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Pacific Division
Champs
3-1 win over Ducks locks up
title
3/28/08 - by Mike Lee
It's not
the Stanley Cup, but winning the Pacific Division is a big step in that
direction. In beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 on Friday night at the Honda
Center, San Jose locked up the 3rd division crown in franchise history. Joe
Pavelski had a franchise best 3 assists and goaltender Brian Boucher turned
aside 23 shots to lead the Sharks to their 47th victory of the season. The
Sharks lock up the 2nd spot in the Western Conference playoff race and trail
the Detroit Red Wings by 5 points with 4 games remaining.
The victory
was a carbon copy of the win over Anaheim one week earlier at HP Pavilion. The
Sharks threw a steady dose of offensive pressure and a strong forecheck at the
Ducks and kept them away from their own net.
In the end, San Jose
would convert three times and keep the pressure on Anaheim.
Patrick
Marleau gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 6:38 of the opening period on a wrist
shot that beat Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller. The goal came 4-on-4 after Jody
Shelley and Travis Moen were sent off for roughing. Marleau took a centering
pass from Joe Pavelski at the blueline then snapped a 30-foot shot past the
Ducks backup.
Scott Neidermayer answered almost 5 minutes later with
his 8th of the season on a power play after Christian Ehrhoff was sent off for
high sticking Doug Weight. Sharks rookie Torrey Mitchell made the situation
even more difficult by breaking his stick on the faceoff in the San Jose zone
to begin the penalty. Neidermayer used Mitchell and Mathieu Schneider as
screens, then rifled a shot that went 5-hole.
Jeremy Roenick scored
his 14th goal of the season midway through the 2nd period on a put back after
Pavelski fired a shot on goal during a Sharks power play. Hiller failed to
control the puck and Roenick easily deposited the puck into the Anaheim net for
his 1200th career point.
Curtis Brown made it 3-1 with 2:54 remaining
in the period on a wild sequence in front of the Anaheim net. Working the puck
down low, Pavelski tried tucking the puck under the left post from behind the
net. Hiller pinned the puck against the post, but Curtis Brown stabbed at it,
pushing both Hiller's right leg ad the puck into the net.
As the referee was signaling goal, Jody Shelley
decided to slash Chris Kunitz, in retribution for Kunitz's cheap shot on
Jonathan Cheechoo last week. George Parros immediately went after Shelley,
throwing punches even though the referees were trying to separate Kunitz and
the Sharks enforcer.
A holding penalty to Marleau gave the Ducks a
4-on-3 power play for more than a minute, but the Sharks killed off the
predicament.
Neidermayer clanked a shot off the post 6 minutes into
the 3rd period, but that's as close Anaheim would come to putting one past
Boucher. The Sharks backup goaltender turned aside 10 shots in the period, and
23 for the game to win his 3rd game in 3 starts.
Boucher's only lose
came in a mop up role after giving up the game winner against Phoenix earlier
in the week.
Game Notes:
Craig Rivet missed his 2nd game this
week, getting the night off to rest before the playoffs begin. Alexei Semanov
made his way back into the lineup in Rivet's place.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
| ANA |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Marleau 17 (Pavelski, Ehrhoff), 6:38. 2, ANA, S. Neidermayer 8 (Schneider,
Ryan), 11:09, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Roenick 14 (Pavelski, Campbell), 11:10, (pp). 4, SJ, Brown 3 (Pavelski),
17:06. |
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| 1st period - Shelley, SJ
(roughing), 6:15; Moen, ANA (roughing), 6:15; Christian Ehrhoff, SJ (high
sticking), 10:36; Ehrhoff, SJ (holding the stick ), 14:20. |
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| 2nd period - Schneider,
ANA (hooking), 4:45; Weight, ANA (interference), 10:40; Pahlsson, ANA
(hooking), 11:10; Shelley, SJ (roughing), 17:06; Parros, ANA (roughing), 17:06;
Marleau, SJ (holding), 17:56. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Boucher |
24 |
23 |
| ANA - Hiller |
27 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
6 |
15 |
6 |
27 |
| ANA |
8 |
6 |
10 |
24 |
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| Referees:
O'Halloran, Peel. Linesmen: Heyer, Lazarowich. |
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