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Positive results after heart to
heart
Sharks win in shootout following team
meeting
It’s tough to say if the team meeting San
Jose held after their disappointing loss to the Phoenix Coyotes did anything to
motivate the Sharks, but a steady performance resulted in a win on Thursday
night. It took a shootout to decide things, but the Sharks used their game in
hand to climb back to within a point of Detroit in the Western Conference
standings.
San Jose overcame a miscue in the opening period and
slugged their way to the shootout, where Je Pavelski and Jonathan Cheechoo
scored goals for the second consecutive home game.
We've got to move
forward," said Cheechoo. "Keep building on this and come and play solid for 60
minutes the rest of the way through now. We can't have any mental lapses going
into the playoffs."
A pair of Predator penalties 42 seconds apart gave
the Sharks a two-man advantage, and Rob Blake made Nashville pay. The Sharks
defenseman took a Joe Thorton feed near the left circle and one-timed a shot
past Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.
The goal was Blake’s 10th,
marking the first time the Sharks have had two defenseman with 10+ goals in the
same season. Dan Boyle eclipsed the 10 goal mark earlier this season.
The Predators tied the game at 16:40 when a Dan Hamhuis shot from the point
that deflected off of Joel Ward before bouncing past Evgeni Nabokov.
Super pest Jordin Tootoo was sent off for boarding with 2:21 to play in the
period, and the Sharks promptly committed a costly mistake. With the power play
setup in the Nashville zone, Pavelski failed to control the puck at the
blueline. Vern Fiddler scooped it up and raced up the ice, before putting a
backhand shot past Nabokov for the 2-1 lead.
Milan Michalek salvaged
the period with a gritty goal with 4 seconds remaining in the period. After
bouncing a shot of Rinne’s mask from behind the right post, the sharks
forward jammed the puck back in the direction of the, deflecting off the
goaltender’s elbow and into the net.
"I didn't like the fact that
in the first period, we took too many penalties," said Predators head coach
Barry Trotz. "That's just too dangerous against the Sharks, with the way they
move around and the personnel they have. I thought in the second and third, we
did much better. We stayed out of the box, and we battled real hard against
these guys - we played last night - and we'll take the point. It was a
well-deserved point."
The Sharks leaned on their 3rd line, who stepped
up the physical play start the middle period. As the hitting picked up, the
Predators started to take exception. Tootoo finally decided to engage with Brad
Staubitz, which turned out to be a mistake. Staubitz used his reach advantage
to land a series of punches, opening up Tootoo’s face.
"The boys
were excited," Staubitz added after the game. "They were pretty pumped up for
me. So it was good. When you see two guys battling like that, it sparks both
teams."
San Jose controlled most of the possessions in the 3rd period,
holding the Predators to no shots on goal through the first 10 minutes of the
period. David Legwand almost capitalized on a miscommunication on a line
change, when he found himself on a break with 2 minutes to play in regulation.
Nabokov stood up the Nashville forward to preserve the 2-2 tie.
J.P. Dumont also put the puck on net in the final 10
seconds to put one final scare in the sellout crowd, but Nabokov snuffed out
the chance.
Neither team generated any serious scoring chances in the
overtime.
"I thought we played pretty well, and I thought they played
pretty well," addewd Trotz. "Both teams played with pretty good intensity, we
had to go to shootout, and anything can happen. We had a great chance with two
minutes to go, Legwand had the breakaway and got the puck off the rebound and
shot it out the back door, sort of. If we'd scored there, you never
know."
In the shootout Pavelski scored with his same stutter step move
that he used against Los Angeles last Saturday night. Fiddler used the same
backhand shot to put a shot past Nabokov to even things up. Dan Boyle missed on
a wrist shot, then Steve Sullivan followed with a miss. Cheechoo put a delayed
backhand past Rinne and Legwand sent a shot wide of the net to end things.
"I thought Cheechoo has a spark in him that we've seen throughout the
year but not on a consistent basis," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "It
makes me really excited about coming to the rink tomorrow and putting him back
on that line. I thought Setoguchi had a little spark going there, too."
Game Notes:
Add another player to the injury list. Ryane Clowe
was a scratch after suffering a lower body injury which will reportedly
sideline him for a week. Ryan Vesce was called up to replace the forward. Vesce
leads the Worcester Sharks this season, and was in the lineup for the big club.
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What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| NSH |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ, Bake
10 (Thornton, Boyle), 14:27, (pp). 2, NSH, Ward 15 (Hamhuis, Deumont), 16:40.
3, NSH, Fiddler 10 (unassisted), 18:04, (sh). 4, SJ, Michalek 20 (Setoguchi,
Goc), 19:56. |
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| Shootout - SJ: Pavelski
(goal), Boyle (miss), Cheechoo (goal). NSH: Fiddler (goal), Sullivan (miss),
Legwand (miss). |
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| 1st period - Setoguchi,
SJ (interference), 11:32; Legwand, NSH (interference), 12:29; Fiddler, NSH
(tripping), 13:11. Tootoo, NSH (boarding), 17:39. |
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| 2nd period - Tootoo, NSH
(fighting major), 7:29; Staubitz, SJ (fighting major), 7:29; Murray, SJ
(holding), 8:06. |
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| 3rd period -
Nichol, NSH (holding), 7:00. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| NSH - Rinne |
38 |
36 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
26 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| NSH |
8 |
11 |
6 |
1 |
26 |
| SJ |
14 |
12 |
8 |
4 |
38 |
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| Referees: Koharski,
Pochmara. Linesmen: Galloway, Nelson. |
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