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SJ continues dominance over
LA
Thornton tossed again
1/24/06 - by Mike Lee
It's too bad the Sharks can't
play the Los Angeles Kings more often. San Jose completed a home-and-home sweep
of the Kings at HP Pavilion on Tuesday night. Patrick Marleau scored two goals
and added an assist to power the Sharks. San Jose has won four of five games
against the Kings this season. The two-game series between the two teams
equated to an eight point swing in the division standings, allowing the Sharks
to climb to within four points of the 8th seed in the Western Conference.
After playing the night before, the Kings were at a distinct
disadvantage. That was evident throughout the night. Sharks goaltender Evgeni
Nabokov only faced 16 shots on net, and didn't allow a goal until Joe Corvo
converted on the power play six minutes into the 3rd period.
"They
might be a little bit fatigued, but we don't care," Nabokov. "We're trying to
get together our own team and keep going on this roll. We've been skating
pretty good, and that's why they were trying to change the game, fighting a
little more. ... It didn't work."
Marleau staked the Sharks to an
early lead with his 20th goal of the season just 2:46 into the contest. The
Sharks captain took a dump off pass from Mark Smith, then snapped a shot that
worked its way through Kings goaltender Jason Labarbera's pads.
The
Sharks would jump all over the Kings in the 2nd period after Los Angeles kicked
of a parade to the penalty box. With Corvo sitting in the box serving a double
minor for cutting Josh Langfeld with a highstick, Nils Ekman converted with his
11th goal of the season on a shot from the high slot.
Kings agitator
Sean Avery would commit a huge gaff by taking a roughing penalty, while Corvo
was tearing up the ice on a breakaway attempt. On the ensuing power play, Milan
Michalek roofed a shot from point blank range after Jonathan Cheechoo setup him
up with a centering pass at in the slot. Michalek skated in uncontested on
Labarbera and easily lifted the puck over the Kings goaltender's right
shoulder.
"Fatigue was only a factor after we had to kill all the
penalties in the third period," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "I liked our
competitive level, but we just wore ourselves out."
The assist by
Cheechoo extended his scoring streak to twelve games, matching a franchise
record, set by Rob Gaudreau in 1992.
Things got interesting in the 3rd period after Corvo
scored to cut San Jose's lead to 3-1. Joe Thornton was ejected for the second
time in two weeks after he hit Tom Kostopoulos from behind, sending the Kings
right wing head first into the boards. Thornton received a five-minute major
and a game misconduct for the infraction.
San Jose made a statement on
the ensuing penalty-kill, allowing only a single shot during the extend
penalty. Los Angeles had a tough time getting the puck into the Sharks zone,
much less putting the puck on net.
Trailing by a pair of goals, Kings
head coach Andy Murray pulled Labarbera with two and half minutes remaining in
regulation. Marleau quickly doused any notion of a Kings comeback by scoring an
empty netter immediately after Murray decided play with six skaters.
"In the third period of back-to-back games, I don't know if they really had the
energy to take advantage of the power play," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "We
talked about if we pushed the pace, there's a good chance we'll draw penalties
tonight."
Notes:
Marleau got chippy with Tim Gleason
after the Kings defensemen took liberties after a whistle in front of the Los
Angeles net. Marleau returned pleasantries by cross checking Gleason and
setting off a scrum in the corner. Scott Thornton was quick to remind Gleason
that he would do the dancing if things got out of hand.
Thornton would
oblige the Kings the next period when he and George Parros squared off.
Thornton landed a shot to the body and one clean punch to Parros' head, but the
Kings winger lost his feet, quickly ending the fight.
It was unclear
if the league had rescinded Joe Thornton's game misconduct for his hit on that
ended in his first ejection as a Shark. If it was, Thornton would not have
triggered a mandatory one-game suspension for multiple misconduct penalties. If
the league didn't overturn the first infraction, the Thornton will be forced to
sit out Thursday's game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, S.J,
Marleau 20 (Smith, McLaren), 02:46 |
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| 2nd period - 2, S.J,
Ekman 11 (Marleau, McLaren), 14:02, 3. S.J, Michalek 9 (Cheechoo, Smith), 17:12
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| 3rd period - 4, L.A,
Corvo 11 (Armstrong, Camalleri), 05:52 S.J, Marleau 21 (Gorges), 17:38 |
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| 1st period - L.A,
Giuliano, 03:32 - Hooking L.A, Parros, 11:53 - Roughing S.J, Davison, 11:53 -
Roughing S.J, Davison, 11:53 - Roughing S.J, S. Thornton, 14:47 - Roughing S.J,
Marleau, 14:47 - Hi stick L.A, Gleason, 14:47 - Roughing L.A, Giuliano, 18:18 -
Hooking L.A, Brown, 18:36 - Hi stick |
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| 2nd period - L.A, Brown,
01:24 - Hi stick L.A, Brown, 01:24 - Hi stick L.A, Brown, 06:20 - Interference
- Goaltender S.J, Nabokov, 06:20 - Tripping L.A, Parros, 08:52 - Fighting (maj)
S.J, S. Thornton, 08:52 - Fighting (maj) L.A, Visnovsky, 10:32 - Tripping L.A,
Corvo, 13:33 - Hi stick L.A, Corvo, 13:33 - Hi stick L.A, Avery, 16:20 -
Roughing S.J, Marleau, 19:58 - Interference |
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| 3rd period - L.A,
Robitaille, 00:37 - Boarding S.J, Davison, 05:11 - Cross check S.J, J.
Thornton, 07:58 - Hi stick S.J, J. Thornton, 11:13 - Boarding (maj) S.J, J.
Thornton, 11:13 - Game misconduct |
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Shots |
Saves |
| LA - Labarbera |
29 |
26 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
16 |
15 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
5 |
3 |
8 |
16 |
| SJ |
12 |
13 |
5 |
29 |
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| Referees: Eric Furlatt, Rob
Shick. Linesmen: Brad Lazarowich, Vaughan Rody. |
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