Bad call, but not the lone culprit

Match penalty?

Let's get it out of the way right now: It was a regrettable call; OK, a questionable call; nay, a pathetic call.  Sharks' fourth-line forward Andrew Desjardins did nothing wrong in Tuesday's game against Chicago. The video above is the Comcast Chicago broadcasters Eddie Olczyk (one of my favorite analysts in the game) and Pat Foley, who themselves questioned why Desjardins' hit on former Shark Jamal Mayers drew the former five minutes for the dreaded "illegal hit to the head" and a match penalty to end his night early. Only Blackhawks' defenseman Duncan Keith's decision to go all Ryan O'Byrne on Desjardins and pick a fight that cost Keith 17 minutes worth of sin bin time saved San Jose -tied with Chicago 3-3 in the second period at the time- from enduring an entire five-minute power play against the dangerous Blackhawks. The teams skated four-on-four  But the most contentious fans who blame officiating for everything had easy fodder to cite the injustice on Desjardins for the Sharks' 5-3 defeat in a matchup of the Western Conference's top two teams in points. The conspiracy theorists have a point in this case...

...Considering Chicago took advantage of the open ice and some regrettable Douglas Murray stick work (we'll get to the sloppy Sharks later) and Jonathan Toews' brilliance set up Patrick Kane's game-winner when the teams skated with four each since the Sharks in reality should have been on their own power play. Coach Todd McLellan of San Jose wasn't happy, nor should he have been:

"It was a terrible call. I don't know if we were going to be able to come back or not, but at that point we were still in the game and we had every opportunity to win and probably should have been on a four-minute power play. It was an awful call."

Even before the game ended, the Sharks were informed the officials made a mistake and Desjardins should not have been punished (the NHL then rescinded the match penalty). And I'm sure a standup guy like Mayers would by now change his mind after he was quoted as claiming Desjardins hit him illegally in the head. But the Sharks already were in a difficult enough spot playing an outstanding team, and anyone who says that sequence didn't affect the outcome are kidding themselves. And it's not even the first time this month a team was burned by a phantom hit to the head that wasn't match penalty. So it's a trend the officials need to be cognizant of going forward. But I consider myself objective and have been that way during my sports reporting career. So it's just one setback the Sharks had plenty of chances to overcome....

However, San Jose couldn't do that, and three consecutive defeats after a 7-0 start will sting during a needed three-day break until the next game. The Sharks only have themselves to blame for letting slip away 2-0 and 3-1 leads. You knew this was going to be a battle when Michal Handzus put San Jose ahead 3-1, the Blackhawks won the faceoff, Viktor Stalberg hit Bryan Bickell behind the net, Andrew Shaw somehow got right in front of Antti Niemi in the crease and ripped in the puck just eight seconds after the Sharks regained a two-goal lead. The Sharks' last lead then lasted all of 42 seconds with the first of two...

...Terrible moments by Sharks' blueliners that should be equally be attributed to the loss as the Desjardins fiasco. Justin Braun, who like many San Jose defensemen has been up and down thus far, tried to skate out just in front of the net, but he left behind the puck to Marcus Kruger for another rather easy tap-in. Then came Kane's deciding goal on the heels of the Desjardins incident. Murray, whose speed is in question but strength to get the puck out should not be, gained possession and started to break out. But Toews rather easily stole the puck from Murray, flipped it to Kane, and Niemi had no chance with the right side of the net. It was the kind of giveaway Sharks' defensemen have been guilty of throughout the early season. Brent Burns, you're still missed. Get well soon. ...

Time to move on to Phoenix coming to San Jose Saturday afternoon before the Sharks' six-game road trip beckons (with those two visits to Chicago's United Center, so circle those games on your must-see calendar). But a quick shout out to -finally!- some San Jose secondary scoring. The third line of Handzus, Tommy Wingels and James Sheppard seemed like the team's best on Tuesday. First, it was Handzus finding a streaking Wingels down the left side and a top shelf laser past Corey Crawford. Minutes later, Wingels returned the favor, firing a dart through some traffic to Handzus, who like Wingels found the back of the net for his first of 2013. Can that line be effective against Phoenix and beyond to take some pressure off the five forwards who prior to that flurry provided all the front line scoring for the season?