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Playoff spot secured
SJ forced to duel feisty Kings
3/27/07 -
by Mike Lee
Playoff hockey will be returning to San Jose.
That
was guaranteed on Tuesday night, as the Sharks knocked off the visiting Los
Angeles Kings 3-1 at HP Pavilion, thereby clinching a playoff spot.
Patrick
Marleau snapped an 8-game goal scoring drought with a pair of tallies to
lead
the Sharks to victory. Evgeni Nabokov allowed a lone power play goal on 25
shots to earn his 21st win of the season.
The Sharks started the evening in a festive mood, honoring head coach Ron
Wilson for his 1000th coached game with a series of gifts before the
opening
face off to mark the occasion. Gifts included a silver hockey stick,
framed
score cards from his 1st and 1000th games, an inscribed magnum of wine and
a
golf outing at Pebble Beach, which President Greg Jamison indicated could
only
be redeemed in "late June."
Once the puck dropped, the Sharks appeared to be ready to pounce on the Kings,
but they could only muster a lone goal through 2 periods.
Marleau opened things with his 31st goal of the season on the power play 8
minutes into the game after Brad Willsie was sent off for cross checking.
Marleau took a feed from Christian Ehrhoff and pumped it past Kings
goaltender
Sean Burke from the point. Burke had to deal with traffic in front, but
the
shot sailed over his shoulder for the early Sharks lead.
The Sharks would throw 14 shots at Burke in that opening period, but the
veteran netminder held hi ground for the remainder of the period. The
Sharks
took an unusual number of penalties throughout the night, including an
ill-advised roughing penalty by Ryane Clowe right before the 1st
intermission.
San Jose would commit three more penalties in through the first half of the
second period, which prevented them from building any offensive momentum.
Bill
Guerin would commit an interference infraction that would inevitably bite
the
Sharks.
With Guerin the box, Willsie would knot the game at 1-1 with a shot from
25-feet after taking a feed from Patrick O'Sullivan on the power play.
With
O'Sullivan stick-handling down low in the right corner, Nabokov was forced
to
cover the post on the near side. Willsie was cutting in on the slot, which
allowed him to deposit a hard slap shot just inside the left post for the
equalizer.
The Kings provided the Sharks with 1 of 4 power play chances early in the 3rd
period when Joe Piskula was sent off for hooking at 2:59, but Milan
Michalek
was whistled for interference for running into a Kings player at center ice
15
second into the man advantage.
Skating 4-on-4, San Jose took advantage of a Kings mistake in their own zone to
jump on top 2-1. Marleau picked up a loose puck on a bad exchange as the
Kings
tried to clear their own zone, feeding Michalek on the left wing. Spotting
the
turnover, Guerin stayed down low near the Kings net, which allowed for a
1-on-1
chance with Burke after Michalek slipped a pass to his linemate out in
front of
the Kings net.
Guerin calmly gathered the pass, then slid across
the
slot as Burke committed himself. There was nothing left for Guerin to do,
but
lift the puck over the fallen Kings goaltender.
San Jose added
some insurance a second shy of the midway mark of the period, when
Marleau slipped past the Kings defense after Ehrhoff and Michalek forced a
turnover in the Sharks zone. Marleau took Michalek's backhanded feed at
the
Kings blueline then raced in and beat Burke with his second goal of the
game.
Los Angeles was given a glimmer of hope when Sharks defenseman Craig Rivet was
assessed a 2-minute holding penalty with 125 ticks to play. Kings head
coach
Mark Crawford pulled Burke for the 2-man advantage, but Nabokov suppressed
the
Kings charge.
Notes:
Sharks defenseman Scott Hannan was scratched in order to nurse a groin injury.
Rob Davison returned to the lineup in Hannan's absence. Marcel Goc was
also a
healthy scratch.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ, Marleau 31 (Ehrhoff,
Vlasic), 8:34, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 2, LS, Willsie 11 (O'Sullivan,
Heward), 12:27, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ, Guerin 36 (Ehrhoff,
Marleau), 4:41. 4, SJ, Marleau 32 (Michalek, Ehrhoff), 9:59. |
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| 1st period - Willsie, LA (cross checking),
8:02; Clowe, SJ (roughing), 18:44. |
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| 2nd period - Weaver, LA (tripping), 1:28;
Brown, SJ (high sticking), 4:34; Zeiler, LA (roughing), 8:37; Bell, SJ
(roughing), 8:37; Guerin, SJ (interference), 11:09; Zeiler, LA (hooking),
15:02. |
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| 3rd period - Piskula, LA (hooking), 2:59;
Michalek, SJ (interference), 3:14; Rivet, SJ (holding), 17:55. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| LA - Burke |
26 |
23 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
25 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
7 |
10 |
8 |
25 |
| SJ |
14 |
5 |
7 |
26 |
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| Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Rob Shick. Linesmen: Shane
Heyer, Mark Wheler. |
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