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Sharks melt against
Avs
Distractions cloud focus
2/6/08 - by Mike Lee
Facing a depleted Colorado
Avalanche roster on home ice, the Sharks failed to generate much spark on
Wednesday night. Devoid of any offensive energy, San Jose rolled over to the
Avalanche 3-1, dropping their 16th home loss of the season. An opening period
that netted 4 shots on goal for San Jose set the tone for the stinker.
Much can be said about generating your own breaks. With the offense on cruise
control, the officials followed suit, missing a Cody McLeod high stick that
left Joe Thornton with a bloody nose. San Jose may have been guilty of being
too focused on the non-call, failing to pressure the Avalanche, who were
without the services of Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, and Paul Stastney, who are all
on the disabled list.
Mike Grier tried settling the score with McLeod
by inducing a fight, but the Colorado winger got the best of Grier with several
shots to the Shark forward's head.
While the Sharks focused on McLeod,
The Avalanche put pucks on net.
Ben Guite broke the ice midway through
the opening period, with a deflection that beat Evgeni Nabokov. Brett Clark
fired a shot in from the right point as Guite was cutting across the top of the
crease. Guite made a nifty play to tip the waist-high shot, changing the
trajectory of the puck and directing it into the net.
San Jose finally
figured out that scoring goals was more important than settling a score with a
3rd line grinder. They started by turning up the heat on Avalanche goaltender
Jose Theodore.
Patrick Marleau finally cracked double digit goals by
scoring his 10th of the year while the Sharks were on the power play early in
the 2nd period. Marleau took a cross-ice pass from Sandis Ozolinsh and swept it
into a wide-open net. Ozolinsh setup the play by setting up Theodore with a
pump fake from the left point, before sending the puck over to Mareleau.
San Jose would relinquish the lead 7 minutes later after Jonathan
Cheechoo took a hooking penalty at 12:45. Colorado would convert 6 seconds into
the Cheechoo penalty on another deflection off a Clark blast. This time T.J.
Hensick redirected a shot that slipped past Nabokov for the 2-1 Avalanche lead.
The Mareleau-Michalek-Bernier line generated a flurry
of scoring chances at the end of the period, but they couldn't beat Theodore.
San Jose out-shot the Avalanche 16-5 in the period, but still trailed by a goal
after 40 minutes of play.
Cheechoo missed on two golden opportunity to
tie the game with midway through the 3rd period. First Cheechoo fired wide of
an empty net, the he missed on a give-and-go play with Joe Thornton. Theodore
denied the Sharks winger with a fantastic save on the latter chance by cutting
off Cheechoo's angle, deflecting the shot away from danger.
Those
chances were just a microcosm of the Sharks inability to control the puck and
put consistent pressure on Theodore. After pulling Nabokov with a minute left
in regulation, San Jose had the chances, but they couldn't get the puck on
goal.
Jeff Finger ended it with an empty-net goal with 1 second left
in regulation.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| COL |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, COL,
Guite 7 (Clark, Laperriere), 10:24. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Marleau 10 (Ozolinsh), 5:53, (pp). 3, COL, Hensick 6 (Clark, Hlinka), 12:51,
(pp). |
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| 3rd period - 4, COL,
Finger 5 (unassisted), 19:59 (en). |
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| 1st period - McLeod, COL
(fighting major),9:26; rier, SJ (fighting major), 9:26; Marleau, SJ (hooking),
11:44; Sauer, COL (interference), 16:48; Bench, SJ (too many men), 18:52. |
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| 2nd period - Richardson,
COL (tripping), 5:08; Cheechoo, SJ (hooking), 12:45. |
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| 3rd period - Cheechoo,
SJ (boarding), 3:46; Clark, COL (hooking), 5:29. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| COL - Theodore |
31 |
30 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
24 |
22 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| COL |
13 |
5 |
7 |
25 |
| SJ |
4 |
16 |
11 |
31 |
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| Referees: Furlatt,
Rooney. Linesmen: Heyer, Lazarowich. |
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