Sharks 6 - Avalanche 5: Game Two Scoring Chances

Evgeni Nabokov was not good.  The story of game two was the fact that Nabokov played worse than replacement-level hockey.  His defense didn't do him many favors - they let the Avs get in tight repeatedly, but Nabokov was just terrible.

Colorado was pasted in this one and still managed to have the lead for much of the game, thanks to the mosquito netting in goal for San Jose.  Shots on goal?  52-22 for San Jose, including 29-17 at even strength and 23-4 with a man advantage.  Yes, that's 23-4 on the power play, and it was even worse.  The Sharks were missing tips and hitting the side of the net and posts all night.  The Sharks were back to being the scary Sharks on the power play and they needed it.

Though the shots were only 29-17 at evens, the Corsi tells the true story.  Colorado was -30 at evens and they were shelled convincingly.  Remember that twofer a few years ago when Dwayne Roloson stopped eleventy-billion shots against the Anaheim Ducks and Sharks?  That twofer was similar to what happened in this game. The ice was slanted the entire night, yet San Jose needed a late miracle to tie.

Scoring Chances

For those who'd like a definition: a scoring chance is defined as a clear play directed toward the opposing net from a dangerous scoring area - loosely defined as the top of the circle in and inside the faceoff dots, though sometimes slightly more generous depending on the amount of immediately preceding puck movement or screens.  Blocked shots are generally not included but missed shots are.  A player is awarded a scoring chance anytime he is on the ice and someone from either team has a chance to score.  He is awarded a "chance for" if someone on his team has a chance to score and a "chance against" if the opposing team has a chance to score.

San Jose outchanced Colorado 34-16 overall, and 20-1 on the power play.  20-1.

Scoring Chances for NHL Game Number 30152

San Jose was not trying to exploit any matchups to my eye and timeonice confirms that.  The closest thing to a match that I could see was Joe Pavelski on Matt Duchene.  It's going to be interesting to see if Joe Sacco can use the last change to try and find a favorable matchup somewhere.

Sacco really shorted his bench and only used them sparingly - though he did use Yelle to take some draws at evens and Yelle was on the penalty kill all night.