Team Effort Has Lead To Season Turnaround 

Team Effort Has Lead To Season Turnaround

The Sharks recent turnaround to the season has been a direct result of every player on the roster working together to score goals while maintaining their defensive responsibilities. Their power play and penalty killing has improved as well. They have killed off twenty-nine of their thirty-one penalties and scored in eight of their forty-one power play opportunities during their last nine games. Their power play is currently ranked tenth in the NHL and their penalty kill is ranked sixteenth. As a result, they have scored more goals and reduced the amount of goals allowed.

It seems that every night there has been a different hero and the offensive production has spread throughout the team. Nearly every member on the roster has chipped in the scoring. On Thursday at home against the Colorado Avalanche, Nils Ekman scored two goals. It was his first career two-goal game of the season and of his career. In Calgary on Tuesday, Jonathan Cheechoo scored the only goal of the game. Niko Dimitrakos is second among NHL rookies in +/- rating with a +6 rating.

The Sharks will have a chance to gain two points on a division rival, the Dallas Stars, in tonight's home game. The fact that the game is against a divisional opponent gives it more significance than if it were against a non-divisional one. A win or loss against a division or conference foe creates a four-point swing in the standings.

Not only have the Sharks been scoring more and playing better defense, they have also benefited from Vesa Toskala's stellar goaltending. The rookie goalie from Finland has provided the team with confidence in net at a time they have needed it most. Starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov has been out for nine games with a groin injury and Miikka Kiprusoff was traded for a second round draft choice last month.