San Jose Watch (Updated 1/13/12)

Last Game

San Jose 2 Winnipeg 0

The Sharks got back to their winning ways on Thursday night with a 2-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets. With the win, the Sharks have now gotten 11 of a possible 12 points in their last six games, going 5-0-1. After a scoreless first period and a half, Logan Couture put the Sharks on the board at 13:36 of the second period. The play was started by Brent Burns, who rushed the puck up to the attacking blue line before he bounced the puck off the glass and into the corner where he passed the puck out front to Couture. From there, all the All-Star forward had to do was rip off a quick shot for his 18^th goal of the season. The Sharks were able to get an insurance goal from Brad Winchester at 2:33 of the third period, as he tapped a rebound past the Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec. Despite giving up two goals and getting the loss, Pavelec played very well in net for the Jets making 35 saves. Not to be outdone, Antti Niemi made 24 saves for the shutout win.  

What’s Up Next?

The Sharks will head to Columbus to play the Blue Jackets at 7PM on Saturday, and then to Chicago for a matchup with the Blackhawks at 7PM on Sunday. You can follow the games with the live blog on the San Jose Sharks website at sharks.nhl.com. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

Where We Stand:

2012 All-Star Game

It was announced today that second year forward Logan Couture will represent the Sharks in the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game, to be played January 29 in Ottawa. Couture joins his head coach Todd McLellan, who clinched a spot on the bench after his Sharks had the highest point percentage half-way through the season, which was officially January 9. The All-Star festivities will go from January 26-29. The event will start on January 26 with the second NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft followed by a skills competition on January 28 before the events finish up with the All-Star game on January 29.

Worcester Alums Doing Big Things:

Benn Ferriero- Ferriero continues to play a strong game in all three zones. He now has five goals on the season and a plus/minus rating of three. This season in 20 games, with Worcester Ferriero has 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points tied for third on the team.

Logan Couture- Couture scored for the second straight game and now has a team high 18 goals on the season. It was also announced on Wednesday that Couture will represent the Sharks in this year’s Tim Hortons All-Star Game. This is Couture’s first time being selected as an NHL All-Star. However he was selected to participate in the rookie section of last year’s skills competition.

Jamie McGinn- McGinn now has three points on three assists in his last five games. McGinn’s eight goals on the year have him tied for fourth on the team.

Joe Pavelski- Pavelski is second on the team in goals (16) and fourth in points (30). Pavelski has also played well on the defensive end, earning a plus/minus rating of 5 and has not recorded a minus in his last 13 games

Justin Braun- Braun has been a stable on the blue line of late. Having now played 27 games this year, he is just shy of matching his career high in games played of 28. Braun has a goal and four assists on the season.

Tommy Wingels- Since being called up on January 5^th, Wingels has played three of four games for San Jose. This season in Worcester, Wingels has posted thirteen goals and eight assists, good for twenty-one points second on the team.

Thomas Greiss- In his last start on January 5^th, Greiss helped lead his team to a 2-1 win. In the game, Greiss stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced earning him his fifth win of the season. Even though playing time has been hard to come by of late, Greiss has played well this season with 5-4 record in 9 starts, a .922 save percentage, and a 2.21 goals against average. This start was Greiss’ first since December 3^rd.