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Sharkeroos come into Chicago on the heels of yesterday's 4-3 matinee loss in Denver. I'd suspect that this turnaround, combined with their injury situation, would give the Hawks a significant edge, but it's hockey, you never know. Thornton, Niemi, all that jazz. Tomas Hertl was going to win ROTY in a walkover until Dustin Brown decided to blow out Hertl's knee on a really ugly play. Now they're talking about him coming back after the Olympic break at best. That's good for us in terms of competition, but kinda bad for hockey as a whole. Thankfully, Raffi Torres hurt himself before he had a chance to hurt someone else. I don't know what his timetable is. And does Adam Burish ever even play for this team? They signed him to some stupid four-year deal and he's always hurt. Man, do you guys even remember Adam Burish? I don't. I barely remember his contributions here, just that he was sort of a pest and liked to play practical jokes. I think he missed most of the first Cup year, too. Martin Havlat, who the fuck knows anymore.
I'm a little worried that two of the three looks we get at the Sharks are going to be compromised: there's this, and then there's the first matchup of the year, where they were on the last game of a road trip and didn't give a fuck against a Hawks team that at the time was otherwise fighting it pretty hard. Make no mistakes: this is an elite team. Sure, they tend to get fat on point inflation, and their plodding style has a tendency to get exposed against the Hawks when Niemi isn't locked in and Thornton isn't gooning, but they're very talented. Their window should have closed by now, but here they are, back for one more year, and from the sounds of things, they're never gonna give up on Going For It, like, ever, or until Thornton's cock is too shriveled to whip out and stroke.
Pavelski-Thornton-Burns appears to be the first line for tonight, not quite the Thornton-Marleau-Heatley megaline from 2010 but still formidable. Patrick Marleau, man without a soul, is down on the second line with Logan Couture and promising youngster Matt Nieto. The bottom six isn't worth your consideration, in grand Sharks fashion. I suppose Desjardins is in there somewhere. Pretty old defensive corps between Brad Stuart, Dan Boyle, and Scott Hannan; look for M-E Vlasic to get Keith-with-a-bad-third-pairing minutes.
Crosby is up nine points on Kane in the scoring race. It was fun to think about while it lasted, I guess.
Oh Jesus I spot a Nashville-Carolina game on tonight's score ticker. There is no God.
The game's on NBCSN for the out-of-towners. I hope they're not poaching Olczyk for the game; Steve Konroyd bores me. Dale Tallon should come back to do fill-in work after the Panthers fire him for sucking this summer. WUNNA DOSE LESS GREAT SEVEN AH-CLAAAHCK STARTS to accommodate the national cable overlords.
Sharks: 26-10-6 (58), 20-11-11 adjusted (51), 53.016 expected (hmm, one win below expectation)
Hawks: 29-7-8 (66), 25-10-9 adjusted (59), 59.110 expected
Sharks: 3.167 scored (4th), 2.476 allowed (11th), 0.690 differential (6th)
Hawks: 3.659 scored (1st), 2.636 allowed (13th), 1.023 differential (2nd)
Sharks: 32/168 19.0% on the power play (11th), 92/112 82.1% on the kill (14th)
Hawks: 35/144 24.3% on the power play (3rd), 102/133 76.7% on the kill (28th)
_________________ Molly Lambert wrote: The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.
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