverley of defensemen, after all.

Mike Chen's Hockey Blog : 25 or 30? - KuklasKorner
Mike sticks a fork in the tired argument that the NHL needs to contract a few teams because it would supposedly make the game better.

Bolland’s Bad Back Is A Real Concern - Hockey Independent
All is definitely not well for the Chicago Blackhawks, writes Al Cimaglia.

Steve Yzerman's Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Speech
If you didn't get a chance to catch last night's ceremonies, do yourself a favor and catch the speeches at NHL.com, starting with the guy who earned respect from teammates and opponents alike over the course of a storied career.

Looking at the San Jose Sharks

MrNorrisTrophy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:29:26 -0000

San Jose Sharks: 11-4-1, 23 points

Key Wins: 6-3 over CBJ, 7-3 over NYR, 4-1 over PHI, 3-1 over COL

Winners of six straight, the Sharks are on fire after a 2-2 start. Coming into tonight's game, both teams look to extend winning streaks in what will likely be a good defensive battle.

Category	Stat	NHL Rank	Leading...	Stat	Player
Goals per game	3.31	7th (5A)	Scorer (Points)	22 (11 G, 11 A)	Patrick Marleau
Goals against per game	2.44	7th (16A)	+/-	+7	Jason Demers/ Kent Huskins
Power Play	25.8%	5th (5A)	Hits	25	Scott Nichol
Penalty Kill	83.6%	7th (20A)	PIM	42	Jody Shelley
Shots per game	31.3	11th (6B)	Shots	51	Patrick Marleau
Shots against per game	29.2	12th (3B)	Blocked Shots	37	Rob Blake
Faceoff percentage	57.4%	1st (14A)	Faceoffs	63.9 %	Scott Nichol
PIM per game	14.6	20th (19B)	Wins	10	Evgeni Nabokov
PP drawn	66	5th (8A)	GAA (>5 games played)	2.38	Evgeni Nabokov

*The A and B next to the ranking is how many spots Above or Below the Red Wings the team is

The Sharks are in the top half of the league in nearly every category and are on of the best in the league. Head coach Todd McLellan took the Detroit game west to San Jose with him and has implemented the system in a very effective way. The solid defensive play and offensive attack make the Sharks a big threat to the hobbled/sick Red Wings.

Players to watch on offense: Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton

Players to watch on defense: Rob Blake, Kent Huskins

Fear The Fin is the SB Nation affiliate of the Sharks and will have anything you want to read Sharks related.

Game Day Preview: Buffalo Sabres @ Nashville Predators

Dirk Hoag — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:54:29 -0000

More photos » by David Duprey - AP

Buffalo Sabres' 6'7" rookie defenseman Tyler Myers, left, talks with goaltending coach Jim Corsi (yes, the guy behind the "Corsi Rating") during practice.

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The Sabres and Predators have had some memorable scraps over the years (remember Scott Nichol and Jaroslav Spacek?), and they renew their rivalry tonight at the Sommet Center. The big news in Nashville is that Pekka Rinne and Joel Ward are scheduled to see their first regular season action, and Rinne in particular has a high standard to live up to, based on what Dan Ellis has done in the first two games.

Follow after the jump for more on tonight's matchup...

Meet the Enemy

Die By The Blade is SB Nation's Buffalo Sabres blog (check out their team's season preview), and their breakdown of the game provides for caution; the Sabres appear to be skating well (outshooting opponents by a combined 74-41 through two games), and taking care of traffic in front of franchise goaltender Ryan Miller.

You want the long and short on this team? Well, they come pretty extreme at both ends, from 6'7" rookie defenseman Tyler Myers to 5'9" center Derek Roy. Myers is drawing Zdeno Chara comparisons before he's even turned 20 years of age (so who knows how tall he'll end up?), while Roy is the linchpin to the Buffalo offense. Thomas Vanek is one of the NHL's elite goal scorers, but Roy is the dynamo that gets the Sabres rolling. Watch out also for Drew Stafford, a physical presence up front who leads Buffalo with 10 shots on goal so far.

