With the Trade Deadline looming, the Sharks made a deal to give them real high hopes to make a push at winning the Stanley Cup. The Sharks acquired All-Star forward Bill Guerin from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Ville Nieminen, prospect Jay Barriball and a first round selection in 2007.
Members of the Sharks were instantly excited to have a player of Guerin's caliber on the team.
“We played on the same line for a year (in Boston),” said Joe Thornton. “He’s a good character. Great speed, great shot, he’s just a good team player so he’s a perfect fit for our team. He’s so fast, he can play with anyone.”
Guerin has been in the league for 14 years and brings playoff experience. He has 710 points in in 1,010 career NHL games with St. Louis, Dallas, Boston, Edmonton and New Jersey.
In their first game with the speedy forward, San Jose lost to Nashville 4-3, in a shootout, even though they were winning and dominating the entire game. Guerin's line went pointless, but they were clearly confident with the new forward on the team. It will take some time to gain some chemistry but the Sharks are looking to make a push for the Pacific Division leading Ducks, who they will face on Friday Night.
The Sharks have had their struggles when playing Anaheim this season, losing 4 of their 6 games. San Jose has looked young and weak against the strong Ducks, but with the addition of Guerin, the Sharks have added more firepower to their already devastating offense as well as a veteran presence that will help them stay poised against the Pacific leading Ducks.
The Sharks are 2 points behind Dallas and 6 points behind the Pacific Division leading Ducks, but with a win on Friday night they can close the gap to 4 points. San Jose is currently the 6th seed in the Western Division with about a month left to go in the regular season.
Follow Up
The Sharks lost to the Ducks in Anaheim, 3-1, dropping them even further behind the Ducks in the Pacific Division. Dustin Penner scored first for the Ducks who jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. With about 2 minutes left in the first period Chris Kunitz added his 22nd goal of the season to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead heading into the 2nd period. After a scoreless 2nd period, the Sharks finally got on the board with Craig Rivet's 7th goal of the season. The Sharks just acquired Rivet from Montreal last week in a deal to help the Sharks shore up their defensive issues. With 6 minutes left in regulation, Chris Pronger added his 11th goal on a Ducks Power Play.
Evgeni Nabokov saved 22 of 25 shots whereas his counterpart, Jean-Sebastien Giguere saved 30 of 31 shots for his 30th win of the season.
The Sharks again looked dominated against the almighty Ducks, who have jumped out to a 9 point lead over the Sharks and a 6 point lead over the Stars. The Sharks have lost 5 of 7 meetings against the Ducks and have been outscored 27-17 in those games. San Jose faces the Dallas Stars on Sunday afternoon in what has become a battle for second place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks have now fallen into a tie for 7th place in the West, even though about a month ago they were seeded as high as 4th place in the Western Conference.
Info from the Associated Press was Used in this Article
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