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Goal Line Report

Entries with the tag: San+Jose+Sharks

They were Due

Come on folks - we all knew the New York Rangers would blow up in a game sooner or later and that’s exactly what happened last night in a 7-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

What led to the team’s demise last night? For starters, Steve Valiquette did not get the job done in goal. He was way too deep in the crease on the first goal he allowed and throughout the two periods he played, he gave up some juicy rebounds, something you cannot do against a hungry Sharks team.

John Tortorella told the following to Jim Cerny after the game regarding Valiquette’s play between the pipes:

“I thought Vally fought it,” said Tortorella. “I was hoping he’d work through it. I don’t think he was sharp.”

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 Tags: New+York+Rangers, San+Jose+Sharks,

A Tough Test

The New York Rangers will have their hands full when they take on the San Jose Sharks tonight at Madison Square Garden.

While the teams they have faced so far certainly cannot be considered slouches, (well, may be except for the Toronto Maple Leafs) tonight’s tilt will be a challenge considering the offense that the San Jose Sharks have. The Blueshirts will have to contain guys like Joe Thornton (2g, 11a), Dany Heatley (5g, 5a), Patrick Marleau (6g, 1a), Devon Setoguchi (5g, 1a), and Dan Boyle (1g, 6a).

This is a game where the Rangers will be not able to afford a lacksadasical effort. It might have worked against a team like the Los Angeles Kings or even for moments against the Leafs but if that happens tonight, the Sharks will more than likely make them pay for it.

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 Tags: New+York+Rangers, San+Jose+Sharks,

The Difference between an Upset and Consistency

From Stan Fischler at MaxHockey.com:

What’s the difference between an upset and consistency?

ANSWER: San Jose Sharks—now interred by the NHL Playoff Burial Society.

The fact that San Jose paced 29 NHL teams during the regular season led about four million hockey fans to believe that this team could win its first playoff series of 2009.

It didn’t.

Therefore, about 3,999,999 hockey fans considered Anaheim’s series victory one of the great upsets since Lord Stanley of Preston decided that a puck should be round and not square nor rectangular.

Click here for more. Do you folks agree with the Maven’s assessment of the Sharks? Why or why not?

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 Tags: MaxHockey.com, San+Jose+Sharks,

Sharks Looking to Shakeup Roster After Another Early Playoff Exit?

From the Associated Press:

When general manager Doug Wilson clears his head after his San Jose Sharks’ biggest postseason flop to date, he’ll have to decide whether it’s worth keeping together a team that plays incredible hockey until the games that matter the most.

The Sharks made an early exit from the NHL playoffs for the fourth straight season Monday night, finished off in six games by the eighth-seeded Anaheim Ducks. San Jose was thoroughly outplayed by a savvy, veteran-led team that saved its best performances for the postseason.

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 Tags: San+Jose+Sharks,

Tough First Round Exits for Stars

From Dan Murphy at Sportsnet.ca:

I sure hope Jarome Iginla doesn’t take too much heat for the Flames’ first-round exit. He was widely viewed as one of the best captains and leaders in the game before the ‘Hawks series and just because his injury-riddled team fell in six games, that assessment shouldn’t change. There are very few athletes who are easy to cheer for, and Iginla is still near the top of the list. Give him the “C” for 2010, please.

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 Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, Calgary+Flames, Jarome+Iginla, Joe+Thornton, San+Jose+Sharks,

Close But No Cigar

In what was the team’s biggest test of the season, the New York Rangers passed with flying colors despite losing to the league’s best team, the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 last night at the HP Pavilion Center.

Despite a poorly played first period, last night had to be one of the team’s best efforts all season. They were especially good in the third period, when they controlled play and dominated the Sharks, outshooting them 17-7. Unfortunately, the Blueshirts were unable to get one by Sharks’ netminder Evgeni Nabokov, who played well after dropping his previous two decisions to the Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Yes, the team lost a valuable two points last night but this was a game where the Blueshirts proved that they are not far off from being considered one of the league’s top teams this season.

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 Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Brandon+Dubinsky, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Detroit+Red+Wings, Evgeni+Nabokov, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ryan+Callahan, San+Jose+Sharks, Washington+Capitals,

A Tough Test

If there was ever a game that the New York Rangers could use as a measuring stick, tonight’s tilt with the San Jose Sharks in San Jose would be that game.

San Jose comes into tonight’s matchup sporting a 25-4-3 record, good for 53 points and the top spot in both the Western Conference and the Natioanl Hockey League. On the other side, the Bluershirts come into tonight’s game with a 22-11-2 record, 46 points and sits in second place in the Eastern Conference (at least until all the other teams catch up in games played).

In his Rangers Report Blog, Journal News Ranger beat writer Sam Weinman says that tonight’s game could be a game where the Rangers realize that they’re not that far off or they could realize that they still have a lot of work to do to become a Stanley Cup contender.

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 Tags: Brian+Boucher, Columbus+Blue+Jackets, Dan+Boyle, Detroit+Red+Wings, Devin+Setoguchi, Evgeni+Nabokov, Joe+Pavelski, Joe+Thornton, New+York+Rangers, Patrick+Marleau, Rob+Blake, Ryane+Clowe, Sam+Weinman, San+Jose+Sharks, Scotty+Hockey, SNY+Rangers+Blog, The+Journal+News,

All About Two Points

The New York Rangers hope to extend their win streak to three tonight when they take on the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.

The Blueshirts are coming off an impressive 3-1 win last night over the Anaheim Ducks, getting goals from Chris Drury, Nigel Dawes and Nikolai Zherdev. The team also got another strong performance from their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 19 of 20 shots.

It doesn’t appear that the whole Mats Sundin situation is a distraction to the team as all they are focused on is winning.

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 Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, Atlanta+Thrashers, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Los+Angeles+Kings, Mats+Sundin, New+York+Rangers, Nigel+Dawes, Nikolai+Zherdev, San+Jose+Sharks, Steve+Valiquette, Steve+Zipay, Tom+Renney,

Mike Ross of NHL Home Ice: Spreading the Word About Hockey

As we all know, hockey is a fledgling sport in the U.S. It doesn’t get the coverage it deserves and when it does press, it’s usually for something negative (ahem, Sean Avery).

However, one radio channel/network that steps up when it comes to hockey coverage is XM’s NHL Home Ice Channel. Day in and day out, the channel provides great hockey content to fans all over the world and always has them coming back for more.

Recently, I had the opportunity to do an e-mail interview with one of the channel’s hosts and producers, Mike Ross. “Rossy” tells us about how he fell in love with the game, how he got involved in hockey radio, the channel’s future, this season’s surprises/disappointments and of course, his Stanley Cup predicition.

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 Tags: Adam+Proteau, Barry+Melrose, Boston+Bruins, Brian+Duff, Canadiens, Dean+Brown, Gord+Wilson, Len+Barrier, Manny+Fernandez, Maple+Leafs, Mats+Naslund, Mike+Ross, Milan+Lucic, Oren+Koules, Patrick+Marleau, Phil+Esposito, Phil+Kessel, Rick+Vaive, Rocket+Richard, San+Jose+Sharks, Sean+Avery, Steve+Lloyd, Tampa+Bay+Lightning, The+Hockey+News, Tim+Thomas, Todd+McLellan, Vincent+Damphousse, Wayne+Gretzky, XM+NHL+Home+Ice,

     

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