San Jose Sharks – News: Nabokov Sets Shutout Mark – 01/30/2009

January 30, 2009 by chuq · Comments
Filed under: Two for Elbowing: Hockey & Sports

San Jose netminder Evgeni Nabokov shut out the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 on Thursday night and in the process set a new Sharks regular season shutout record of 170:10. The streak began before the NHL’s All-Star break in the first period against Vancouver on January 20.

via San Jose Sharks – News: Nabokov Sets Shutout Mark – 01/30/2009.

It clearly wasn’t San Jose vs. Detroit — an enjoyable game, good energy, but definitely more trench warefare. I went to the game with a friend, and we talked about it on the way and I said that Phoenix was the kind of team who’s work ethic can give teams fits — and they did. The Sharks had the best of the play, but serious trouble penetrating for good scoring chances, and Bryzgalov was quite good.

Nabby, however, was better — he’s on a real roll right now, and hwne he does that, watch out. One aspect is that no matter what, there’s a Shark there grabbing and clearing rebounds, so Nabby can focus on taht first save and not have to think about being in position for a second. That allows Nabby to take more chances on the first — and it’s working. He’s had some just shutdown saves, ones that just leave the other team deflated and wondering.

It seems that the Sharks are a bit bored with merely winning everything at home and almost everything on the road. They seem to be gearing up the 2nd have planning to simply not allow anyone to score. Let’s see how far they can take it. Saturday should be fun!

One Shark I think deserves some recognition right now is Alexei Semenov. He was a marginal player last season, but worked his butt off in the offseason to improve his game. I’ve been told by folks in the locker room he put on 20 pounds and dropped his body fat — if you see him close up, it’s hard to dispute those numbers, even given everyone’s propensity in the league to lie about height, weight and how much they can bench press. He’s RIPPED. and what I find amazing is that he did that knowing he was slotted in as the 7th D and a part time player.

What he’s done is earn his way to a regular spot and significant minutes. And he’s still basically a depth player, so that kind of committment just isn’t noticed by most fans, but I’ve been watching him the last few games, and he’s really turned his game around. The early season decision by McLellan to show confidence in him and skate him at forward has done wonders. The coaches trust him, he believes in himself, and the team trusts him, too. He’s being more aggressive offensively, more physical defensively, and he’s been a non-trivial part of why, despite injuries to the defense, the Sharks haven’t missed a beat.

Derek Joslin, the new kid, is improving every game. He’s solid, and starting to show he’s feeling more comfortable.

And finally, the Claude Lemieux watch. He’s still playing limited minutes, he’s still doing nothing to suggest he SHOULDN’T be here on a fourth line, and that alone impresses me. I didn’t notice him much against Phoenix, but that’s not a criticsm. A lot of his job is to not be noticed, because when the fourht line is noticed, a lot of the time it’s because someone’s fishing the puck out of their own net. That’s not happening.

The Sharks seem to be getting back on a roll. If this was their slump, watch out.