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SJ starts break early
Offense sputters in 1-0 loss
1/20/07 -
by Mike Lee
The St Louis Blues have been one of the hottest teams in the league
as of late. They also happen to be San Jose's last opponent before a
week's
vacation during the All Star break for many of the Sharks. That added up
to a
1-0 loss for the host Sharks on Saturday night, as Manny Legace stopped all
31
shots he faced to snap the Sharks 4 game winning streak.
St Louis leveraged a lucky bounce to generate all the offense they would need,
as hard luck Sharks goaltender, Evgeni Nabokov fell for the 10th time this
season. Bill Guerin turned a trip around the Sharks net into the game's
lone
goal with what originated as a centering attempt, that turned into a
deflection
that slipped past Nabokov in the 2nd period.
San Jose had out-shot the Blues 13-6 in the opening period, but never really
generated any serious scoring chances. They would throw another 11 shots
Legace's way in the middle period only to be denied again.
Milan Michalek missed on a decent chance on a one-timer midway through the 2nd
period that sailed wide right of the Blues goal.
With the shutout, the Sharks also failed to score a power play goal for the
second consecutive game. That broke a stretch of 7 games with a goal on
the
man advantage. Part of the issue was that referees Marc Jonnette and
Justin St
Pierre weren't calling any penalties. The 2nd period was expedited with
zero
infractions on either team. There were only 7 penalties called all night.
The Sharks were held to 7 shots in the final period. Legace can thank his
defense, which stood up the Sharks all night, blocking 28 shots on the
evening.
There was none bigger than Keith Tkachuk's sliding kick save in the final
minute of regulation, when he stepped in front of a scoring attempt by
Patrick
Marleau. Legace was down on his knees from a previous save, leaving the
right
side of the goal wide open. Tkachuk slid over from outside the right post
to
prevent Marleau's quick poke from getting passed the goal line.
Jonathan Cheechoo may have missed the best chance for the Sharks to score a
minute earlier, but Legace snuffed out the 2-on-1 chance.
The win was the Blues third in three games, giving them a sweep of the three
California teams.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| STL |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| 2nd period -
1, STL, Guerin 20 (Rucinsky), 18:36. |
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| 1st period - Gorges, SJ (slashing), 8:27;
McClement, STL (hooking), 15:00; Weight, STL (hooking), 17:19. |
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| 3rd period - Brewer, STL (holding), 7:24;
Smith, SJ (slashing), 12:45; Dvorak, STL (tripping), 13:29; Vlasic, SJ
(interference), 13:29. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| STL - Legace |
31 |
31 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
13 |
12 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| STL |
6 |
5 |
2 |
13 |
| SJ |
13 |
11 |
7 |
31 |
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| Referees: Marc Joannette, Justin StPierre.
Linesmen:
Shane Heyer, Vaughan Rody. |
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