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Sharks heat up frozen
Edmonton
Nabokov pegs 40th career
shutout
1/29/08 - by Mike Lee
The
post All Star segment of the season kicked off on Tuesday night and the Sharks
picked up where they left off, knocking off the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 in Alberta.
With subzero temperatures freezing the city, San Jose heated up Rexall Place
with 39 shots on goal, including 21 in the 2nd period. Sharks goaltender Evgeni
Nabokov had a much lighter workload, turning aside all 13 shots he faced to
earn his 6th shutout of the season.
Both teams played tentatively in
the opening period, but the ice would tilt toward the Oilers net after the
Sharks got their legs under them.
Dustin Penner missed on a golden
opportunity midway through the 1st period with an uncontested shot from point
blank range, but Nabokov was up to the challenge. The Sharks goaltender slid to
his right on his knees, snuffing out the shut and denying Penner a second
chance by sucking up the puck in his jersey.
That's as close to
scoring to scoring as Edmonton would get all night.
The Sharks turned
up the heat on Oilers goaltender Mathieu Garon in the 2nd period, narrowly
missing on a Milan Michalek shot that bounced of Garon's right shoulder. San
Jose controlled the puck in the Oilers zone for a good three minutes, before
Edmonton cleared the zone. On the ensuing rush, Joe Pavelski was whistled for
hooking.
The ensuing Edmonton power play almost turned to gold for San
Jose when Patrick Rissmiller batted a centering pass out of the air right in
front of the Oilers net, but the shot sailed just wide of the left post.
The toying would end there.
Pavelski would finally break the
ice at 11:48 of the middle period on a rebound from the slot. Craig Rivet
started the sequence with a blast from the point that hit Staios in the skate,
knocking the Oilers defenseman to the ice. The puck dribbled out to Devin
Setoguchi near the right dot, allowing the Sharks rookie to throw the puck on
net, Garon made the save, but the rebound kicked out to Pavelski for the easy
put back.
Garon would stone Setoguchi moments later on a nasty
glove save that was headed top shelf.
Mike Grier made it 2-0 with a
blast from the high slot with 45.6 seconds left in the period after the Sharks
forced a turnover in the neutral zone. Rissmiller carried the puck in along the
right wing boards and waited for the trailing Grier to skate into the zone.
Rissmiller slid the pass to his left, where Grier cranked a slapper that hit
the upper left corner of the net.
A tripping penalty on Torrey
Mitchell put the Sharks in a precarious situation, but Nabokov received help
from his defense with a flurry of blocked shots in the shooting lanes. Nabokov
capped the penalty by making a nifty glove save with Penner clogging up the top
of the crease.
Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish puled Garon with 1:30
to play, but the Sharks never let go of the stranglehold defense. Rissmiller
would bag the empty netter to cap the scoring and send the 16,839 in attendance
home to battle the elements.
Game Notes:
Defenseman Alexei
Semanov was placed on the injured reserve for a viral infection. Rob Davison
and Marcel Goc were healthy scratches.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| EDM |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 11 (Setoguchi, Rivet), 11:48. 2, SJ, Grier 6 (Rissmiller, Mitchell),
19:14. |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
Rissmiller 5 (Grier, Murray), 19:30, (en). |
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| 1st period - Greene, EDM
(holding), 5:02; Thornton, SJ (tripping), 8:26; Tarnstrom, EDM (hooking),
10:07; Ozolinsh, SJ (holding), 14:22; Staios, EDM (hooking), 19:52. |
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| 2nd period - Pavelski,
SJ (hooking), 4:36; Stortini, EDM (roughing), 13:33. |
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| 3rd period - Mitchell,
SJ (tripping), 2:40; Reasoner, EDM (hooking), 5:44; Michalek, SJ (tripping),
10:20. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
13 |
13 |
| EDM - Garon |
38 |
36 |
| EDM - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
21 |
8 |
39 |
| EDM |
5 |
4 |
4 |
13 |
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| Referees: Meier,
Sutherland. Linesmen: Cvik, Henderson. |
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