San Jose Sharks' fantastic October

It’s the end of October and the San Jose Sharks have completed the first month of the 2013-24014 NHL regular season at the top of the league. The Sharks have clicked on all levels to date, with Team Teal taking the number one spot in the Pacific, Western Conference, and the League in general. ESPN, the NHL, the Bleacher Report, and The Hockey News all have the Sharks ranked number one.

Hear that tap-tap-tap noise? That’s the Sharks fans happy dancing.

Okay, we’re the ultimate optimists. We know how our team does in the regular season: blah, blah, blah. This year is different. The scoring isn’t coming from just four or five guys. The entire team is contributing to the numbers on the overhead tally board. Antti Niemi grew eyes in the back of his head and is making highlight saves every game. Alex Stalock gave Antti the night off and won the game.

Critics talk about the Sharks continuing their play from last year. I don’t believe it. Unlike last season, this year the guys are winning games in regulation time. Sure, the team finally lost a regulation game, by one goal and they lost an overtime game by one goal but the majority of their wins were in regulation five-on-five.

 Let’s look at the games they have won. The team has had many dominating performances, with the majority of the wins at least three goals more than their opponents. They are out-shooting their opponents and winning face-offs. On October 3^rd, the home opener was against Vancouver. The Sharks won 4-1. October 5^th at home against Phoenix the guys against ended the game with a 4-1 win. The next home game they played the New York Rangers, and when the horn sounded San Jose had a final score of 9-2. On October 10^th, San Jose traveled to Vancouver for a road game, where they had another 4-1 win. Heading back to the Shark Tank (SAP Center) Team Teal battled Ottawa for a 3-2 overtime win.

 

Back on the road, San Jose jetted out to St. Louis on October 15th, where the infamous hit by Lapierre knocked out Dan Boyle. After the penalties were tallied, San Jose settled down and won the game, 6-2. Their next game was in Dallas, on October 17^th where they fell in overtime for their first loss 3-4, although they picked up a crucial point. Flying back to San Jose for a single home game against Calgary, the Sharks won 6-3. The final games for the month were all road games.

On October 21^st, San Jose played Detroit, always a fun game to watch, and Niemi earned his first shut-out in a shoot-out with a score of 1-0. October 24^th they met Boston, where they finally had a regulation loss, 1-2. The next game was in Montreal, where the team went back to their winning style with a 2-0 win, for Niemi’s second shut-out of the month. On October 27^th, the Sharks went up against Ottawa for the second time and winning by a 5-2 margin. The final game of the month was held in Los Angeles, the boys losing in overtime 3-4.

All of this done with some key players out on the injured reserve list. Raffi Torres is recovering from his off-season surgery and shown as on the injured reserve list. Martin Havlat is recovering from groin surgery and is listed as side-lined indefinitely. Dan Boyle went out on October fifteenth after suffering the nasty hit by Lapierre and is listed on the injured reserve list. Adam Burish is recovering from an upper body injury and is on the injured reserve list. Brent Burns is listed day-to-day after an upper body injury. Rookie Matthew Nieto is listed with a hand injury as day-to-day. Still, without these players, the team keeps on winning. Just think about the team when these guys are healthy and join the roster.

The League recognized the efforts of the team, naming Antti Niemi one of the three stars for the month and Tomas Hertl the Rookie of the Month for October. The Sharks web site had this posted:

 

“THIRD STAR – ANTTI NIEMI, G, SAN JOSE SHARKS

Niemi posted a 9-1-2 record with a 1.72 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and two shutouts in helping the Sharks earn a League-best 22 points (10-1-2). He allowed two or fewer goals in nine of his 12 appearances, including shutout victories over the Detroit Red Wings Oct. 21 (24 saves) and Montreal Canadiens Oct. 26 (22 saves). Niemi shared the NHL lead in wins and shutouts, while also placing in the top three in goals-against average and minutes (730:44). The 30-year-old Vantaa, Finland, native is playing in his fifth full NHL season and fourth with the Sharks after backstopping the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in 2010.”

