San Jose Sharks Complete East Coast Road Trip 4-2

The San Jose Sharks embarked on a six-game, Eastern Conference road trip just under two weeks ago. They played three games in the first nine days before the final three games in four days tested their physical and mental stamina.

Considering the competition, finishing 4-2 was impressive. The trip included games against two of the top six teams in the league (the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers) and two more against teams currently in the playoff picture according to point percentage (the Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers).

Factor in missing players and the results are all the more cause for optimism. Coach Todd McLellan had to juggle lines because he was missing Joe Pavelski and Torrey Mitchell for all six games, Ryan Vesce and Devin Setoguchi vs. Philadelphia, and Douglas Murray vs. Washington.

Overall, the Sharks were outshot 174-186 but outscored their opponents 22-17. In the four games they were outshot, they finished 3-1 (losing only to Washington). They split the two games in which they outshot their foes, beating the Rangers but losing to Tampa Bay.

Moreover, McLellan finally showed a bit of faith in backup goalie Thomas Greiss, who rewarded that faith with a 37-save effort (.974 percentage), easily the best of the trip. He made an incredible save of a Claude Giroux shot and turned away a sequence of three shots that would have enabled the Flyers to enter the second period with a lead.

His performance was crucial because of the inconsistency of Evgeni Nabokov—he let in a goal he should not have against the Capitals and two more against the Lightning. Other than the game against the New York Islanders (the league's fifth-worst offense), he did not finish a single performance with a .900 save percentage, although a good deal of that can be placed on defensive miscues.

But the defence in front of Greiss, while allowing 38 shots, was better. San Jose showed discipline with the puck and grit in the offensive end, with their checking lines netting three of the four goals (two by Manny Malhotra). Even sniper Dany Heatley's power play goal came when he took two whacks at a rebound from behind the net.

Because of the success of this trip, the Sharks now have the seventh-best point percentage in the West even though they have played two more road games than any other team in the conference.

They are 5-4 overall away from the Shark Tank and 2-0-1 in it. They have just two games at home before starting November with three more games in the Eastern Time Zone (Carolina, Columbus, and Detroit).