NHL Preview Roundup (Part VII)
Continued from part VI...
Columbus at San Jose (10:30 p.m. ET)
San Jose Sharks has a great opportunity to recover from its recent failures and get in a strong position to lead the National Hockey League (NHL) Western Conference as it hosts the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday at HP Pavilion, San Jose, California.
San Jose is ranked at third position with 60 points after 47 games.
The Western Conference is unarguably more challenging than the Eastern one with the presence of teams like Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues.
All of these teams have more points than Sharks, but the latter is still holding on the third position because of less number of games played.
San Jose is the only team in the conference that has played 47 games and hence has more chances to reach the top if it manages to win the next few games.
The team was doing well at the start of this month, but did not have an outstanding last couple of weeks.
It won four of first five games, but lost four in next five.
San Jose edged past Calgary Flames (1-0) in the last game in which the goal was scored in the final period.
Sharks’ goalie, Antti Niemi, completed his third shutout of the season and was appreciated by everyone around.
Benn Ferriero, who scored the goal, said about his goalie that:
"He's unbelievable. He plays that way every single night and gives us a chance to win every single night, and most of the time, he's the first star. That's just what he does, and we've come to expect it from him."
The Sharks can start a new winning run after the All-Star break as they will face the feeble Columbus Blue Jackets.
Columbus is ranked at the bottom of the NHL Western Conference with meagre 32 points after 49 games.
Columbus has not won two straight games since November and is on a four-game losing streak. It played 11 games this month and lost eight of them.
The last three defeats came on road against Detroit Red Wings (3-2 shootout), Nashville Predators (4-1) and Tampa Bay Lightning (4-2).
Columbus started the game against Lightning in a relatively better way. After going one goal down it provided an equaliser in the first period.
However, Lightning scored two goals in the second period and one in the third to leave Blue Jackets behind.
Columbus’ coach, Todd Richards, who thought his team batted until the end, said that there were many flaws to overcome.
He commented:
"You're looking for the energy, and I know there's circumstances that make it difficult at times, but I still thought for a 60-minute game that we could have and should have been better in certain areas."
Although it is looking like a one-way battle, Sharks should ensure that they give no loop holes to Columbus in the game.
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