NEW YORK – San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl, who led all rookies with eight goals and 11 points in 13 games, has been named the NHL Rookie of the Month for October.

Hertl edged Calgary Flames center Sean Monahan (6-4—10 in 12 games), Edmonton Oilers center Mark Arcobello (0-10—10 in 14 games), Dallas Stars right wing Alex Chiasson (5-4—9 in 12 games), Nashville Predators defenseman Seth Jones (2-4—6, 25:08 TOI/g in 13 games) and Anaheim Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen (3-0-0, 1.50 goals-against average, .944 save percentage) for the honor.

Hertl, the 17th overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft, recorded his first NHL assist/point in his League debut Oct. 3 versus the Vancouver Canucks. He scored the first two goals of his NHL career in San Jose's next game, Oct. 5 against the Phoenix Coyotes, becoming the youngest player (19 years, 327 days) to record a multi-goal game for the Sharks since March 17, 1999 (Patrick Marleau: 19 years, 183 days).

Skating in just his third NHL game Oct. 8 versus the New York Rangers, Hertl (19 years, 330 days) became the fourth-youngest player all-time – and youngest since Jimmy Carson on March 20, 1988 – to score four goals in a game. He also tied a Sharks franchise record for most goals in a game, set Dec. 19, 1995, by Owen Nolan.

In the general statistics category on the NHL’s official web site as of  11-01-13, San Jose has four players in the top thirty for overall points; two in goals scored; six of the thirty for +/- ; three for number of shots; three for Power play goals; two for short-handed goals; and, two for penalty minutes. In goal-tending, Antti Niemi is tied with Marc-Andre Fleury for games won, he’s #8 in goals against, 16^th in shots against and saves, 23^rd in save percentage, and has two shut-outs.

In team stats, the Sharks ranked number one for the month for wins; ranked tenth for being short-haned (40 times); ranked 3^rd for facing the least amount of shots while on the penalty kill – at 48. The team came was 4^th in goals allowed while players were in the sin bin, at 6 goals. This allowed the Sharks to be ranked at the 5^th spot for penalty kills. They only allowed two short-handed goals, coming in at 9^th place.

At home, San Jose ranked 13^th for power play time, 6^th for being on the penalty kill, and 5^th for the difference between the two. On the road the Sharks were 6^th for the power play, 1th for the penalty kill, and #2 for the difference. Overall, San Jose came in #2 for 90.10 minutes on the man advantage, #8 for visiting the sin bin at a total of 62.32 minutes and a total difference of 27.38 which puts the team at #2. San Jose was whistled down for a total of 39 minutes, to rank #3 for least amount of time. The Sharks ranked #10 for majors (5) and #19 in game misconducts (1 given). The team drew a total of 133 penalty minutes for 11^th place and had four bench minors for 29^th place. They average 10.8 penalty minutes per game, putting the team at the 7^th spot.

The Sharks had a total of 474 shots (4 less than #1 Anaheim) and allowed their opponents 317 shots to place them at #4. The team averaged 36.5 shots per game; good enough for first place while they allowed an average of 24.4 shots (#2).  The Sharks out-shot their opponents 0.818% of the time, for #2.

What can one take away from these numbers? This season’s team is probably the best team ever assembled by Doug Wilson and Todd McLellan, Out of 24 players, 16 have goals, 17 have assists and 22 have registered shots on goal. The guys are doing the job whether it is on the special teams or 5-on-5. The defense has been keeping players from making shots in the first place. Even if the other team gets to the net, they must contend with the brilliant Niemi who has grown eyes on top, the sides, and on the back of his head seeing as he snatches the puck away from the opposition.

Watching different analysts discuss San Jose and reading multiple reports through the month, it is easy to see the nay-sayers. ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun grudgingly conceded the Sharks were number, again, writing “The Sharks are just 0.8 seconds from still having a doughnut in the regulation loss column, deserving a better fate in Boston last week. Still, they're the best right now.”   

