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Focus absent in loss to
Wild
Trade deadline distracts
attention
3/9/04 - by Mike Lee
The
NHL trade deadline came and went without the Sharks making much of a splash,
but perhaps the distraction of the day's wheeling and dealing around the league
was enough for the Sharks to lose focus on the visiting Minnesota Wild on
Tuesday night. Evgeni Nabokov certainly wasn't ready for the struggling Wild,
who managed to put four straight goals past the Sharks recently beleaguered
goaltender. Nabokov has given up 11 goals in his past three games, all Shark
losses.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| MIN |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
| SJ |
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0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - S.J,
KOROLYUK (11) (EKMAN, MCCAULEY), 01:42 MIN, JOHNSON (5) (CHOUINARD, VEILLEUX),
11:23 MIN, HENRY (1) (GABORIK, VEILLEUX), 16:02 |
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| 2nd period - MIN,
MICHALEK (0) , 08:14 MIN, DAIGLE (12) (BRUNETTE, CHOUINARD), 09:49 |
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| 3rd period - S.J,
HANNAN (4) (KOROLYUK, EKMAN), 04:15 S.J, KOROLYUK (11) (TOSKALA), 14:09 |
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| 1st period - S.J,
HANNAN, 08:52 - Interference MIN, MIN, 13:40 - Too many men - bench |
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| 2nd period - MTL,
KOMISAREK, 09:45 - S.J, THORNTON, 11:04 - Roughing MIN, MITCHELL, 11:04 -
Roughing S.J, THORNTON, 14:02 - Fighting (maj) MIN, JOHNSON, 14:02 - Fighting
(maj) S.J, PRIMEAU, 18:15 - Interference - Goaltender MIN, DAIGLE, 19:40 -
Interference S.J, EHRHOFF, 20:00 - Hooking |
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| 3rd period - MIN,
PARK, 09:50 - Tripping |
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Shots |
Saves |
| MIN - Fernandez |
31 |
28 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
20 |
16 |
| SJ - Toskala |
4 |
4 |
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2 |
3 |
T |
| MIN |
12 |
10 |
2 |
24 |
| SJ |
6 |
11 |
14 |
31 |
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Things started out in the right direction for the
Sharks, who scored 1:42 into the game on Alexander Korolyuk's 12th of the
season. Korolyuk swatted in a rebound off a Nils Ekman shot. Korolyuk was
floating on the off wing while Alyn McCauley and Ekman tried moving the puck
from the left corner.
The lead proved short lived as Minnesota stormed
back with two goals in the period and two more in the 2nd period. Wild goon
Matt Johnson converted on an Eric Chouinard pass from behind the Sharks net at
11:23 of the 1sr period and Alex Henry scored five minutes later.
Nabokov fell asleep in the 2nd period and it would cost the Sharks dearly.
Zbynek Michalek, brother of Sharks rookie forward Milan Michalek, sent a soft
shot in from the point after the Sharks failed to clear the zone. Nabokov tried
to squeeze the shot with his pads, but it trickled through for Michalek's first
NHL goal.
Alexander Daigle would cap the Wild scoring 1:35 later when
he skated in uncontested from the right corner and slipped the puck past
Nabokov for a 4-1 lead.
Sharks head coach had seen enough of the
Sharks starting goaltender, and immediately yanked him.
The Sharks
tried mounting a comeback in the 3rd period but they would fall a goal short.
Defenseman Scott Hannan scored on a shot that knuckle-balled on Wild
goaltender Manny Fernandez. Korolyuk appeared to tap in the goal, but replays
showed that he swatted at it, but missed.
Korolyuk would cut the Wild
lea to 4-3 with a highlight reel goal at 14:09 of the period. The Sharks
forward split the Wild defense after taking a pass from replacement goaltender
Vesa Toskala, then backhanded a shot through Fernandez's pads.
San
Jose would outshoot the Wild 14-2 in the final period, but their comeback bid
fell short when defenseman Brad Stuart chose to wrap a pass around the boards
with less than ten seconds to play rather than taking a shot from the point.
Play of the Game
It came on the
losing end of the of the score sheet, but Korolyuk's second goal was a thing of
beauty. The speed factor came into play as Korolyuk made a bee-line up the ice
with the puck and managed to whip past a defense that is predicated on trapping
opponents at center ice. Once Korolyuk made it into the Wild zone unscathed,
Fernandez was defenseless.
The Turning Point
Johnson's goal
swung the momentum in Minnesota's favor after the Sharks out skated the Wild
over the first four minutes of the period. All the Minnesota forward has to do
was park himself off the left post and wait for the pass from Chouinard. There
were no Sharks defensemen within ten feet of Johnson to stop the shot.
Save of the Game
Fernandez stoned the
Sharks on three shots in succession while the Sharks were skating on the power
play early in the first period. His best save came off a scrum in front of the
net that resulted in a scoring chance the Sharks should have buried.
Box Scores Do No Justice
Scott Thornton tried to light a fire under
his team by dropping the gloves with Johnson late in the 2nd period after the
scoring damage had been done. That plan didn't work either after Thornton lost
his balance and slipped to one knee. Johnson took several swipes at Thornton,
who was lucky he didn't get his clock cleaned being the vulnerable position
that he was in down on the ice.
Honorable
Mention
The Sharks missed on a golden opportunity to establish a
little breathing room in the Pacific division after the Dallas stars were
shutout 4-0 in Pittsburgh. The Sharks are clinging to a two point lead int eh
division with 1 games to play.
Quotables
"I think everybody
was nervous at the end. I told myself if I at least look like I've got it
together maybe it's the confidence builder the guys needed. - Manny Fernandez
"I don't know what we did. We just didn't come out to play hard. I
don't know if we underestimated them, but we can't afford to do that. We had a
chance to pick up a couple of points on Dallas and get some breathing room
there and we can't afford to have these kind of games this time of the season."
- Scott Hannan
"It was tough toward the end, but Manny made great
saves a couple of times. It's a great win for the kids." - Minnesota head coach
Jacques Lemaire.
Milestones
Michalek's goal was the first of his
NHL career.
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