Postgame Notes #33: Gabriel Tossed, Sharks Silenced in Desert 4-0

Period 1

3 minutes in: San Jose Sharks are forcing it. Labanc, falling, at point, decides to throw it into slot. It works, great play, but low-percentage bid. Turnover, feeds Arizona counterattack.

Kane-Couture-Labanc-Hertl-Karlsson are #SJSharks PP1, followed by Marleau-Donato-Meier-Ferraro-Burns

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 28, 2021

#SJSharks had 6 shots & 8 shot attempts on that power play

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 28, 2021

10 minutes in, nice job by Leonard to draw in defenseman, give it to Balcers for breakaway. More impressive offensive patience from the rookie.

Following shift, Karlsson has the license to make that pass up the middle, but he better execute. He doesn’t there, bad turnover in a dangerous place. Dubnyk bails out Karlsson. Same goes, by the way, for Burns last night and the breakout pass that led to Coyotes 3-1 lead. No problem, in theory, with live by the sword, die by the sword, but the positives from Karlsson/Burns haven’t outweighed the negatives like they have in previous seasons.

4 minutes in: Balcers forecheck keeps puck alive as Demers tries to skate up. What a shift by Balcers: Doesn’t get a shot off, but constant forechecking and offensive threat.

3 minutes in, Marleau jumps on Ekman-Larsson, intercepts, feeds Meier in slot. Good bit of forechecking from the San Jose Sharks vet.

#SJSharks 17-9 shots, but they still got to get more High-Danger. Per @NatStatTrick, #Yotes 3-2 High-Danger, that's All Situations, including PP

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 28, 2021

Period 2

Comedy of errors there: Meier pass back eludes not one, but two San Jose Sharks players, leads to Coyotes 2-on-1. Simek plays pass, leaving puck carrier (Keller) with one-on-one. Keller beats Dubnyk.

7 minutes in: Good turn and patience by Burns, looks like he’s going to fire hard him, leads Garland to wall, hits easy breakout up middle to Labanc.

9 minutes in: Always dangerous to dive in defensive zone, but Leonard on backcheck times it well, intercepts Coyotes pass to point.

6 minutes left: Good read by Karlsson to jump up, attack net. Labanc shoots for rebound, Karlsson gets a crack, but no dice.

3 minutes left: Gorgeous Karlsson set-up of Leonard, but pass too hard or Leonard not ready. But Karlsson playing chess, not checkers there. Great vision, execution.

Honestly, this is what not-very-good teams do. Both Karlsson and Vlasic, thinking offense, forget about Crouse jumping onto ice behind them. Unacceptable breakaway to allow.

Period 3

2 minutes in: Fast and strong, Meier attacks, creates chance for Simek.

3 minutes in, Balcers has to keep his feet going after that being whistled down, like it or not. Play is still going.

6 minutes in: Nifty indirect pass from Marleau to spring Balcers. Nothing doing though.

Late hit by Gabriel: On re-watch, however, I don’t think it was as bad as it initially looked. Hope Larsson okay though, he was clearly shaken up. It was blindside, so there was option to let up. It just wasn’t that late, in my opinion.

Forget about the lacrosse goal, how about the over the net centering pass? pic.twitter.com/mydHplMAOj

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 28, 2021