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Special teams turnaround in
Game 2
SJ scores three PP
goals
4/23/06 - by Mike Lee
The two
things the Sharks
figured they'd have to shore up after losing the first game of their
Western
Conference match up to the Nashville Predators, were reducing the number
of
penalties committed and tightening up on the penalty-kill when they were
penalized. So much for reducing the number of penalties committed. No
matter,
because their smothering penalty-kill stymied the Predators on nine
different
infractions, including a third period 5-on-3 en route to a 3-0 shutout on
Sunday afternoon.
It was a complete about-face from their Game 1
loss
when they surrendered four power play goals, including therein the
opening
period. San Jose turned the tide and scored three power play goals
themselves
in the 1st period, knotting the series at 1-1.
The Sharks took
advantage of two different 5-on-3 three opportunities to secure all the
offense
they would need to control the game. San Jose exploited the Predators
inability
to heed a warning that officials would not relax penalty calls because it
was a
playoff game.
With Mike Sillinger already in the
box for high sticking, Danny Markov took a lazy hooking penalty to setup
the
Sharks first goal five minutes into the contest. On the ensuing two-man
advantage, Jonathan Cheechoo netted his first goal of the playoffs.
Nashville learned little from that initial scoring sequence, because they
would
offer up another two-man advantage later in the period. Brendan Witt
kicked
things off with a holding penalty at 15:15, then Jerred Smithson was sent
off a
minute later when he tried taking Joe Thornton out with a knee.
Wilson
called a timeout to give Thornton a chance to test out the knee and
settle the
rest of his bench. It turned out to be a key moment in the game. San Jose
converted 15 seconds after Smithson was sent off, when Patrick Marleau
fired a
clearing attempt past Chris Mason after a wild scrum in front of the
Predators
net.
Since the Sharks scored before either Witt or
Smitson's penalties expired, only Witt was allowed to exit the box. The
Sharks
would make the Predators pay a minute later when Jonathan Cheechoo found
Mark
Smith with a cross-ice pass that Smith one-timed a bomb past Mason.
It
didn't help Nashville that a defenseman lost his stick on the play, but
you
could have driven a bus through the passing lane that Cheechoo had to
setup the
goal.
Nashville certainly had
their own opportunities on the man-advantage, but they could do nothing
with
those chances. After allowing Paul Kariya to run wild on the power play
in Game
1, the Sharks put a clamp on the Predators forward.
San Jose
sent five men to the penalty box in the 3rd period,
which gave Nashville an opportunity to get back in the game, but Vesa
Toskala
stopped all 10 shots in the period. He would turn aside all 25 shots in
the
game to record his first career playoff shutout.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| NAS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| 1st period - 1, San
Jose, Cheechoo 1 (Marleau, Preissing), 5:37, (pp). 2, San Jose,
Marleau 1
(Ekman, Cheechoo), 16:31, (pp). 3, San Jose, Smith 2 (Cheechoo,
Ehrhoff),
17:31, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Legwand,
NAS (high-sticking), 1:37; Thornton, SJS (roughing), 2:41;
Sillinger, NAS
(high-sticking), 4:26; Markov, NAS (hooking), 4:47; Marleau, SJS
(hooking),
10:04; Witt, NAS (holding), 15:15; Smithson, NAS (kneeing),
16:16. |
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| 2nd period - Thornton,
SJS (goaltender interference), 4:46; Legwand, NAS (hooking), 6:18;
Ehrhoff, SJS
(cross-checking), 8:59; Witt, NAS (interference), 11:53; Eaton, NAS
(hooking),
14:10; Hartnell, NAS (roughing), 19:13. |
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| 3rd period - Thornton,
SJS (holding), 1:24; McLaren, SJS (interference), 6:07; Michalek,
SJS
(interference), 9:30; Nieminen, SJS, minor-misconduct
(interference), 10:02;
Weber, NAS (holding), 15:50; Gorges, SJS (tripping), 19:02. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Toskala |
25 |
25 |
| NAS - Mason |
37 |
34 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
15 |
11 |
11 |
37 |
| NAS |
7 |
8 |
10 |
25 |
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| Referees: Bill McCreary, Kelly
Sutherland. Linesmen: Vaughan Rody, Jay Sharrers. |
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