|
|
Season ends with a
whimper
Roloson shutsout SJ 2-0
5/17/06 - by Mike Lee
Game, set, match. The season
is over for the San Jose Sharks, after sputtering in Edmonton on Wednesday with
nary a whimper. The 2-0 at Rexall Place was a fitting end to a series that went
from a "can't lose" two games to none lead to four straight loses and a date
with Friday morning tee-time. The Sharks made Dwayne Roloson look like Martin
Brodeur with an anemic offense and a power play that went AWOL after the
Nashville series.
Vesa Toskala and Joe Thornton were the only
standouts on this most painful of nights, but the two couldn't carry an entire
team. This is a team sport after all, and the Oilers played like a team from
the moment the puck was dropped.
"This is obviously an exciting day,"
forward Ryan Smyth said. "We want to go down to Anaheim and give ourselves
another chance. ... It's nice to shut another team out."
Kyle McLaren
looked lost on the ice, struggling complete passes that were sure things four
games earlier. Matt Carle played like you would expect a rookie with less than
40 games of professional experience under his belt to play.
Michael
Peca exploited the Sharks defense in the first period, albeit with a hook that
knocked Scott Hannan off the puck. Peca picked Hannan's pocket after wrapping
his stick around Hannan's right arm and disrupting him enough to lose control
of the puck, then fall flat on his face while trying to over correct as Peca
skated around him.
The Oilers forward skated in all alone and beat
Toskala with a wrist shot from ten feet out.
The Sharks offense was no
better.
Patrick Marleau, who led the NHL in playoff scoring, failed to
deliver any scoring for the first time in ten games. Thornton created several
scoring chances, but linemates Jonathan Cheechoo and Nils Ekman failed to cash
in.
The most telling moment midway through the 1st period
when the Sharks squandered a minute and a half long 5-on-3 after Jaroslav
Spacek and Jarrett Stoll were sent off infractions.
The Sharks tried
lulling Roloson to sleep by passing the puck back and forth on the perimeter,
never generating any serious scoring chances. In order to do that, the puck has
to be within close proximity to the goal mouth, but the San Jose power play
unit never felt inclined to take a shot at depositing it. The Oilers penalty
kill inspired the crowd, sending the 16,839 into a frenzy.
"We had our
opportunities but we never scored," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "It certainly
wasn't for lack of trying or lack of effort. It was one of those nights where
we always would seem to be a foot away from a rebound or overskated an open
opportunity.
The absence of a power play in the series was the kiss of
death for the Sharks. San Jose went 0-for-8 in the game, and 2-for-35 in the
series.
For as lethargic as the Sharks played, they somehow found
themselves down by a single goal for most of the game. Edmonton would ensure
that no comeback was in the evenings plans when Shawn Horcoff snapped home a
Todd Harvey pass at 11:37.
Ironic that the former Shark Harvey would
setup the play after making his first appearance in the series.
The
Sharks had a chance to make a game of it ate when Smyth was whistled for
tripping at 17:29 and Wilson pulled Toskala for the two man advantage. San Jose
could do nothing with the personnel advantage, and burned up the power play
time chasing down clearing attempt after clearing attempt.
What
started as a promising look at a return to the Western Conference Finals, ended
with a half hearted collapse in four straight games.
 |
| 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 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| EDM |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1,
Edmonton, Peca 2, 8:21. |
|
|
|
|
|
| 3rd period - 2,
Edmonton, Horcoff 5 (Harvey, Smyth), 11:37. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Greene, EDM
(tripping), 2:20; Ekman, SJS (goaltender interference), 2:58; Ekman, SJS
(tripping), 6:25; Pronger, EDM (interference), 6:25; Spacek, EDM (hooking),
11:45; Stoll, EDM (holding), 12:18; Pisani, EDM (boarding), 15:53. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Smith, SJS
(tripping), 3:25; Ehrhoff, SJS (hooking), 6:38; Torres, EDM (tripping), 12:02;
Stoll, EDM (hooking), 18:06. |
|
|
| 3rd period - S.Thornton,
SJS (interference), 1:25; Preissing, SJS (interference), 4:36; Torres, EDM
(roughing), 13:09; Smyth, EDM (tripping), 17:29. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Toskala |
26 |
24 |
| EDM - Roloson |
24 |
24 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
12 |
6 |
6 |
24 |
| EDM |
10 |
7 |
9 |
26 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Rob Shick, Brad
Watson. Linesmen: Derek Amell, Jay Sharrers. |
|
|
|
|
|
