Sharks At Canucks Game Preview: Over The Wall!

SHARKS		CANUCKS
	AT

Time	Tues. 7:00 PM PST	TV	Sportsnet Pacific
Season Series	1-0 Sharks	Last Meeting	4-1 Sharks Jan. 27/13
The Enemy	Fear The Fin	Scoring Leaders	D. Sedin: 8-13-21 Thornton: 4-18-22

Sharks	Category	Canucks
10-6-4	Season Record	11-6-4
24	Points	26
4th	Conference Position	3rd
Won 1	Streak	Lost 1
3-4-3	Last 10	4-4-2
3-5-1	< Road Record / Home Record >	6-3-2
2.20 (27)	Goals Per Game Average	2.81 (13)
2.05 (3)	Goals Against Per Game Average	2.57 (11)
1.04 (16)	5 On 5 GF/GA	1.18 (6)
17.9 (12)	Power Play %	16.9 (15)
86.7 (4)	Penalty Kill %	79.3 (20)
52.9 (4)	Faceoffs %	48.8 (22)
403 (24)	Hits	450 (20)
326 (10)	Blocked Shots	247 (28)
82 (10)	Minor Penalties Taken	92 (20)
NHL.com

The last time the Canucks played the Sharks Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau (both with 14 points in their first 7 games) were scoring at a ridiculous pace and were atop the league scoring. Then the month of February hit and both players cooled off dramatically (as we knew they would) and the Sharks record showed: 10 losses in 12 games. Yea. Marleau has 1 goal and 0 assists in his last 4 games. Thornton has a more respectable 4 assists in his last 4. Both had a goal and an assist in the Sharks' 4-1 win over Vancouver in late January.

The Sharks are under .500 on the road this season. We have a chance!

It would help if the power play would kick in sans Ryan Kesler. How about guys like Booth and Kassian start scoring? How about manna falling from heaven? The Red Sea parting? No? OK then. Fuck it.

PROJECTED ROSTERS / LINES

Schneider

Sedin - Sedin - Burrows

Higgins - Raymond - Hansen

Booth - Lapierre - Kassian

Sestito - Schroeder - Weise

Edler - Tanev

Hamhuis - No idea

Garrison - No idea.

For the Sharks:

Niemi

Couture - Thornton - Havlat

Kennedy - Marleau - Pavelski

Clowe - Gomez - Sheppard

Desjardins - Burish - Galiardi

Matt Irwin - Boyle

Stuart - Vlasic

Murray - Braun

TRENDS

• Sharks are 7-0 in their last 7 vs. Northwest.
• Sharks are 10-4 in their last 14 games following a win.
• Sharks are 5-2 in their last 7 Tuesday games.
• Sharks are 10-25 in their last 35 road games.
• Sharks are 3-9 in their last 12 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game.
• Sharks are 3-10 in their last 13 overall.
• Sharks are 2-8 in their last 10 games playing on 2 days rest.
• Sharks are 1-7 in their last 8 when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game.
• Sharks are 1-8 in their last 9 after allowing 2 goals or less in their previous game.
• Sharks are 0-5 in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
• Canucks are 36-15 in their last 51 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400.
• Canucks are 11-5 in their last 16 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game.
• Canucks are 4-9 in their last 13 vs. Pacific.
• Canucks are 2-5 in their last 7 Tuesday games.
• Canucks are 1-4 in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest.
• 58% of the cons at Covers.com have the Canucks taking this one.

YOU MADE MY SHITLIST

David Booth. Again. I don't care if he got an assist last game. Consistently shoots the puck. Consistently does not score. Steve Bernier flashbacks. And we called Bernier "Death To Scoring Chances". Fitting?

My patience is running out.

I LOVE YOU, MAN!

Keith Ballard. He just needs a hug right now. Coach doesn't like him. Hang in there, Ballard.

SCORE-PREDICTING WIZARDS UPDATE

Only Smoboy41 got a point last game for swimming in the Numbskull Sea and picking Iginla to score the winner.

Twin Terror: 8

Bobby Canuck: 6

andrew21nz: 5

FormerHab: 5

patrik e: 5

Meat Mayos: 4

raincity: 4

marcness52: 3

westy99: 3

ChuckinNux: 2

EvianBubble: 2

gmonk33: 2

Nathaniel Perlow: 2

PeaceJo: 2

Sean Zandberg: 2

seedvt: 2

YorkAveOrca: 2

beardstache: 1

BW79: 1

dshaps: 1

Geordie Nuck: 1

Kent Basky: 1

KYCanuck: 1

missy: 1

NS_Cix: 1

nucksandpucks: 1

radepalma: 1

Smoboy41: 1

Tangent: 1

Thursday: 1

Twitchy2010: 1

vancitydan: 1

Vancouverguy: 1

VIDEO

Because it never gets old:

The victors feast:

The title of this preview post has been brought to you by Testament:

GO CANUCKS GO!