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An opening night to
forget
Sharks embarrassed by Avalanche
The NHL must have had some pity for the San Jose
Sharks. After their post season melt down last spring, the league threw the
Sharks a softball on opening night, by pegging them against the Western
Conference’s worst team from a year ago. There was plenty more to pity
after the Avalanche throttled San Jose 5-2 at the Pepsi Center to open the
2009-10 season. Reminiscent of their first round playoff exit against the
Anaheim Ducks, San Jose played a disjointed style that quickly had them playing
catch up.
Undergoing their own overhaul, the lively Colorado roster
wasted little time getting on the board. Darcy Tucker redirected a John-Michael
Liles shot while parked in front of the San Jose net 2:03 into the game. Rookie
defenseman Jason Demers was is in the process of cross checking Tucker to the
ice, but the Avalanche forward was able to get a stick on the puck, deflecting
it past Evgeni Nabokov.
Patrick Marleau would get the goal right back
almost four minutes later after Ryane Clowe picked defeseman Kyle
Cumiskey’s pocket in the Avalanche zone. Clowe’s strong forecheck
extracted the goal near the left wing boards, kicking it across the ice. Joe
Pavelski scooped up the puck and found Marleau cutting through the middle for
the wrister past Colorado goaltender Craig Anderson.
Colorado would
retake the lead at 9:05, after a risky defensive move by Devin Setoguchi ended
up in the San Jose net. With a puck floating in the air near the San Jose
crease, Setoguchi tried swatting the puck away with his glove, but ended up
putting it right on Wojtek Wolski’s stick. The Avalanche forward was
parked on the right post, and simply had to sweep the puck past Nabokov.
Scot Nichol, one of the Sharks off-season acquisitions, let his
presence be known late in the period, when he laid out Tucker with a check in
the slot. San Jose was killing a Jamie McGinn hooking penalty and Nichol’s
it freed up the puck for a clearing attempt.
Rob Blake drew a
double-minor for high sticking right before the end of the period, carrying
over the 4 minute infraction into the 2nd period. Colorado rookie Matt Duchene
almost converted on a breakaway chance in the opening minute of the period, but
Nabokov poked the puck away with his stick.
The Sharks would kill the
penalty off, but Colorado strung together a rush at 5:12 that ended with
another Avalanche goal. Chris Stewart carried the puck up the riht side and put
a big shot on goal, bouncing the puck off Nabokov. Winger Cody McLeod was
trailing on the play and easily dumped the rebound into the open net.
Marleau would cut the Avalanche lead to 3-2 at 8:26, after Adam Fotte was sent
off for holding. Marleau gathered a deflection in front of the net and lifted
the puck over Anderson for the power play tally.
At that point San
Jose ’s defense decided to take the rest of the period off.
Wolski would bag his second goal of the game 1:22
after Marleau’s goal with a redirect from the right post. With no defender
in sight, Paul Stastney sent a diagonal pass through the slot to the wide open
Wolski.
Jody Shelley would try to incite a little emotion in his
teammates at 10:25, but he took a roughing penalty for good measure. He would
also take a beating at the hands of David Ko ci.
Liles would convert
on the power play with a blast from the right point that weaved through traffic
and was partially deflected by a Sharks defender.
A hooking penalty to
Marek Svatos early in the 3rd period gave the Sharks an opportunity to bite
into the Avalanche lead, but a shot by Pavelski would ring off the post,
spoiling the chance.
Penalties to Wolski and Scott Hannan midway
through the period gave the Sharks a full 2-minute 5-on-3 power play, but the
Sharks failed to convert. Dany Heatley whiffed on a golden opportunity as a
pass to him on the right post slipped under his stick.
Game
Notes:
The Avalanche delayed the start of the game for an hour in
order to honor Joe Sakic, who retired during the off-season. The Avalanche
retired Sakic’s number 19, hoisting his jersey to the rafters, joining
Patrick Roy and Ray Bourque. San Jose officially trimmed their roster to the
league limit by sending Derek Joslin, Frazer McLaren and Mike Moore to
Worcester .
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| COL |
2 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
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| 1st period - 1, COL ,
Tucker 1 (Liles, Galiard), 2:03. 2, SJ, Marleau 1 (Pavelski, Clowe), 5:47. 3,
COL , Wolski 1 (Hejduk, Stastney), 9:05. |
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| 2nd period - 4, COL ,
McLeod 1 (Stewart, O'Reilly), 5:12. 5, SJ, Marleau 2 (Pavelski, Boyle), 8:26,
(pp). 6, COL , Wolski 2 (Stastney, Quincey), 9:48. 7, COL , Liles 1 (Clark,
Duchene), 12:17, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Tucker, COL
(hooking), 11:53; McGinn, SJ (hooking), 14:20; Blake, SJ (high sticking -
double minor), 19:56. |
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| 2nd period - Foote, COL
(holding), 7:49; Shelley, SJ (fighting major), 10:25; Shelley, SJ (boarding),
10:25; Koci, COL (fighting major), 10:25; Hannan, COL (holding), 16:24. |
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| 3rd period -
Svatos , COL (hooking), 2:57; Wolski , COL (cross checking), 11:32; Hannan, COL
(hooking), 11:32. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
20 |
15 |
| COL - Anderson |
40 |
38 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
12 |
9 |
19 |
40 |
| COL |
7 |
12 |
1 |
20 |
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| Referees: Peel,
Pochmara. Linesmen: McElman, Racicot. |
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