The San Jose Sharks are in the middle of an unusual run. They haven’t played since Saturday, and after tonight they won’t play until Tuesday because of the All-Star break. That’s one game in 10 days. The Sharks are on a four-game winning streak and seem to have rediscovered their offense. They have totaled four goals in three of their last four games, after totaling only eight goals in their previous six games, all losses. Tonight, they’re expected to regain the services of forward Ryane Clowe, who missed the previous four games with a leg injury. It’s a big game for both teams. If the Kings win, they will be only one point out of eighth place heading into the All-Star break. If the Sharks win, they will jump back into the top eight in the Western Conference. For the latest on the Sharks, check out this story and game preview box from the San Jose Mercury News.
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The scheduling for a lot of teams this year has been really bad this year. I hope that it’s something the league can work on improving in the future.
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Yet another huge test for the Kings. Will they wither and shrink in the face of a big game or will they play like we all know they can and slaughter the Sharks Chief Brody style.
If I’m doing my math right, Clowe being out 4 games = San Jose gets 4 wins. Therefore, Clowe returning = Sharks lose…right? Yeah, I’m going with that.
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RabidZiggy Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 9:44 am
@wavesinair, Seems like solid math to me!
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Can’t wait for this game!
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It seems like every time we play a team they’re just getting someone back from an injury. Weird. Clearly a conspiracy
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jet Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:04 am
@Matt R, The league just added an exhibition for the Kings in London between the caps and Flyers game.
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Kostamojen Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:10 am
@jet, HAHA! But really, the Caps and Flyers games are early, even for East Coast games!
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lafan13 Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:19 am
@jet,
LOL
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:10 am
@Matt R, I noticed that too. I think it points to how frequent injuries are. I guess to some extent the Kings are fortunate. Odd that they may have played better when they had injuries…though not when Willie went down.
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I’ll state the obvious here but this game is an interesting test because it’s a Need-To-Win gave versus a the cliched Must-Win.
It’s an important divisional game that’s not really a must-win game from a technical standpoint (i.e. the season is not over if we lose), but it is a must-win game if you want to (1) make sure your team is headed in the right direction, (2) see that we have has the mindset to win games it needs to win down the line, and (3) really make sure we put the losing streak behind us
It’s a need-to-win game
Confidence-wise I can see it being huge too. Losing the game and then have 5 days to think about it during the all-star break will drive people (players mainly, but yes us fans too) crazy. Winning the game and having the players feel like the system is working would be huge.
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Jay GoLAKings Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:04 am
@Shakes,
Yes we need this one!
This will be a tight, play-off type game that I see going to a shoot-out. I hope it does not go to a shoot-out, I don’t want the Sharks to have any points.
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jet Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:05 am
@Shakes, Great point and good luck getting out of Philly alive wearing your Kopi jersey.
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Shakes Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 11:41 am
@jet, haha thanks boss!
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:13 am
@Shakes, This works out to be a setup game for the Sharks. They’ve been rested, and are supposed to be fresh, but usually, you lose a step in that situation. The Kings need to jump on them early. For the Kings, it would be a really bad home game to drop, since they have so many road games coming up. The good news is that if they don’t happen to win it (especially if they play well), they’ll be in the mood to practice hard before they hit the road. The road doesn’t give you much chance to practice, so this practice time becomes that much more important.
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wavesinair Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:32 am
@Shakes, Remember, if the Kings are going to reach the 95 point mark (which by all accounts about where they need to be) they need to have the equivalent of a 20-13-0 record from here on out. 13 loses. That’s it folks. We get more than that, it’s all but over. Do we make tonight 12? If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is. Connect the dots Kings and make it teens/teens (19-13).
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAYNE GRETZKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CANT BELIEVE YOU ARE 50 YEARS OLD!!!!! for your birthday we are going to give you a sharks @ss kicking =D GO KINGS GO and long live number 99 the GREAT ONE!!!
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What's the frequency, Kenneth? Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Gees…I can’t believe how old that makes me.
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deanna Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:20 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, And just how old would that be?
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kenny Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:29 am
@What’s the frequency, Kenneth?, dang im 29 and i feel like im hella old! lol, man i remember when i retired, wish he was in our uniform at that time.
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kenny Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:46 am
@kenny, ment to say when he retired lol
From San Jose Mercury News:
At the lowest point, former Sharks GM Dean Lombardi was fined $50,000 for suggesting that video replay calls were going against his team because Mike Murphy, the NHL’s senior vice president for hockey operations, was an unsuccessful candidate to get the job Lombardi now holds. Lombardi later apologized.
I can’t see that helping us in the future with Mike Murphy.
When the refs call it a goal on the ice then thats where its easy for Mike Murphy to step in & decide that there is not enough proof to overturn the goal against the Kings.
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kingme81 Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:24 am
@Jay GoLAKings, I disagree, Mike Murphy’s beef is with Dean Not the kings in general. Plus with all the controversy regarding the call murphy made against the kings, i am sure all eyes are on bettman to see if he will allow this nonsense to continue.
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Jay GoLAKings Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 10:49 am
@kingme81,
So you see it as a 50,000 dollar investment.
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KC23 Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
@Jay GoLAKings, If I’m Murphy with a position that is 100% dependant on the perception of being non-biased and I’ve CLEARLY blown one call and arguabley blown another against a team that would indicate a clear conflict of interest I’d be dam careful about any future calls I make against that team.
Let’s go boys. We need this one, especially against the sharks, and many more.
Play just like the last game and we will be fine.
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To me it doesnt matter if the Team comes off 4 days,because they still can find a way to get the W
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KC23 Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
@KingsFanFTL, Gonna be one intense game. If I had to bet my life on it, I’d go with the Kings tonight.
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I think if we keep the strategy simple and just play 60 minutes of balls out aggressive hockey like we did Monday, we’ll have no problem tonight. We shouldn’t overthink this one.
Just play.
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can you fix the rss feed for the articles?
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