Combo Recap/Preview

Jake the Socialist   21 October 2017

Happy Saturday Everyone!

You know what never gets old? The warmth of your loved ones.

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Oh. Hockey too. Especially good hockey. Guess what the Sharks have been playing the past week. Did you guess good hockey??? HELL YEAH THEY ARE!!!!

New Jersey

Thinking about this game is a little weird. With the Montreal game, the Sharks looked to be the better team for almost the entire game, while this Devils game had the Devils looking good for a couple nice stretches. The Sharks however, get a solid result with a 3-0 shutout.

That first goal by Mr. Melker Karlsson was a good down low shot that bounced off the far post and in. Hertl’s primary assist was another one of those sneaky behind the net passes that the Sharks seem to like. As good and clean of a crash the net kind of goal as there can be. If Karlsson could do that 15 more times this season, well the Melk-man would have us all asking “Got Melk?”

Last night’s second goal is why Connor McDavid has a Joe Pavelski poster above his bed. Because Joe Pavelski is the fucking best, the pride of Wisconsin hockey (Stick tap to our resident Wisconsin Badger Charlie!) Pavelski takes a probably harmless Justin Braun shot, whizzing along the ice with no elevation, and applies that trademarked Pav8™ Reactive technology and tips the puck maybe 20-30 degrees and that was where the Keith Kinkaid 5-hole was. 2-0 Sharks.

And last goal by Joonas Donskoi was just a really pretty sequence. I’d even qualify it as “a fuckin’ beaut.” He busts in on Kinkaid, pull drags to change the angle and shoots (sometimes a different angle can be nice) then has the Kinkaid rebound land right on his backhand and pots it nicely. Probably goal of the year aesthetically.

Joner’s up! Cuz that’s a Win. (File under: SO - Shutout)

Brooklyn

Tavares has gone 5 games without a point, so expect that Eric Bana looking motherfucker to Hulk Out on us tonight.

Other than that, the Islanders are 3-3-1 to the Sharks 3-3-0, so this is a good measuring stick game to see if the recent play of the Sharks can be sustained again against a team they’ve already seen this year. Last night against New Jersey was a start, let’s see them do it again and then maybe we can breath easy that this year’s Frenzy of Sharks has some teeth.

Fun fact: A group of Sharks can be called a gam, herd, frenzy, school or shiver. The more you know.

If I read the NHL.com stuff correctly, Thomas Griess is in net and Josh Ho-Sang is scratched after getting benched in the third the other night. Isles are dressing 11 Forwards and 7 Dmen tonight. What’s going on there? Apparently dude makes more turnovers than a bakery…

All very interesting. Boo 4 pm starts.

This has been your preview, prediction below.

Quick Awards for the New Jersey game:

Best Shark - Martin Jones - He has a fanbase despite looking a little crazy in the eyes and that fanbase praises him by making penis jokes, actually there is a lot of penis humor among Sharks fans…. (More on that later) And Marty got a shutout, apparently that’s good for us or something.

Best Non Shark - Ryane Clowe - Because he is Ryane Clowe and we are not. We get in trouble if we play a puck from the bench, but not everyone’s favorite Newfie Warrior.

Best Shark Tank Comment - Sippy Shark, for “yeah, joner is throb-city tonight so far”

Great comment here, multi-layered humor. See you have the normal “Joner-boner” intensity joke, but there is also a basketball tie in with throb-city/lob-city. Lob City being, of course, the Griffin/Paul era Clippers of the NBA at their best. Joner was at his best, this comment foreshadowed that, and now we are all in the giant Joner’s shadow (Yeah, it is that big, casts a long shadow)

Prediction for Tonight:

Sharks continue their strong play and play a close game with the Islanders with the Sharks getting a 4-3 win. Goals by LaBanc, Burns, Tierney, and .... Ryan? (Let’s go with that)