Devan Dubnyk had an outstanding performance in net last night, but it wasn't enough as the Sharks fell to the Ducks in the shootout 2-1, suffering their first shootout loss of the season. Although they should've won this game, the Sharks split their first series vs. the Ducks in Anaheim and earn three out of a possible four points in this series.
Despite the outcome, many things went well for the Sharks in this game. Logan Couture scored the first goal of the game 11 seconds after the first puck drop, which set the tone of the game for the first period. Evander Kane and Mario Ferraro picked up the assists on the lone Sharks goal of the game.
Like I have mentioned in previous Sharks game recaps, the Sharks tend to struggle in second periods. In this game, however, their second period issues weren't as apparent as in previous games, but they allowed the Ducks to tie the game on Isac Lundestrom's first of the season. Later on in the second, a wrestling match ensues between Radim Simek and Adam Henrique after Henrique crosschecks Simek.
It remained tied at one until the shootout. Ryan Donato had another sweet and successful shootout attempt by faking out Ryan Miller and burying it in the empty net. However, the Ducks made two of their shootout attempts, while Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc were unsuccessful at theirs.
Most importantly, Devan Dubnyk had his best performance of the season, recording 32 saves and a .970 save percentage. He was the main reason why this game didn't get out of hand for the Sharks. The only issue is that whenever Dubnyk plays his best, the Sharks' offense tends to go cold, which is frustrating to say the least. Basically, He was one unlucky bounce shy of a shutout. The other good news is that Dubnyk will more than likely start the next Sharks game against the Kings on Tuesday.
Patrick Marleau is now tied with Jaromir Jagr for third all-time in games played with 1,733. In addition, he had his best game of the season last night. Rudolfs Balcers made his Sharks debut and had a positive impact on this game, replacing Sasha Chmelevski in the lineup.
The Sharks' record is now 4-5-1 through ten games this season. Games like the one last night convince part of me to want the NHL to abolish the shootout, but I completely understand why the shootout is in place and have accepted the fact that the shootout is here to stay in the regular season for the long haul. San Jose will wrap up its brief So Cal road trip against the Kings on Tuesday and Thursday in LA. Puck drop for both of these games are at 7 pm PT.
One final note: Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I'm not cheering too hard for either the Chiefs or Buccaneers, but I mainly want to see a great game between these two squads. Can't wait to see what goes down in the big game!
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, ESPN
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