S.O.L.

50 Internet Points if you get the reference

1-2-4 in the last 7 games. 3 shoot out losses have made the Sharks S.O.L. for the last 2 weeks.

There's a couple of prevailing theories floating around on the internet about what's going on.

On one hand, the sky is falling. San Jose used to shut the door on their opponents through the first 30 games. The Sharks would get the game tying goal with 3 seconds, not the Sabres. San Jose would score the final shootout goal, not Pittsburgh. We're seeing a regression to the Same Old Sharks of the past 3 years.

I firmly disagree.

The final record from the 5 game road trip settled at 1-1-3, which looks absolutely horrible on paper, but is still 5 out of 10 available points. We took 2 points from Boston, a point from Pittsburgh the next night after a highly physical game, and a point each from Columbus and Buffalo after battling through early adversity. Those are some pretty significant accomplishments.

Add to this the illness and injury San Jose is facing - We all know JR, Mitchell, and Lukowich are still on the shelf. Now Goc is out for a couple of weeks and there's a wicked flu ripping through the locker room.

I'm not making excuses; I just don't think the sky is falling. Every team goes through slumps and injury, this is just one of the down swings in San Jose's so-far epic season. If you need any more reassurance, Boston has dropped 4 straight and Detroit has lost 2 in a row.

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With that said, I think it's time to call out San Jose's top guns. With the exception of Dan Boyle, none of San Jose's biggest stars have been subject to the same illness issues as the rest of the lineup. During the dog days of a season, the top guys should be carrying more than their weight. That has certainly not been happening lately:

• Joe Thornton posted 8 points and a -2 over the last 5 games. If you throw out his 4 assist outburst against Buffalo, that falls to 4 points and a -4 in those 4 games. Sunday vs. the Devils might have been his worst game of the year. The 2 minor penalties he took absolutely killed San Jose.
• Evgeni Nabokov... well, you've been watching. .860 SV% on the road trip. I don't like to think about how Nabby has played lately...
• Gooch & Blake have been a little better, but still posted 0 +/- on the road trip.

Marleau has been the one shining light lately - +2 with 7 points in the last 5 games.

Let's get some big games out of Jumbo & Nabby and snap this thing before the girder-laced sky of HP Pavilion really starts to fall.