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Sharks flex some muscle in Game
3
Marleau scores a pair in win
4/25/06 -
by Mike Lee
Anyone remember that guy Patrick Marleau? He's
the
Sharks centerman who also doubles as team captain. Amid all the hype Joe
Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo have created this season, it's easy to
forget
about the guy who led the Sharks to the Western Conference Finals in
2004.
Marleau provided a timely reminder on Tuesday night as the Sharks rolled
the
visiting Nashville Predators 4-1 in Game 3 of their Wester Conference
Quarterfinal matchup.
Marleau scored a pair of goals to lead the
Sharks to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. San Jose need more than
half
the game to kick start their offense, but once Marleau broke the ice
midway
through the 2nd period, the flood gates opened.
Nashville
managed to keep the Sharks in check the entire 1st period, even though
San Jose
outshot the Predators 14-5. A quick tempo was the order of the day after
the
opening faceoff, but San Jose couldn't get the bounce they needed to
solve
Chris Mason early.
Nashville even managed to score the game's
first
goal on a short-handed chance 6:33 into the contest. Cheechoo failed to
control
a pass while the Sharks were setting up in Nashville's zone, which
allowed
three Predators to spring up the ice with the puck. Greg Johnson would
carry it
up ice, before sending a pass across the slot to Kimo Timonen on the left
post.
Timonen one timed the pass passed a screened Vesa Toskala for the only
lead
Nashville would have all night.
As was the case the period
before, San
Jose continued to dictate the flow of the game, and controlled the puck
for
extended stretches which prevented Nashville from generating any kind of
offense. Marleau would finally break through with a bullet that beat
Mason from
the left wing boards at 12:10 of the 2nd period.
Nashville would start a parade to the penalty box, which included a Mark
Eaton
tripping penalty with just over three minutes to play in the middle
period. The
Predators would pay dearly for that mistake, when Bernier bagged his
first
career playoff goal on the ensuing power play. Christian Ehrhoff, who had
three
assists on the evening, setup the goal with a shot that Mason failed to
control.
Bernier had little to do except grab the rebound and,
sidestep a fallen Mason and deposit the puck into the goal for the 2-1
lead.
The Sharks seemed to toy with the Predators in the 3rd period.
Only
down a single goal, Nashville could have made the evening a very
frustrating
one for the Sharks had they mustered any offense, but even two power play
chances early in the period did little to help revive the Predators
offense.
Cheechoo put the game out of reach with his second goal of the
playoffs at 15:38, with a blast from the blueline that found a seem
between
Mason's pads.. It broke Nashville's back because it was a reasonably easy
shot
to defend, but Mason was partially screened by one of his on defenders
and the
blast was by him in a heartbeat.
Marleau book-ended his evening
with a
quirky goal late in the contest. The Sharks captain flubbed a simple
dump-in
attempt, misfiring as he tried to get around Dan Hamhuis just inside the
Predators blueline. Rather than reaching the end boards, the puck
dribbled off
Marleau's stick just past Hamhuis. With an extra step, Marleau coasted
around
the Predators defender, regained control of the puck then beat Mason with
a
move to his left before sliding the puck into an empty net.
Toskala
finished with 16 saves, recording his second consecutive playoff victory.
One
of the those saves came on a 2nd period breakaway that would have put the
Predators back on top 2-1. The Sharks goaltender waited patiently for the
2-on-1 to evolve, then deftly slid to his left to stuff a cross-ice
one-timer
with his pad pinching off anything inside the right post.
Joe
Thornton
was kept off the score sheet, but his presence was certainly felt. He
beat
Johnson on a partial breakaway in the 3rd period, drawing a hooking
penalty,
then he deeked Hamhuis with a wicked move at the blueline to setup
another
scoring attempt. He also drew a drew a tripping penalty on Eaton after
the
Predators defenseman got tired of Thornton sitting behind the Nashvile
net with
the puck.
Trotz will have to come up with a few more excuses if
the Sharks take
Game 4 on Thursday. His on-ice adjustments certainly did nothing to
contain the
Sharks centerman. And while they continue to focus all their attention on
guys
like Thornton, then other guys like Marleau will continue to feast on
scoring
opportunities.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NAS |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1,
Nashville, Timonen 1 (Johnson)(sh), 6:33. |
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| 2nd period -
2, San Jose, Marleau 2 (Ehrhoff), 12:10. 3, San Jose, Bernier 1
(Ehrhoff,
Preissing), 18:48, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 4, San
Jose, Cheechoo 2 (Ehrhoff, Preissing), 15:38. 5, San Jose, Marleau
3 (Michalek,
McLaren), 16:45. |
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| 1st period - Nieminen,
SJS (boarding), 3:14; Eaton, NAS (hooking), 6:00; Timonen, NAS
(holding), 7:36;
Legwand, NAS (hooking), 14:32. |
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| 2nd period - McLaren,
SJS (tripping), 10:04; Nichol, NAS (hooking), 12:55; Eaton, NAS
(tripping),
16:58. |
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| 3rd period - Ehrhoff,
SJS (holding), 2:28; Cheechoo, SJS (delay of game), 4:58; Johnson,
NAS
(hooking), 9:23; Hamhuis, NAS (slashing), 13:28; Weber, NAS
(cross-checking),
18:24; Smithson, NAS (slashing), 19:06; Walker, NAS (roughing),
20:00; Smith,
SJS (roughing), 20:00. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| NAS - Mason |
40 |
36 |
| SJ - Toskala |
17 |
16 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NAS |
5 |
8 |
4 |
17 |
| SJ |
14 |
11 |
15 |
40 |
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| Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Don
Koharski. Linesmen: Dan Schachte, Mark Wheler. |
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