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Sharks still on
holiday
Lethargic performance equates to
loss
11/24/07 - by Mike Lee
With a
week to rest up, the Sharks forgot to set the alarm clock before Saturday
night's division matchup with the visiting Los Angeles Kings. A lethargic
showing by the Sharks helped the Kings break a 5-game losing streak, knocking
off San Jose 2-1. Kings goaltender Jason LaBarbera stopped 26 shots, but faced
few quality scoring chances from a Sharks team that seemed to be stuck in 1st
gear all night.
The cellar dwelling Kings did little to suggest that
they were world beaters themselves, but two 1st period goals would be all Los
Angeles needed to climb back into the Pacific Division race. The Sharks
continued a trend of sleep walking through games after extended layoffs. Down
2-0 in the 3rd period, San Jose still only managed to put 7 shots on LaBarbera.
Dustin Brown put a shot on goal that beat Sharks netminder Evgeni
Nabokov, after it appeared that defenseman Kyle McLaren inadvertently
redirected the shot. Nabokov had the shot lined up, but the deflection slipped
between his pads for the 1-0 Kings lead.
The Sharks just couldn't seem
toe shake the cobwebs out before the end of the period. A turnover by Sandis
Ozolinsh just outside the Sharks blueline, setup a Kings power play after
Ozolinsh was forced to haul down Jaroslav Modry right in front of the Sharks
bench.
Anze Kopitar would make the Sharks pay, one-timing a pass from
Vitaly Visnovsky on the ensuing man advantage with only 34 seconds ticks left
in the period. Visnovsky sent a pass through the slot from the top of the left
circle, setting up the Kopitar shot. Nabokov played the angle perfectly, but
the puck hand cuffed him before finding he back of the Sharks net.
The
Sharks just missed on a chance to cut into the Kings lead early in the 2nd
period on a sequence that ended with Steve Bernier just missing on a one-timer
that Lababera snuffed. Patrick Rissmiller carried the puck in on net, before
sliding a pass to Bernier on the right post, but Labarbera played it perfectly.
Ladislav Nagy missed on a chance to extend the Kings
lead to 3-0 after missing on a penalty shot chance with 8 minutes remaining in
the period after Christian Ehrhoff hooked the Kings forward. Nagy had a break
after slipping past Ehrhoff, but the hook disrupted the scoring chance. Nabokov
stood tall ont eh penalty shot, snuffing the attempt that was headed for the
5-hole.
San Jose dodged more bullets when Rob Blake missed converting
on a 2-on-1 at 16:30 of the period.
Milan Michalek finally got the
Sharks on the board 12:41 into the 3rd period, with his 7th goal of the season.
The Czech winger ripped a shot right off a faceoff in the Kings zone. Joe
Pavelski drew the puck over to his right after winning the drop in the left
circle. Michalek's shot sailed over Labarbera's stick, tucking inside the left
post.
The goal created a little energy in the building, which in turn
got the Sharks to finally play at a tempo that they should have shown after a
week off. Jonathan Cheechoo had a point blank shot in front of the Kings net,
but his shot bounced off LaBarbera's shoulder and into the safety net.
When the Sharks did have the puck in the Kings zone, they seemed to put
everything wide of the net. Patrick Marleau and Ehrhoff were the biggest
offenders.
Game Notes:
Curtis Brown found himself in
the press box after a short run in the lineup. Christian Ehrhoff returned to
the ice, and played like he hasn't seen the ice in a while. Ehrhoff played
tentatively, and made several mistakes throughout the evening.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, LA,
Brown 9 (Preissing, Kopitar), 10:31. 2, LA, Kopitar 9 (Visnovsky, Brown),
19:26, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - Nagy, LA
(missed penalty shot), 11:58. |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
Michalek 7 (Pavelski), 12:41. |
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| 1st period - McLaren, SJ
(boarding), 0:31; Armstrong, LA (tripping), 5:20; Modry, LA (hooking) 12:07;
Marleau, SJ (holding), 14:03; Ozolinsh, SJ (tripping), 18:22; |
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| 2nd period - Nagy, LA
(tripping), 6:59; |
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Shots |
Saves |
| LA - LaBarbera |
27 |
26 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
17 |
15 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
6 |
5 |
6 |
17 |
| SJ |
7 |
13 |
7 |
27 |
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| Referees: Mike
Leggo, Rob Schick. Linesmen: Lonnie Cameron, Mike Cvik. |
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