Playoff Drive.

[charlio lemieux]

Well After a terrible start and then a great trade that led to a run of good hockey, that was just enough to get Sharks fans excited, the Sharks have slowed down. They had gone 4-3-3 in their last 10 before Saturday's loss to Anaheim. If they don't turn it around fast, their hopes of making the playoffs will be a memory.

The Sharks lost a lot of depth over the lockout. Gone are vetern forwards, Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci, Alexander Korolyuk and Todd Harvey, aswell as the big defenseman Mike Rathje. They moved more depth out with the trade that brought Joe Thornton to San Jose. Still they have a solid young group of defensemen. The oldest is McLaren at 28. As well as some fine forwards that will take some time to develop. But right now Marleau has gone cold, and they hit some good goaltending in Dallas, Minnisota and Anaheim.

So with Saturday's loss coupled with Edmonton's win and Colorado's loss, San Jose is 8 points behind Colorado with two games in hand.
The situation is as follows:

6th Los Angeles 56gp - 65pts
7th Edmonton - 54gp - 65pts
8th Colorado -- 55gp - 64pts
9th Anaheim ---53gp - 60pts
10th Minnisota -55gp - 58pts
11th Phoenix -- 56gp - 57pts
12th San Jose -52gp - 56pts

So basically if the Sharks continue to lose to teams in their divisioin it is going to be over soon after the Olympics. Their are 3 other teams from their own division in the fight for the final playoff spot(s) and if they dont start to beat them consistantly they're done. Any win over the NW division, regardless of who, also directly helps their cause.

Games left - 30
Points needed to make the playoffs - 9*
*Colorado has more wins.

[charlio lemieux]

A win last night would have put the Sharks 9 points back of Calgary. Thereby moving another team within striking distance. But instead the Sharks are 13 behind Calgary, with 5 of the teams betwen them in action tonight. Edmonton and Anaheim had themselves a three point game last night, with Edmonton coming out on top. That's the worst case scenario. Both teams getting points while you get beat. Now Edmonton has an 11 point cushion over San Jose, and they play Colorado tonight. Hopefully the altitude doesn't have extra effect with it being the second game in 2 nights for Edmonton.
The Sharks have to get some help from other teams if there is going to be any post-season. If Edmonton and Minnisota win in regulation it would atleast keep the 7th and 8th spots from getting too far ahead.
On the bright side, even though they lost, Marleau had three points last night. If he can get scoring again it should lift the Sharks to a few more victories.
If the persistant rumours of Toskala being traded ever come to fruition, he should fetch a decent return. The Sharks need a scoring D-man as well as some depth up front.

[charlio lemieux]

Right on! Two wins in a row. The Sharks knocked off the Division leading Dallas Stars 6-3 tonight and pulled with in 5 points of Los Angeles who currently holds the last playoff spot. Unfortunately Colorado, Minnisota and Anaheim also won so the Sharks only made up ground on L.A., Vancouver, and Edmonton. 5th in the West is now only 10 points away. There are also 6 other teams that are in a serious fight for for only 4 playoff positions. One more game against Phoenix before the break. It would be good to have three wins in a row before the break. With all that's going on around the Phoenix organization these days I'm sure most of them will not be too focussed on the game. With some luck the Sharks will make up some more ground on the final playoff spot.