Right now?  I have news for you, LeBrun, they have been up there in the top five all season. Get a clue. Last week he wrote,

1

San Jose 7-0-1

-- Last Week: NR

The Sharks aren't just beating opponents, they're crushing them. Points in eight straight games and a plus-23 goal differential make the Sharks the NHL's "it" team right now.

NR – non-rated???  He had them at the number two slot.

 

For your viewing , here are the stats from the official San Jose Sharks web site as of 11-01-13 (red means team high-number)

No	Pos	Player	GP	G	A	P	=/--	PIM	PP	SH	GW	S	S%
39	C	Logan Couture	13	7	9	16	8	0	3	0	1	42	16.7
12	C	Patrick Marleau	13	8	7	15	5	0	4	0	1	47	17
19	C	Joe Thornton	13	1	12	13	8	2	0	0	0	16	6.3
8	C	Joe  Pavelski	13	5	9	14	4	8	3	0	0	42	11.9
48	C	Tomas Hertl	13	8	3	11	8	0	2	0	1	38	21.1
44	D	Marc-Edouard Vlasic	13	3	7	10	13	4	0	1	0	16	18.8
88	R	Brent Burns	8	4	4	8	9	8	0	0	1	27	14.8
57	C	Tommy Wingels	13	3	6	9	7	8	0	1	2	26	11.5
5	D	Jason Demers	13	0	7	7	6	4	0	0	0	15	0
83	L	Matthew Nieto	11	2	3	5	0	2	0	0	1	27	7.4
81	R	Tyler Kennedy	13	1	4	5	7	4	0	0	0	29	3.4
10	C	Andrew Desjardins	13	1	3	4	1	21	0	0	0	16	6.3
15	L	James Sheppard	12	1	3	4	-1	12	0	0	0	16	6.3
61	D	Justin Braun	13	2	1	3	13	4	1	0	1	19	10.5
52	D	Matt Irwin	13	0	3	3	4	13	0	0	0	37	0
27	D	Scott Hannan	12	2	0	2	4	2	0	0	0	12	16.7
22	D	Dan Boyle	6	1	1	2	2	0	0	0	0	21	4.8
7	D	Brad Stuart	8	0	2	2	0	4	0	0	0	9	0
42	R	Matt Pelech	5	1	0	1	1	22	0	0	1	2	50
9	R	Marty Havlat	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	R	Mike Brown	3	0	0	0	0	7	0	0	0	3	0
38	L	Bracken Kearns	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
43	C	John McCarthy	7	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	9	0
75	C	Freddie Hamilton	4	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	5	0

 

 

			GPI	GS	MIN	GAA	W	L	OT	SO	SA	GA	SV%	A	PIM
31	G	Niemi, Antti	12	12	731	1.72	9	1	2	2	277	21	0.924	2	0
32	G	Stalock, Alex	1	1	59	2.03	1	0	0	0	40	2	0.95	0	0

 

March Games						Points	Total
	3-Oct	Canucks	4-1 Win		home	2	2
	5-Oct	Coyotes	4-1 Win		home	2	4
	8-Oct	Rangers	9-2 Win		home	2	6
	10-Oct	Canucks	4-1 Win		road	2	8
	12-Oct	Senators	3-2 OT Win		home	2	10
	15-Oct	Blues	6-2 Win		road	2	12
	17-Oct	Stars	3-4 OT Loss		road	1	13
	19-Oct	Flames	6-3 Win		home	2	15
	21-Oct	Red Wings	1-0 SO Win		road	2	17
	24-Oct	Bruins	1-2 Loss		road	0	19
	26-Oct	Canadiens	2-0 Win		road	2	19
	27-Oct	Senators	5-2 Win		road	2	21
	30-Oct	Kings	3-4 OT Loss		road	1	22

As always, stay safe out there!