#11...In The Shark Tank..."I've been up and down, and over and out..."

Jacques Lemaire wasn't exactly keen on Minnesota's chances in San Jose, considering All-Star Ballotees Marian Gaborik and Brent Burns were held out of action, along with Tomas Mojzis and Owen Nolan; San Jose is firing on all cylinders, so you just grind it out the best you can.
That's life baby.
Starting with the Krys Kolanos goal early in the first, and until the drop of the puck at the beginning of the third period, Minnesota did just that; grind it out and go toe to toe with the Sharks, at the HP Pavilion, with a banged up squad. Then rookie Jamie McGinn got a lucky bounce which led to a deluge of shots for San Jose (21 or 22 shots, depending on who you read; Minnesota could only muster five.) The proverbial blood was in the water; Ryane Clowe, who padded about every stat column possible (had a goal, an assist, a fight, a mugging penalty on James Sheppard, and some shots as well; he was quoted as saying that he would take a Gordie Howe Hat Trick over a regular one anyday. Gotta love that in a player) scored off another lucky bounce shortly after to essentially put the death grip on; after Clowe's initial shot was blocked by Erik Reitz, it came right back to his stick where he ripped a shot past Niklas Backstrom. Any Minnesota attempt to move the puck out of the zone (when that was possible) was then thwarted by 3-5 Sharks in the neutral zone.
Backstrom deserves a ton of credit; he stopped 46 shots to keep Minnesota in the game. That's not to say Minnesota didn't have their chances- James Sheppard had a partial breakaway thwarted by a late poke check, for instance, but in the end they just couldn't keep up with San Jose. I thought Martin Skoula played well also.
It is what it is; however Lemaire wants the kids to look at it like its a moral victory. It is still a notch in the loss column, but I guess the effort can be appreciated considering the circumstances. As shaky a premise that is, it could go a long way- Colorado is awfully shaky at the moment. A win on the road, again with a shortened bench, could maybe get this team going again in the right direction.
That's life...