Sharks takeaways: What we learned from 3-2 win over Stars

Share

BOX SCORE

SAN JOSE – One thing is for sure – the Sharks are probably stoked they don’t have to play the Stars anymore this season.

It was another close one between San Jose and Dallas that came right down to the wire as the teams played their third and final game of the regular season series. And while the Stars tried to make things interesting, Team Teal held on to get the 3-2 victory.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday night’s game:

Putting the lines in the blender did the trick

When asked ahead of Thursday’s contest what it would take to beat the Stars, Sharks bench boss Peter DeBoer said he wanted to see a full 60-minute effort from the team.

So, did the Sharks meet those expectations?

Not exactly. Then again, neither did Dallas. The Stars were playing the second game in a back-to-back and were beaten by the Ducks 6-3 the night before. Both the Sharks and Stars looked fairly even through the first 20 or so minutes. It took a little line shuffling on DeBoer’s part to get San Jose’s offense going. The mixing and matching did the trick however, because San Jose’s offense got rolling part way through the second frame.

Speaking of offense …

Timo Meier is a one-man wrecking crew

Heck, what can we say about No. 28 that we haven’t already said? Even before he scored the Sharks’ first two goals on the evening, he was creating chances off the rush and grinding to get the Sharks on the board. 

It’s almost easy to forget Meier missed a few games with an injury, especially since he barely missed a beat. In five games since returning to the ice, he’s notched five goals and four assists, in addition to registering his third and fourth goals in seven career contests against the Stars.

The Sharks finally have three wins in a row …

… now they really need to capitalize on it. Although they got the two points, San Jose looked like they could be in danger of letting the Stars take the game over late – just like they did in Dallas a week ago.

One criticism DeBoer has had, even when the Sharks have won games, is that they aren’t making games easy on themselves. Instead of keeping pressure on the opposition and hemming them in their own zone, San Jose is letting teams stick around. If they want to really get a winning streak going and put teams away, this is an area they need to tighten up.
 

Contact Us