|
|
5th seed locked after Duck
lunch
Cheechoo records 5th hat-trick of the
season
4/15/06 - by Mike Lee
The
Sharks had a chance to lock up the 5th seed in the Western Conference on
Saturday afternoon, but they were facing the team directly behind them in the
standings in the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The game may have been decided in the
first 21 seconds of the game when Joe Thornton scored his 29th goal of the
season. It wasn't the knockout blow that decided the 6-3 Sharks win, but it set
the tone for a wild afternoon at HP Pavilion.
After Thornton's shot
across the bow, San Jose would tack on three more goals before the Ducks knew
what had hit them. Jonathan Cheechoo would record his fifth hat-trick of the
year in the rout, vaulting him into the NHL goal scoring lead with 56. Thornton
would add two assists to his goal to take a three point lead in the NHL point
scoring chase. Cheechoo and Thornton both lead New York Rangers forward Jaromir
Jagr in their respective scoring races.
"The right guys are scoring
for us," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "I'm cheering for Joe to win the scoring
title and for Cheech to win the goals title, the Richard Trophy. Provided it
doesn't take away from what we're trying to do to win, I'll do everything in my
power to put them in the position to succeed."
After Anaheim iced the
opening faceoff, San Jose converted on the ensuing drop when Nils Ekman setup
Thornton with a pass in front of Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Cheechoo
would convert on a power play midway through the opening period, after Ekman
again setup the goal with a pass. Only this time, the Sharks moved the puck
with surgical precision, catching Gigure flat footed as he tried to adjust to
the back and forth passes across the slot.
"It's great, but we're
looking toward the postseason now," Thornton said. "I think we'll be a tough
matchup for teams."
The Sharks turned a potentially disastrous
situation into gold four minutes later. With Steve Bernier already in the box
for hooking, Cheechoo was called for the same infraction, giving Anaheim a
5-on-3 advantage for 30 seconds. The trio of Mark Smith, Kyle McLaren and Scott
Hannan kept the puck out of their own net, and Smith intercepted a Ducks pass
just as Bernier was stepping back on to the ice.
Rather than icing the
puck, Smith whipped a pass to Bernier at center ice. The Sharks winger grabbed
the puck, then raced in on Giguere uncontested and snapped home his 14th goal
of the season.
The 2nd period proved to be slightly better for the
Ducks, who were outscored 2-1. Cheechoo kickd things off a power play goal 49
seconds into the period. Like so many times this season, Thornton assisted on
the play by drawing attention away from his linemates. After a Thornton shot
bounced off Giguere, the puck rattled around in the crease before perching
itself on the left post. Cheechoo hacked at it twice, before punching it into
the Duck's goal.
Ryan Getzlaf would finally get Anaheim on the
scoreboard, when he fired a shot from the point past Vesa Toskala through
traffic. It was the only power play the Ducks would convert on even though they
had seven opportunities.
Ekman would score his 21st of the season with
just under three minutes to play in the period to help San Jose reclaim a
four-goal lead before the 2nd intermission.
Ducks head coach Randy
Carlyle tried to light a fire under his team by replacing Giguere and replacing
him with Ilya Bryzgalov the start the 3rd period. Anaheim mounted a comeback
and pulled the game to within a two-goal margin after Joffrey Lupul and Andy
McDonald scored before the ten minute mark of the period. The Sharks buckled
down and turned aside a power play chance for the Ducks when Cheechoo drew his
third penalty of the game at 11:57.
"We were standing around a little
too much," said Carlyle. "We got ourselves into some problems. We were standing
around watching Cheechoo and Thornton move the puck, and that's a disaster when
you do that."
With the 5th seed on the line for both teams, Carlyle
pulled Bryzgalov for the extra attacker with a minute remaining in the game,
but Cheechoo would cap things with an empty-net shot from his own zone. The
puck sailed the length of the ice, before coming to rest in the back of the
vacated Anaheim net.
Hats rained from the sky as the stands erupted
with approval after Cheechoo secured things with 1.5 seconds remaining on the
clock. Officials declared the game over after arena officials tried in vain to
clear the ice of the baseball caps that kept appearing even after the Ducks
skated off the ice.
"We're a pretty confident bunch right now," said
Cheechoo. "We're in a good position that we earned. A lot of hard work is
paying off, because it feels like we've been playing for our lives ever since
the Olympics."
 |
| 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 |
| ANA |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| SJ |
3 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, San
Jose, J.Thornton 29 (Ekman, Cheechoo), 0:21. 2, San Jose, Cheechoo 54 (Ekman,
J.Thornton), 11:03, (pp). 3, San Jose, Bernier 14 (Smith), 15:02, (sh). |
|
|
| 2nd period -
4, San Jose, Cheechoo 55 (J.Thornton, Ekman), 0:49, (pp). 5, Anaheim, Getzlaf
14 (S.Niedermayer, McDonald), 10:12, (pp). 6, San Jose, Ekman 21 (Cheechoo,
Preissing), 17:14, (pp). |
|
|
| 3rd period - 7, Anaheim,
Lupul 28 (Friesen, Getzlaf), 7:45. 8, Anaheim, McDonald 33 (Kunitz,
Beauchemin), 8:42. 9, San Jose, Cheechoo 56, 19:58, (en). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Salei, ANA
(hooking), 4:59; Gorges, SJS (hooking), 8:32; DiPenta, ANA (hooking), 10:56;
Bernier, SJS (hooking), 12:54; Cheechoo, SJS (hooking), 14:23; Lupul, ANA
(holding), 15:43; Cheechoo, SJS (tripping), 16:30; Friesen, ANA
(cross-checking), 19:56. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Ehrhoff,
SJS (holding the stick), 2:55; Lupul, ANA (cross-checking), 3:27; Carle, SJS
(hooking), 9:43; Lupul, ANA (slashing), 13:24; Getzlaf, ANA (hooking),
16:59. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Cheechoo,
SJS (tripping), 11:57. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Shots |
Saves |
| ANA - Giguere |
18 |
13 |
| ANA - Bryzgalov |
3 |
3 |
| ANA - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Toskala |
34 |
31 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| ANA |
10 |
10 |
14 |
34 |
| SJ |
10 |
8 |
4 |
22 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Dean Warren, Brad
Watson. Linesmen: Brian Mach, Jay Sharrers. |
|
|
|
|
|
