|
|
Homestand starts off
right
This time SJ holds 3rd lead vs
Oilers
3/9/06 - by Mike Lee
The 8th
seed in the Western Conference is only six points out of the Sharks reach
thanks to a 5-2 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. The
Oilers are the team San Jose is trying to catch for that final playoff spot, so
the game was essentially a four point affair for both clubs. Had the Sharks
lost, they would have been faced with a ten point deficit in the standings. A
blown lead in Edmonton earlier this week cost the Sharks dearly as four teams
continue to fight for that last spot in the West.
Three 3rd period
goals on Thursday night ensured that Edmonton wouldn't steal any points this
time around. Rookie Steve Bernier made sure of that with a pair of goals to ice
the game. Joe Thornton scored the game winning goal just 11 seconds into the
3rd period and added his league leading 65th assist on the games opening score.
Thornton and linemates Jonathan Cheechoo and Nils Ekman broke a 2-2
tie by storming up the ice after a faceoff win and stuffing the puck past new
Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Thornton buried a pass from Cheechoo as the
two skated in on Roloson uncontested.
"We knew this one would be a big
swing, and that's why it was so important," said goalie Vesa Toskala. "It was a
four-point game. Now we're not that far back."
Milan Michalek openend
the game's scoring early in the 2nd period on a put back after the puck
pinballed in the Oilers crease. Thornton crashed the net in an attempt to find
the net, causing all kinds of commotion in front of Roloson. Michalek, who was
lurking on the left post, pounced on the loose puck and deposited a backhand
shot through traffic.
The Oilers put up a fight by answering the
Sharks twice in the period. Jarret Stoll snapped home a shot from the slot on a
pass fro Radek Dvorak after Scott Thornton turned over the puck deep in his own
zone.
After Patrick Marleau gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead on an easy tap
in midway through the period, Raffi Torres knotted things up for the Oilers
after pinching in from the blueline and firing a shot past Vesa Toskala from 20
feet out.
Newly acquired left win Ville Nieminen introduced himself to
Sharks fans with the hit of the game on Ryan Smyth after Torres' goal, helping
to spark some energy on the Sharks bench. Nieminen also bowled over Shawn
Horcoff in the period and blocked a pair of shots as the Oilers tried to build
some momentum.
"The young guys with the way they're competing,
they're really hungry, and that's what you need at this point in the season,"
Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "Not guys who are afraid to fail, but guys that
go out there and compete really hard."
Bernier recorded his first
multi-goal game in the NHL with a tally at the 3:42 mark of the 3rd period,
then again with just under three minutes remaining in the contest. His first
score came on a broken three-on-one chance, after he flubbed on the initial
pass to Scott Hannan. The puck found its way back to Bernier, who jammed it
home.
Marleau setup Bernier for the game's final score with a
centering pass from behind the net.
"It's fun to win, but when you
score two goals, your confidence goes way up," Bernier said of his first career
multigoal game.
Notes:
Toskala got the start in part because
Evgeni Nabokov suffered an upper body injury in the overtime loss to the Mighty
Ducks of Anaheim on Tuesday night. The Sharks recalled Nolan Schaefer to serve
as Toskala's backup.
Scott Parker returned to the lineup after an
extensive absence due to an injury.
 |
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| EDM |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 2nd period - 1, San
Jose, Michalek 13 (J.Thornton, Ehrhoff), 1:01. 2, Edmonton, Stoll 17 (Dvorak),
8:29. 3, San Jose, Marleau 28 (Bernier, Michalek), 11:26. 4, Edmonton, Torres
22 (Tarnstrom, Dvorak), 16:08. |
|
|
| 3rd period - 5, San
Jose, J.Thornton 25 (Cheechoo, Ekman), 0:11. 6, San Jose, Bernier 3 (Hannan,
Michalek), 3:42. 7, San Jose, Bernier 4 (Marleau, Gorges), 17:14. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Moreau, EDM
(roughing), 4:36; Marleau, SJS (holding), 12:45; Moreau, EDM (holding),
14:57. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Pronger,
EDM (hooking), 0:08; Ekman, SJS (hooking), 0:08; Stoll, EDM (tripping),
12:06. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Ekman, SJS
(high-sticking), 6:00; Tarnstrom, EDM (holding), 8:04; Hannan, SJS (hooking),
10:41. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Shots |
Saves |
| EDM - Roloson |
31 |
26 |
| SJ - Toskala |
21 |
19 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| EDM |
5 |
10 |
6 |
21 |
| SJ |
8 |
12 |
11 |
31 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Eric Furlatt, Tom
Kowal. Linesmen: Andy McElman, Mark Wheler. |
|
|
|
|
|
