Pesky Ott could be handful for Sharks
Stars checking forward will do best to get Joe Thornton off his game
Last Updated: Friday, April 25, 2008 | 1:17 PM ET
CBC Sports
Stars' Steve Ott, right, got under the skin of Anaheim defenceman Mathieu Schneider in their first-round playoff series. (Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press)The most recent memory Steve Ott has of the Sharks is the fists of San Jose centre Joe Thornton meeting his face in a penalty-filled season finale in Dallas on April 6.
Perhaps a little worse for wear, the pesky Ott did his job midway through the first period and got the Sharks' best player off the ice for 19 minutes.
Although the Stars were unable to score on any of their nine power-play chances, they overcame a 2-0 deficit to post a 4-2 win, giving them confidence entering a second-round playoff matchup against the Sharks, which opens Friday in San Jose (7 p.m. PT).
"Joe is a competitive guy, throws his body around and scores big goals, and he didn't like me hitting one of his wingers [Milan Michalek]," said Ott, who scored the insurance marker in that April 6 contest. "I only know one way to play and that's what I am going to do."
Mike Modano is expected to line up against Thornton throughout the best-of-seven NHL Western Conference semifinal, but you can bet his linemate Ott won't be far away, looking to get the six-foot-four, 235-pound Shark off his game.
"My abrasive side will always be there on the ice," Ott told the Dallas Morning News on Thursday. "I love playing against the other team's best players. I want to face him one-on-one, play hard against him and win the little wars so my team can win the game."
One of the more frustrating NHLers to play against, Ott also contributes on the scoresheet. His career season in 2007-08 included 11 goals, 11 assists and a team-leading 147 penalty minutes.
But when Ott believes his team needs to gain an edge, he'll be in the opposition's face. Prior to the 2001 world junior hockey championship in Russia, Ott studied cursing in Russian, Swedish, Finnish, German, French and Czech.
Hard-edged is the Summerside, P.E.I., native's description of his style.
"The wrong response would be to let him get to you and take undisciplined penalties and put your team in a hole," said Sharks left-winger Ryane Clowe, who led his team with four goals and eight points in a first-round series win over Calgary.
"The right response is to tell him, 'You keep that up, just make sure you let [Mike] Modano and [forwards Mike] Ribeiro and [Jere] Lehtinen and [Brenden] Morrow and [Brad] Richards know that every time you do that, we're going to hit those guys twice as hard.'"
The Sharks and Stars combined for 160 minutes in penalties in their last meeting, but players on both sides don't believe there will be a repeat of such theatrics.
Even mild-mannered Michalek started a fight, which gave him more punch-ups in that game than his total offensive output in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Dallas defence a challenge
Better production will be needed from the Sharks' second-leading goal scorer in the regular season if they hope to prevent a third consecutive Round 2 exit.
San Jose will be challenged, as an impressive Dallas defence, comprising rookies Matt Niskanen, Nicklas Grossman and Mark Fistric, held the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks to 13 goals in six games in the conference quarter-finals.
In two previous post-season showdowns with San Jose — both won by Dallas in 1998 and 2000 — the Stars limited the Sharks to combined 19 goals in 11 contests.
San Jose, coming off a 108-point season, has the potential to break out offensively, but will have to solve goaltender Marty Turco, who was impressive against Anaheim (2.01 goals-against average, .912 save percentage).
Sharks counterpart, Evgeni Nabokov, fashioned 2.45, .895 totals against the Flames, a significant dip from his regular-season numbers (2.14, .910).
Turco, though, was also the beneficiary of an effective Dallas power play that made good on 10 of 35 chances versus the Ducks.
The Sharks were the top penalty killing team in the NHL in the regular season and killed off 32 of the Stars' 36 power plays in the eight-game season series, but weren't quite as effective to start the playoffs as Calgary buried six of 22 chances.
Dallas might also get a boost with the man advantage early in this round with the return of Sergei Zubov, who led all Stars blue-liners with 35 points in 46 games this season. He hasn't played since Jan. 17 while healing a sports hernia.
Philippe Boucher (hip) is also out, while the Sharks will be minus fellow defenceman Kyle McLaren (groin) for at least Game 1.
With files from the Associated Press
