|
|
Clowe leads comeback over
Blues
Nabokov injured in shootout
win
11/6/08 - By Mike Lee
Playing
behind the 8-ball late in their game against the visiting St Louis Blues on
Thursday, the Sharks leaned on Ryane Clowe for a second straight game, and in
doing so extended their home winning streak to 8 games. Clowe scored two goals,
including the tying goal with 1:39 left in regulation, then would score the
game winning goal in the shootout. The victory was tempered by an apparent
injury to goaltender Evgeni Nabokov's left leg on the game's final play.
Nabokov stretched his left leg in an attempt to stop Patrick
Berglund's shootout attempt. Berglund would miss the shot, ending the game, but
Nabokov fell to the ice face down and stayed down until Sharks trainers came
out to attend to him. He would skate off on one skate, and hobbled to the
Sharks dressing room, clearly favoring his right leg.
The injury
marred a gritty comeback that didn't exactly begin the way the Sharks had
envisioned.
San Jose got off to an auspicious start after Alexei
Semenov and Rob Blake were sent off for penalties a minute apart. St Louis
would capitalize on the 5-on-3 advantage with Keith Tkachuck's 9th goal of the
season. Lee Stempniak tried stuffing home a shot from outside the left post,
but Nabokov got his pads in front of the shot. The puck kicked off Nabokov,
rebounding right to Tkachuck at the top of the crease for the easy deposit.
The Blues would push their lead to 2-0 just 1:16 later on Stempniak's
first goal of the season. Stempniak one-timed a Berglund feed from the left dot
that beat Nabokov and put the Sharks on the their heels.
Joe Thornton
cut the Blues lead in half with his 2nd goal of the season midway through the
period. In a role reversal, Patrick Marleau carried the puck behind the Blues
net, and setup Thornton who was parked in front of Blues rookie goaltender Ben
Bishop. Bishop stands 6 foot 7, the tallest goaltender in NHL history.
Joe Pavelski appeared to tie the game early in the period with a blast that
bounced off Bishop, but the lanky goaltender was able to reach back and grab
the puck as it trickled toward the goal line.
That would change
minutes later.
Rob Blake scored his first goal as a Shark at 7:07 of
the middle period, tying the game at 2-2. The game came on the power play after
Barret Jackman was sent off for hooking. Blake unleashed one of his patented
howitzer shots from the point that ate up Bishop. The Blues goaltender got a
piece of the puck, but the velocity carried it into the goal.
The
Sharks dodged a bullet early in the 3rd period, after Milan Michalek was sent
off for covering the puck with his hand. With the Blues on the power play, St
Louis got the puck to the net. Nabokov lost sight of it, as it sat tucked
against his left skate, inches from the goal line. Ryane Clowe got back to
cover the puck with his stick until Nabokov could cover it.
Andy McDonald pushed the Blues back in front at 7:56
of the 3rd period with a sweet move around half the Sharks defense. Skating up
the left wing, McDonald swept around the back of the goal with the puck.
Drawing Nabokov to commit to the wrap-around chance, the Blues forward held the
puck for a split second, before whipping a shot into the Sharks goal.
Clowe would answer a minute later on a put back after the Sharks threw the puck
on net in traffic. Blake started the sequence from the point, then Jeremy
Roenick chipped at it, before Clowe tapped it home. Clowe out-skated Roman
Polak to the net, exacting some revenge on the St Louis defender who cut Clowe
with a check from behind in to the glass earlier in the period.
The
tie would be short lived. David Backes put the Blues right back in front with
his 2nd goal of the season with 9:22 to play in regulation. Backes swatted a
floating puck out of the air after Stempniak put a shot on goal from the high
slot. Stempniak's shot hit Nabokov, then bounced waist high for Backes.
A flurry of penalties during a three minute stretch would turn the
game upside down. After Dan Hinote and Jackman were set of, the Sharks had the
5-on-3 chance, but Jonathan Cheechoo would take a hooking penalty. Christian
Ehrhoff and Polak would also join the penalty parade forcing the teams to skate
4-on-4.
The extra space on the ice worked in San Jose 's favor. Clowe
would come to the rescue with 1:39 left in the period, lifting the puck into a
wide open net from a tight angle from the right side. Taking a feed from Brad
Lukowich, Clowe seemed to bobble the puck, but regained control and knotted
things at 4-4.
Both teams opened things up in the overtime period, but
neither could get the puck past the goaltending.
In the shoot out, Joe
Pavelski shot the puck right left. McDonald followed with a backhand move that
beat Nabokov. Roenick would stuff his shot into Bishop's pads to keep the
Sharks goalless. Former Shark Brad Boyes went to backhand and lifted a shot
high. Dan Boyle would whip a shot around Bishop to knot things up at 1-1.
Nabokov stuffed David Perron to extend the shootout. Clowe would lead off the
4th round by snapping a shot past Bishop to put the sharks ahead. Berglund sent
his shot wide right to give the Sharks the win.
Game Notes:
Sharks enforcer Jody Shelley missed the game because his wife gave
birth to the couple's first child.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| STL |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, STL,
Tkachuk 9 (Stempniak, Pietrangelo), 5:14, (pp). 2, STL, Stempniak 1 (Berglund,
Perron), 6:30. 3, SJ, Thornton 2 (Marleau, Setoguchi), 9:24. |
|
|
| 2nd period - 4, SJ,
Blake 1 (Ehrhoff, Marleau), 7:07, (pp). |
|
|
| 3rd period - 5, STL,
McDonald 3 (Boyes, Jackman), 7:56. 6, SJ, Clowe 7 (Roenick, Blake), 9:03. 7,
STL, Backes 2 (Stempniak, Berglund), 10:38. 8, SJ, Clowe 8 (Lukowich,
Setoguchi), 18:21. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Shootout - SJ: Pavelski
(miss), Roenick (miss), Boyle (goal), Clowe (goal). STL: McDonald (goal), Boyes
(miss), Perron (miss), Berglund (miss). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Semenov, SJ
(roughing), 3:17; Blake, SJ (hooking), 4:20; Jackman, STL (interference),
11:01; McDonald, STL (tripping), 17:12. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Brewer, STL
(hooking), 1:11; Jackman, STL (hooking), 5:17; Cheechoo, SJ (hooking), 11:21;
Backes, STL (10 min misconduct), 13:14; Murray, SJ (holding), 13:45; Boyes, STL
(hooking), 14:33. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Michalek,
SJ (closing hand on puck), 0:53; Highnote, STL (hooking), 14:21; Cheechoo, SJ
(hooking), 14:45; Jackman, STL (interference), 14:55; Ehrhoff, SJ (holding),
16:45; Polak, STL (tripping) 17:17 . |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| STL - Bishop |
43 |
39 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
29 |
25 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| STL |
10 |
3 |
13 |
3 |
29 |
| SJ |
14 |
12 |
15 |
2 |
43 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Devorski,
Watson. Linesmen: Cvik, Sericolo. |
|
|
|
|
|