From Die By The Blade, here are projected lines for Buffalo:

Thomas Vanek - Tim Connolly - Derek Roy

Clarke MacArthur - Tim Kennedy - Jason Pominville

Jochen Hecht - Paul Gaustad - Mike Grier

Patrick Kaleta - Matt Ellis - Drew Stafford

Craig Rivet - Chris Butler

Steve Montador - Andrej Sekera

Tyler Myers - Henrik Tallinder

Meet the Good Guys

For Nashville, the two fresh faces on the ice (Joel Ward and Pekka Rinne) each bring something different into the game. For Ward, the hope is that he can settle down the penalty kill and perhaps add some punch to a third line (Smithson-Goc-Grant) that's sorely needed, as so far all of the Predators' goals have come from the top line of Sullivan-Arnott-Hornqvist.

Based on the fact that Wade Belak worked on the ice with Colin Wilson long after the other players had left the morning skate, I'm going to guess that he's the odd man out tonight (Glennon confirms), with the lines likely as follows:

Sullivan - Arnott - Hornqvist

Santorelli - Legwand - Erat

Jones - Goc - Ward

Smithson - Guite - Grant

Suter - Weber

Hamhuis - Klein

Bouillon - Laakso

Even Strength Play

Nashville would love to see some of their depth players start chipping in a goal here and there, but so far Barry Trotz has been patient. In fact, he's excused the lack of production by the 2nd line so far by noting that they've had the bulk of the defensive responsibility up front, a slightly different tune than we heard during training camp, when he said that Erat & Legwand need to step up and lead.

Buffalo PP vs. Nashville PK

A sore spot in the Predators' early success has been poor penalty killing; both goals that Colorado scored on Thursday were on the power play, with the second involving Marek Svatos getting left all alone in the goal crease with plenty of time to handle the puck and lift a shot over Dan Ellis. The return of Joel Ward to the lineup will hopefully correct some of those breakdowns from recurring.

The Sabres' power play, meanwhile, is off to a middling start with 2 goals in the first two games. Roy has two assists, with Thomas Vanek and Tim Connolly each having scored a goal.

Nashville PP vs. Buffalo PK

Through two games Jason Arnott has Nashville's lone power play goal, and it may be tough for the Preds to break out tonight against a Sabres' squad that has successfully killed off 8 out of 9 penalties so far. Shea Weber, who led the team last year with 10 PP goals, certainly appears due.

Surprisingly, the rookie Myers has been given a major role on the PK for Buffalo (2nd on the team in PK TOI at 2:49 per game). Up front, Jochen Hecht and Mike Grier pressure the points.

Goaltending

The Sabres' Ryan Miller can be one of the game's elite netminders when healthy, in each season since the lockout, has put up more shutouts with each passing campaign. His .918 save percentage last year was a career high, and at the age of 29, could be just entering his peak years.

For Nashville, we'll finally get a look at Pekka Rinne, who carried the team during the second half of last season, only to see Ellis outshine him in training camp. While a jam-packed schedule over the next few weeks ensures both goalies plenty of ice time, Rinne needs to make a strong impression if he truly wants to become a solid #1 starter.

Summary

Until he gets more troops back from sick bay, the key for Barry Trotz will be to keep things close and leverage his top line to best effect, the formula which has led to success in each of the games so far. Joel Ward's return helps with the first part of that plan more than the second, so expect a tight, low-scoring affair that may well be decided by special teams.

Unless, that is, Pekka Rinne takes over and puts in a performance that demands an encore Monday night against Edmonton.

Sharks Gameday: Somebody Sign Jim Abbott

Mr. Plank — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:01:27 -0000

	@ 7:30 PST
1-1-0, 2 points		0-1-0, 0 points
8th in Western Conference		10th in Western Conference

Television	CSN-CA (HD)
Radio	98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com
Antagonists	Battle of CaliforniaThe Royal Half

David Pollak reported yesterday that Joe Pavelski will be out for a couple weeks after sustaining a left leg injury in Saturday's game against Anaheim. A horde of thoughts on the matter are dispersed amongst the comments in this fanshot, but my general take is this- why not place him on LTIR? You allow him time to fully recover, avoid the injury management issues that plagued the coaching staff last season, and (as commenter EvilDucks also mentioned) save a marginal amount of salary cap space in the event DW decides to dip his toes into the trade waters later on. This isn't an especially critical juncture of the year to deal with the inevitable injuries that occur during the course of an NHL season- "a couple weeks" can mean just about anything in coach speak, and while it's entirely possible the surgery Pavelski went through will cause no extra rehab time, erring on the side of caution two games deep isn't a bad route to take in my opinion.

