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Pair of shorties key
win
SJ starts 4-0 for first time in team
history
10/14/08 - By Mike Lee
Trying to sustain their early season momentum, the Sharks survived a
sluggish 1st period and overcame two early deficits to knock off the Columbus
Blue Jackets 5-2 at HP Pavilion on Tuesday night. San Jose scored four
unanswered goals, capitalizing on several mistakes by Columbus goaltender
Pascal Leclaire. Captain Patrick Marleau scored his first two goals of the
season to pace the Sharks. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 31 shots en route to his 3rd
straight win of the season. The win also marked the first time the franchise
has opened the season 4-0.
The Sharks misfired on their first power
play of the game after Kristian Huselius was sent off for interference 6
minutes into the game. Rick Nash grabbed a turnover and raced up ice on
goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. Defenseman Dan Boyle was forced to hook Nash to
prevent the breakaway goal.
Nash would turn up the heat with two
fantastic chances during the 4-on-4. He pushed a shot off the post, then used a
Sharks defenseman on his way to another scoring chance. Columbus would
capitalize on their man advantage when Huselius snapped a wrist shot from the
left dot past Nabokov who was screened by Fedor Tyutin.
Jonathan
Cheechoo tied the game at 1-1 at 4:54 of the 2nd period while the Sharks were
killing a Rob Blake high sticking penalty. Pushing on the forecheck, Joe
Pavelski forced a turnover along the right wing boards, then setup a one-time
chance for Cheechoo who buried it from 12 feet out.
Columbus grabbed
the lead right back just 24 seconds later on a deflection off a Christian
Backman blast. Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray tried blocking the shot in the
slot, but ended up redirecting it past Nabokov.
"I thought we put our
toe in the water early, we didn't jump into the lake and get playing right
away," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. " We got more involved physically
and it seemed to turn the tide our way. Obviously the penalty kill created a
lot of momentum tonight."
The Sharks would benefit from a deflected
puck themselves when Milan Michalek knotted the game again at 8:12. Skating
near the left corner, Michalek threw the puck toward the crease, bouncing it
off a Blue Jacket skate that slipped past Leclaire.
San Jose would
strike again a minute later, when Sharks captain Patrick Marleau scored his 1st
of the year. Marleau pulled a deflection out of the slot, then slipped it into
the goal after Devin Setoguchi fired a shot off Leclaire. The Blue Jackets
goaltender was outside the crease after making the initial save, leaving the
net wide open for Marleau to make the easy deposit.
The Sharks began
to buzz the Columbus net, and just missed when Pavelski ripped a shot off the
crossbar moments later. Only another penalty by Blake would suppress the Sharks
attack.
Jason Chimera almost tied the game early in the 3rd
period when he blew past Dan Boyle at the Sharks blueline, then raced in on net
with the puck. A slash by Boyle disrupted the Blue Jackets forward enough to
prevent the tally, but he would be sent off for the infraction.
San
Jose would bag their second short handed goal of the night when Marleau punched
home a feed from Mike Grier behind the Columbus net. The Sharks cleared the
puck back to the Columbus end of the rink, then Grier stripped the puck from
Leclaire behind the net before setting up Marleau. The Blue Jackets goaltender
would take out his frustration on the left post, smashing his stick against it.
"He (Marleau) played like a captain should," said McLellan. "He took
the team on his back, I'm very proud of him. He played very well defensively
and won big faceoffs."
The wheels would come off for Columbus after they
failed to capitalize on the Boyle penalty, then gave up another goal moments
after it expired. Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic roofed a Joe Thornton
feed for the 5-2 Sharks lead.
Columbus head coach Ken Hitchcock would
pull Leclaire in favor of Frederik Norrena.
Even with the three-goal
lead, the Sharks kept the pressure up. Jeremy Roenick took exception to a hit
from Derek Dorsett, with 5:15 to play, throwing several punches in response to
the aggressiveness of the Columbus rookie. When the smoke cleared, Roenick and
Dorsett each earned 12 minutes each, and Boyle joined them in the box with two
minutes for interference.
On the ensuing Blue Jackets power play
Columbus Andrew Murray missed a wide open net after Nabokov went down to make a
snow angel.
"I think it's our own end, I think we aren't good enough
with the puck in our own end," said Hitchcock. "We're competing, we're creating
all kinds of scoring chances, but we're not good enough in our own end with the
puck. It's communication between defenseman and goaltender."
Game
Notes
Rookie Lukas Kaspar took a puck to the face after failing to
glove it.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CBJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
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| 1st period - 1, CBJ,
Huselius 2 (Tyutin), 9:01, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Cheechoo 3 (Pavelski), 4:54, (sh). 3, CBJ, Backman 1 (Brassard, Modin), 5:18,
(pp). 4, SJ, Michalek 1 (unassisted), 8:12, (pp). 5, SJ, Marleau 1 (Setoguchi,
Thornton), 9:29. |
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| 3rd period - 6, SJ,
Marleau 2 (Grier), 5:19, (sh). 7, SJ, Vlasic 1 (Thornton), 8:17. |
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| 1st period - Husselius,
CBJ (interference), 6:14; Boyle, SJ (hooking), 7:08. |
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| 2nd period - Blake, SJ
(high sticking), 3:36; Dorsett, CBJ (hooking), 6:38; Blake, SJ (holding),
13:19. |
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| 3rd period - Boyle, SJ
(slashing), 4:59; Cheechoo, SJ (hooking), 11:25; Dorsett, CBJ (boarding),
14:45; Dorsett, CBJ (10 minute misconduct), 14:45; Roenick, SJ (roughing),
14:45; Roenick, SJ (10 minute misconduct), 14:45; Boyle, SJ (interference),
14:45. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CBJ - Leclaire |
24 |
19 |
| CBJ - Norrena |
1 |
1 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
33 |
31 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CBJ |
8 |
13 |
12 |
33 |
| SJ |
8 |
12 |
5 |
25 |
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| Referees:
Hasenfratz, Kimmerly. Linesmen: Galloway, Henderson. |
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