Healthy Nabokov Carrying Sharks

In a press conference days ago, head coach Todd McLellan called the Sharks "fragile." After losing five out of six, words such as struggling and falling apart might come to mind as well.

The Sharks needed a spark to get back on track, and goalie Evgeni Nabokov provided that spark.

After missing the last seven games due to injury, Nabokov stymied the Los Angeles Kings in a 2-1 shootout victory. He stopped 23 of 24 shots and six out of seven shots in the shootout in winning the game for the scuffling Sharks.

Nabokov and the Sharks took that momentum into "The Pond" in Anaheim on Sunday. But, once again the Sharks offense would only muster one goal. Fortunately, Nabokov made that one goal stand. He stopped all 34 shots to record his sixth shutout of the season.

Hiding behind Nabokov's dominance over the last two games is a Sharks offense that is struggling to score goals.

Joe Thornton has failed to register a point in three consecutive games, and overall the Sharks offense has just three goals in its last three games.

The Sharks have not been the aggressive team of late as they have been regularly outshot by their opponent. The Sharks have not had more shots than their opponent in six of their last seven games.

Most would blame Boucher for the recent losing streak, and after all, he did blow two three goals leads. But the defense has been struggling in front of him for some time. Nabokov posted his highest goals against average in February at 2.76, and Boucher's goal against average is a bloated 3.35 in March.

I tend to believe that the Sharks have simply not been playing very well over since February, and time is wasting for San Jose to find their game back.