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8th in a row is a
breeze
Nabokov bags 200th career win
3/7/08 - by Mike Lee
On the night the Chicago
honored two Blackhaws legends, the Sharks made some history of their own by
winning their 8th straight game 3-2. San Jose played relentless defense,
stifling the host Blackhawks who held a special pre-game ceremony to pay homage
to Bobby hull and Stan Mikita. Former Blackhawks Doug Wilson and Jeremy Roenick
joined a sold out United Center crowd to celebrate the former face of the
franchise.
Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau continued to wield
hot hands, scoring for the Sharks who tied a franchise record for consecutive
wins. The victory was also the 6th straight on the road, which also matches a
team record.
The Blackhawks faitful were treated to an early lead,
when Brent Seabrook converted on the power play just 3:35 into the game. Kyle
McLaren was in the box for roughing, but the typically reliable Sharks penalty
kill failed to clear the puck in tight, which allowed Patrick Sharp to push the
puck across the slot to Seabrook, who buried his 9th goal of the season.
The lead would be short lived, as Cheechoo and Joe Thornton hooked up
17 seconds later to knot the game at 1-1. San Jose worked the faceoff down
along the left wing boards, then Blackhawks defenseman Jordan Hendry lost the
puck in the left corner after Milan Michalek pinned him along the end boards.
Thornton swooped in to grab the loose puck, then fed Cheechoo from behind the
Chicago goal. Cheechoo cut through the slot, then banged home his 22nd goal of
the season.
Thornton would setup the sharks 2nd goal of the opening
period from the same location behind the Chicago goal at 12:45 of the opening
period. Hendry tried covering the Sharks centerman , but Thornton left him
spinning in his skates after changing directions while stick-handling near the
end boards. Kyle McLaren pinched from the point and one-timed a Thornton feed
past Blackhawks goaltender Patrick Lalime.
Chicago rookie phenom
Jonathan Toews tied the game back up at 2-2 late in the period on a deflection
in front of Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov. Duncan Keith fired a blast from
the left point, and Toews got a stick on the shot for his 19th goal of the
season.
San Jose decided to eliminate any opportunity for the
Blackhawks to score on deflections or otherwise by reducing the number of shot
Nabokov had to face the rest of the evening. Chicago would only put 6 shots on
goal in the middle period, and a paltry 5 shots in the final stanza.
The Blackhawks decide to take the physical route in
the 2nd period, but the Sharks team size had little trouble controlling the
tempo of the period. Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray finally got tired of
Chicago's antics and went after James Wisniewski midway through the period. The
two squared off in a spirited fight, that netted Murray 4 square shots to
Wisniewski's head.
Marleau scored the game winner at 14:31 of the 2nd
period on a wrist shot from 25 feet that beat Lalime to the stick side. Devin
Setoguchi fed Marleau with a pass at the Blackhawks blueline, then the sharks
captain skated around Seabrook on his way to the net. Lalime had a good look at
Marleau, who fired the shot from near the left dot, but the puck slipped inside
his blocker on the short side.
San Jose clamped down in the 3rd
period, limiting Chicago to almost no scoring opportunities. Mike Grier almost
pushed the sharks lead to 2 goals when he slipped past the Blackhawks defense
with the puck, but put a shot squarely into Lalime's chest.
Chicago
head coach Dennis Savard pulled Lalime with a minute to play in order to stack
the offense. The move appeared to pay off when Dustin Byfuglien sent the puck
toward the net and Rene Bourque appeared to deflect it in, but referee Greg
Kimmerly immediately waved off the goal after Bourque was ruled to have punched
the goal in with his glove. Replays clearly confirmed the call.
The
victory was Nabokov's 38th win of the season and 200th of his career, both new
team records.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| CHI |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, CHI,
Seabrook 9 (Sharp, Ladd), 3:35, (pp). 2, SJ, Cheechoo 22 (Thornton), 3:52. 3,
SJ, McLaren 3 (Thornton, Ehrhoff), 12:45. 4, CHI, Toews 19 (Keith, Kane),
18:09. |
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| 2nd period - 5, SJ,
Marleau 14 (Setoguchi, Vlasic), 14:31. |
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| 1st period - McLaren, SJ
(roughing), 1:53; Williams, CHI (high sticking), 6:58; Rivet, SJ
(interference), 13:10; Bench, SJ (too many men), 14:14. |
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| 2nd period - Seabrook,
CHI (roughing), 5:54; Michalek, SJ (holding), 6:14; Murray, SJ (fighting
major), 11:21; Wisniewski, CHI (fighting major), 11:21; Ehrhoff, SJ (holding),
16:42. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
19 |
17 |
| CHI - Lalime |
23 |
20 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
8 |
4 |
23 |
| CHI |
8 |
6 |
5 |
19 |
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| Referees: Kimmerly,
Kozari. Linesmen: Mach, Kovachik. |
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