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Sharks zap
Lightning
7 goal outburst stuns Tampa
Bay
1/13/09 - By Mike Lee
If Dan
Boyle wanted a little retribution for the way the Tampa Bay Lightning handled
his trade to San Jose last season, he got a heaping helping of it and had
enough for leftovers on Tuesday night. Boyle didn’t factor in any scoring,
but he had a front row seat for the Sharks 7-1 dismantling of the Lighting at
HP Pavilion. San Jose seemed to score at will including on the power play,
where the team converted on 3-of-8 chances.
Wrapping up their west
coast swing, the Lightning were forced to dress only five defensemen and start
rookie Karri Ramo in net because of injuries. Ramo was under siege all night
long, facing a steady stream of rubber all night long. He would face 42 shots
on the evening.
"We were fortunate to take advantage of a team that was
tired and obviously wounded," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan.. We thought
if we could keep up the pressure that they would get into penalty trouble and
we could take advantage of it. And on the other side of the coin we didn't take
very many of our own. It allowed us to stay ahead."
San Jose wasted
little time getting on the board after opening the game with plenty of jump in
their step. Devin Setoguchi netted his 20th goal of the season just 2:17 in
with a one-timer from the slot. Joe Thornoton setup the goal with a centering
pass from behind the Lightning net, allowing Setoguchi to whip the shot past
Ramo.
Offsetting roughing penalties to Jeff Halpern and Douglas Murray
was followed by a tripping penalty to Vladimir Mihalik 1:40 later. Joe Thornton
converted on the abbreviated 4-on-3 power play 14 seconds later to make it 2-0.
Thornton threw a puck on net from outside the right post, deflecting it off of
Adam Hall and into the goal.
Tampa Bay buckled down in the 2nd period,
playing a more uniform defense which prevented the Sharks from shooting at will
on Ramo. That effort would pay dividends later in the period.
Milan
Michalek appeared to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead 6 minutes into the 2nd period,
but replays clearly showed that Michalek kicked the puck into the goal.
Tampa Bay countered with a goal by highly touted rookie Steven Stamkos
at 7:47 of the period. Stamkos deflected a Mark Recchi shot from the left
point, which changed directions on Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.
Vincent Lecavalier almost tied it moments later with a shot from 15 feet, that
Nabokov snared with a nifty glove save.
Joe Thornton turned the
momentum back in San Jose’s favor with his 11th goal of the season at the
midway point of the period. Patrick Marleau threw the puck on net from the top
of the left circle, but Ramo failed to control the rebound. Hovering near the
crease, Thornton scooped up the puck and flipped it into the net for this 3rd
point of the night.
"The start of the 2nd, I didn't think we played too
well," said Thornton. "I thought overall we played a pretty good team. We knew
they were going to be a little bit tired, so we wanted to jump on them quick."
The penalty bug would bite the Lightning, who sent
three straight players to the box over the final 10 minutes of the period. San
Jose would misfire on he first two chances, but Michalek would convert on Ryan
Malone’s tripping penalty late. Jonathan Cheechoo put the puck on net, and
Michalek’s second effort in tight slipped the puck under Ramo’s right
pad for the 3 goal lead.
"We were in that same situation many times
this year where we didn't respond," said McLellan. "We didn't create many bad
habits in the third although the game disintegrated. It forced us to use people
in situations where we wouldn't normally, but those guys got rewarded with
power play time at the end."
Lacavalier didn’t do his club any
favors, by taking an interference penalty with 18 seconds left before the 2nd
intermission. Ryane Clowe deposited the Sharks 3rd goal of the period past Ramo
with an uncontested shot from 20-feet out with 4 ticks left on the clock.
San Jose took all of 34 seconds after the start of the 3rd period to
bag their 6th goal of the game. Joe Pavelski tapped home his 12th of the season
from point blank range. Pavelski, Michalek and Brad Murray played patty-cake
with the puck in front of the net, before the Sharks winger tapped one past
Ramo.
Regular netminder Mike Smith wasn’t available to play, so
Ramo was forced to take one on the chin for his team. The Lightning goaltender
was forced to endure more of the same when Tomas Plihal chipped a Brad Staubitz
pass over is shoulder for the another Sharks goal less than 2 minutes later.
Vinny Prospal was thrown out of the game for jawing with referee Kevin
Pollack, then David Koci followed him to the dressing room 2 minutes later for
going after Alexei Semenov with a series of cross checks while the Sharks were
enjoying a 5-on-3 power play. With the top two lines on the bench, the grinders
were rewarded with a little power play time, but they limited Ramo’s
nightmare to 7 goals.
'You're asking a lot, playing against Thornton
and all these guys," said Lightning coach Rick Tocchet. "That's a tall order.
We made it to one there, and I thought we were right there. Then, all of a
sudden, we had a rash of penalties, four in a row. Then, you know, you give
[the Sharks] any kind of momentum with power plays, you're done. Then,
obviously, they killed us after that."
Game
Notes:
Douglas Murray tied a career high with two assists. He now
has three points in the past three games. The Sharks tied their season high for
goals in a game with seven. They previously accomplished it on Nov. 22 vs.
Washington and Oct. 22 at Philadelphia.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| TB |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Setoguchi 20 (Thornton, Murray), 2:17. 2, SJ, Thornton 19 (Marleau, Blake),
14:19, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, TB,
Stamkos 5 (Recchi, Artyukhin), 7:47. 4, SJ, Thornton 11 (Marleau, Vlasic),
10:00. 5, SJ, Michalek 10 (Cheechoo, Vlasic), 17:21, (pp). 6, SJ, Clowe 18
(Pavelski, Michalek), 19:56, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 7, SJ,
Pavelski 12 (Michalek, Murray), 34. 8, SJ, Plihal 5 (Staubitz, Semenov),
2:12. |
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| 1st period - Ehrhoff, SJ
(hooking), 5:50; Halpern, TB (roughing), 12:25; Muray, SJ (roughing), 12:25;
Mihalik, TB (tripping), 14:05. |
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| 2nd period - Artyukhin,
TB (slashing), 11:06; Bench, TB (too many men), 13:11; Malone, TB (tripping),
15:30; Lecavalier, TB (interference), 19: 42. |
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| 3rd period - Pavelski,
SJ (hooking), 9:28; Artyukhin, TB (roughing), 10:43; Grier, SJ (unsportsmanlike
conduct), 10:43; Prospal, TB (interference), 13:45; Prospal, TB (10 min
misconduct), 13:45; Meszaros, TB (cross checking), 14:55; Koci, TB (cross
checking), 15:33; Koci, TB (10 min misconduct), 15:33. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| TB - Ramo |
42 |
35 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
25 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| TB |
8 |
10 |
7 |
25 |
| SJ |
17 |
13 |
12 |
42 |
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| Referees: Pollack,
St Pierre. Linesmen: Cameron, Cvik. |
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