Then again, there is always the penalty kill to think about.

It's about as early as it gets in the 2009-2010 season, but one thing that's going to be very interesting to observe in the pocket of time that Pavelski is sidelined will be the shorthanded unit. Here's a snapshot of McLellan's shorthanded minute dispersion thus far amongst the leading forwards:

Skater	GP	SH TOI/G
Marleau	2	4:26
Malhotra	2	3:01
Pavelski	2	2:46
Ortmeyer	2	1:58
Nichol	2	1:53
Thornton	2	1:01

Forwards have seen less that a minute of average PK time include McGinn (0:56), McLaren (0:54), Ferriero (0:50), and Setoguchi (0:36).

Boy oh boy, is Marleau shouldering a heavy load or what? Granted, the Sharks have been shorthanded 11 times this season (on pace for 451, which is well above the 306 they had to kill last year) and that's going to come down once the sample size increases, but it's still a bit surprising to see Marleau punching his card that often out there. I ~~wouldn't shut the hell up about it~~ touched upon it before the year began, but the hope was that he would see some reduced minutes in these situations with the addition of Malhotra and Nichol- now that Pavelski is on the shelf, Sweeney Todd won't be able to slice that time unless San Jose does an excellent job of staying out of the box. Keeping Marleau humming at over twice the amount of any forward on the team not named Malhotra is unsustainable in my opinion.

So who makes up for Pavelski's loss? I'm not a big fan of McLaren on the PK- he's serviceable at even strength considering he's facing sheltered competition, but his skating ability makes it hard for him to effectively pressure the blueline and get back to help out down low. A team that can move the puck well will eat him alive. Setoguchi hasn't ever been a defensive dynamo, so I doubt you can rely on him for much more than he's already giving you.

This leaves Benn Ferriero, Joe Thornton, Scott Nichol, and Jed Ortmeyer. My bet is that Nichol gets the biggest bump due to the fact that he can win you some faceoffs and is the most battle-tested out of that group. Ortmeyer comes next, and the rest of the dominoes fall in line. Jamie McGinn saw a lot of PK time in the preseason, and even though he was demoted after one game, Pavelski's injury opens a door for him provided someone gets sent down and/or Pavs is placed on the LTIR- McGinn also helps shore up the scoring pop you lose in this situation, which will be important if Ferriero cools off as we make our way through October.

Should be interesting to watch over the next couple weeks. Here's to killin' by committee.

Prediction: Sharks win 4-3. Goals by Heatley, Clowe, Boyle, and Malhotra. Fear The Fin gets put under surveillance by the FBI due to the combination of "killin' by committee" and the fact that our name could (and should, ya hear me!) be interpreted as a recruitment site for a terrorist cell.

Go Sharks.

SB Nation - Scott Nichol

Marty Turco and Dallas Stars Drop Sharks in Shootout, 3-2

Off the Post - December 7th

The NHL's top defensive forwards

Tuesday's news: Predators welcome back Nichol and Ortmeyer as Sharks

Shark Sandwich - Hawks 4, Sharks 3 (OT)

The Importance of Faceoffs

Tuesday's news: Former Predators finding new life in San Jose

Predators News

Around the NHL

Looking at the San Jose Sharks

Game Day Preview: Buffalo Sabres @ Nashville Predators

Meet the Enemy

Buffalo PP vs. Nashville PK

Nashville PP vs. Buffalo PK

Goaltending

Summary

Sharks Gameday: Somebody Sign Jim Abbott

@

Television

CSN-CA (HD)

Radio

98.5 KFOX, Sjsharks.com

Antagonists

Battle of CaliforniaThe Royal Half