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Redemption in the
Desert
Clowe paces 4-1 win
1/13/07 - by Mike Lee
Two weeks after suffering
their worst loss in ten seasons, the Sharks had a score to settle with
the
Phoenix Coyotes. More importantly, San Jose wanted to redeem themselves
in
Phoenix for the 8-0 white washing they endured at the hands of the
Coyotes.
Captain Patrick Marleau sent a message uncharacteristically with his
fists,
which were accentuated by four goals from his teammates in a 4-1 win at
the
Jobbing.com Center on Saturday night.
The Coyotes seemed unsure
of
what the Sharks would throw out them after embarrassing the Sharks back
on
December 30th. Most of the opening period was spent feeling out the tempo
of
play and if the Sharks would retaliate with any physicality.
That probing
eventually led to a scrap between Marleau and Coyotes defenseman Keith
Ballard
six minutes into the game. The message was simple enough, and it dictated
how
Phoenix played the rest of the night. Absent were the heavy handed checks
that
dictated play the last time these two teams met.
The two teams
would
put a combined 4 shots (only 1 coming from Phoenix) on net during that
opening
period, but one from Sharks forward Ryane Clowe found the back of the net
to
give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Clowe positioned himself in front of the
Coyotes
net, while Phoenix tried pressing Joe Thornton in the left corner.
Thornton
whipped a centering pass to Clowe for a one-timer that beat Curtis
Joseph.
Coyotes captain Shane Doan would knot the game at 1-1 on a power play
goal at
9:41 of the 2nd period after Clowe was sent off for hooking. Steve
Reinprecht
setup Doan with a touch pass from the end line, just outside the left
post.
Clowe would redeem himself with his second goal of the night
less than
5 minutes later. Sitting in the high slot, Clowe chipped a pass from
Douglas
Murray over Joseph's right shoulder, on a shot that crossed up the
Coyotes
goaltender. The goal was Clowe's 6th goal in the past four games.
Redemption was the theme of the
night. Recently demoted defenseman Matt Carle made his return to the team
after
a brief stint in Worcester with the Sharks AHL affiliate. Carle made the
most
of his return, scoring his 4th goal of the season just 51 seconds into
the 3rd
period. Carle swept home a rebound from a severe angle near the left
corner
after Clowe bounced a shot off of Joseph.
San Jose would cap the
night's scoring with a power play tally by Jonathan Cheechoo with 8:31
remaining in regulation. The Sharks were on the man-advantage after Doan
took a
brainless roughing penalty in front of his own net after the whistle had
been
blown. Cheechoo parked himself on the Coyotes doorstep, and redirected a
Christian Ehrhoof blast for this 15th goal of the season. Thornton would
earn
the secondary assist on the play, giving him three on the night.
Phoenix had one last opportunity to claw back into the game with 7
minutes to
play after Milan Michalek took a 4-minute high sticking penalty. Michalek
was
penalized after his stick nailed Ed Jovanovski while following through on
a
shot. The penalty followed the letter of the law, but what made it hard
to
swallow was that Jovanovski was on his knees when the stick hit him in
the
face.
San Jose would kill off the double-minor and extinguish
any
Phoenix comeback attempt.
Vesa Toskala made his second
consecutive
start and stopped 29 of 30 shots, including 18 in the 2nd period.
Notes:
Marleau was named as a reserve for the Western Conference All
Star
team. Marleau will join Cheechoo and Thornton, who were both voted as
starters
for the contest in Dallas in two weeks.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
| PHO |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Clowe 10 (Thornton, Cheechoo), 8:07. |
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| 2nd period -
2, PHO, Doan 14 (Reinprecht, Nagy), 9:41, (pp). 3, SJ, Clowe 11
(Murray,
Hannan), 14:28. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Carle 4 (Clowe, Thornton). 5, SJ, Cheechoo 15 (Ehrhoff, Thornton),
11:29,
(pp). |
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| 1st period - Marleau, SJ
(fighting major), 6:07); Ballard, PHO (fighting major), 6:07; Doan,
PHO
(hooking), 9:39; Carle, SJ (hooking), 18:55. |
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| 2nd period - Clowe, SJ
(hooking), 8:19. |
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| 3rd period - Morris, PHO
(roughing), 2:52; Cheechoo, SJ (tripping), 8:57; Doan, PHO
(roughing), 10:49;
Michalek, SJ (high sticking, double minor). |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Toskala |
30 |
29 |
| PHO - Joseph |
20 |
16 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
3 |
7 |
10 |
20 |
| PHO |
1 |
18 |
11 |
30 |
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| Referees: Paul Devorski, Don
VanMassenhoven. Linesmen: Brian Mach, Tim Nowak. |
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