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Heatley's hat trick leads
Sharks
3rd period outburst silences hot
Flyers
The Sharks made good use of their three-day break
from the rigors of an NHL season by resting up for one of the hottest teams in
the NHL right now. Having won 7 of their last 8 games, the Philadelphia Flyers
strolled into town looking to avenge the 4-1 loss to San Jose on October 25th,
but the Sharks were rested and waiting. Dany Heatley recorded his 9th career
hat trick and Joe Thornton had four assists in a 6-3 barn burner at HP Pavilion
on Friday night.
It was clear from the opening faceoff that this game
would be an entertaining one. The back and forth game wasn’t decided until
a wild 3rd period that included a short-handed, power play and pair of even
strength goals.
The Sharks top line included Patrick Marleau, who
flanked Thornton , opposite Heatley. The trio accounted for four of the Sharks
six goals.
“They were really clicking,” Sharks head coach
said of his top line. “I’m obviously happy for them. They made a real
impact on the game. They also got our team energized a little bit. They were
there to play right off the bat. It’s nice to see them rewarded them
offensively for it.”
San Jose seemed intent on dictating play
early, rather than sitting back and letting the Flyers grab the upper hand. The
Sharks threw plenty of rubber at Flyers goaltender Ray Emery, including a shot
that bounced off the netminder, right to Joe Pavelski at the top of the crease.
Pavelski got a quick shot off, but Emery made a fantastic kick save to deny the
Sharks forward.
The Flyers would take a 1-0 lead on Danial
Briere’s 8th goal of the season at 9:16 of the opening period. Briere took
a feed from Matt Carle right in front of Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, then
bounced a shot off Nabokov’s back for the score.
Manny Malhotra
matched Briere’s pin-ball bank shot with a power play goal 6 minutes later
after Jef Carter was sent off for high sticking. Malhotra sent in a shot from
the blueline that hit a Flyers defender in the slot, deflected to the left and
hit Kimmo Timonen in the skate and again changed direction, ending up in the
back of the Philadelphia net.
Heatley converted 50 second into the 2nd
period after Flyer defenseman Chris Pronger fell down just inside his own
blueline as he tried playing the puck. Instead, Heatley grabbed it and fed
Thornton from the left side. The big Sharks centerman waited for Heatley to
park himself in front of the net before putting a perfect pass on the left post
for the easy redirect.
Briere and Marc-Edouard Vlasic locked horns in
an unlikely bout, after the two became entangled in the Flyers zone. Vlasic was
incensed as both headed to the penalty box, because Briere sucker-punched him
after the two fell to the ice and were pinned by linesmen Shane Heyer and Bran
Mach.
“I think that Marc-Edouard played a very good game for us
and there will be times during the season where he has to stick up for himself
and we are proud of him for doing that,” said McLellan. “He had a
very physical game tonight, involved with a lot of player. That’s a
healthy thing for Pickles.”
Philly tied the game at 11:24 of the period after
Jason Demers failed to clear the zone. James Van Riemsdyk intercepted the puck
along the right wing boards and whipped a pass to Claude Giroux , who pumped a
shot on goal that bounced up into the air. The puck landed in the crease, where
Malhotra inadvertently tapped it into his own net as a gaggle of sticks tried
to control it.
One of the most pivotal moments of the game came right
before the 2nd intermission. The Sharks were scrambling to convert on a power
play late in the period, after Carter took his second high sticking penalty on
the night. The Flyers killed off the penalty, but the Sharks continued to press
with the clock ticking. Thornton pushed the puck into the Flyers zone, and Dan
Boyle sent a perfect setup pass across the slot to Patrick Marleau, who pumped
home his 14th goal of the season with 4.9 seconds left in the period. The
one-time chance squeezed through Emery's pads, and the Sharks had the lead
heading into the final period.
The Sharks dodged a bullet early in the
3rd when Briere took a feed across the slot and had a point blank shot, but
Nabokov denied the Flyers sniper by squaring to the shot and smothering the low
stick-side attempt. Nabokov would stone Mike Richards on a partial breakaway at
the 5:20 mark, coming out of his net to cutoff the Flyers forward.
Heatley and Thornton teamed up once again, but this time after Boyle was
whistled for hooking. Derek Joslin chipped the puck up the left side while the
Sharks were trying to kill off the Boyle minor. With defenseman Braydon Coburn
in his way, Heatley crossed the puck to Thornton on the right side as the pair
skated up ice. Thornton calmly carried the puck toward the outside of the right
post and waited for Heatley to once again park himself in front of the net for
another tap-in goal.
Thornton’s assist, was the 600th of his NHL
Career.
Philadelphia answered less then a minute later with a put back
by Giroux after Nabokov failed to control a Pronger shot from the point.
Heatley would complete the hat trick at 12:44 on the power play, after
Ian Laperriere was sent off for high sticking. Demers sent a pass to the slot
from the right wing boards as Thornton cut down the slot. Thornton redirected
the puck on net where Emery made the save, but Heatley swept the rebound home.
Ryan Clowe got in on the act with 4:38 to play by jamming home a
deflection after Malhotra bounced a shot off Emory from the high slot. Clowe
was hovering around the net, where he was well positioned to punch home the
meaty rebound.
Douglas Murray added to the Flyers woes when he leveled
centerman Darrol Powe in the final minute. The hit sent Powe into the end
boards, inuring what appeared to be his left arm.
“They played a
heck of a hockey game.” Said Flyers head coach John Stevens. “They
beat us every way you can imagine, 5 on 5, short-handed and on the power-play.
It’s pretty clear cut the guys you have got to try to shut down. They
dominated the game and that was the end of it.”
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PHI |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
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| 1st period - 1, PHI,
Briere 8 (Carle, Giroux), 9:16. 2, SJ, Malhotra 4 (Demers, Clowe), 15:11,
(pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Heatley 15 ( Thornton ), 0:50. 4, PHI, Giroux 2 (Van Riemsdyk, Bartulis),
11:24. 5, SJ, Marleau 14 (Boyle, Thornton), 19:55. |
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| 3rd period - 6, SJ,
Heatley 16 (Thornton, Joslin), 8:41, (sh). 7, PHI, Giroux 3 (Pronger,
Richards), 9:32. 8, SJ, Heatley 17 (Thornton, Huskins), 12:44, (pp). 9, SJ,
Clowe 3 (Malhotra, Pavelski), 15:22. |
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| 1st period - Coburn, PHI
(unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:26; Clowe, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:26;
Giroux, PHI (interference), 10:47; Carter, PHI (high sticking), 13:41. |
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| 2nd period - Carcillo,
PHI (fighting major), 1:01; McLaren, SJ (fighting major), 1:01; Thornton, SJ
(hooking), 2:30; Joslin, SJ (hooking), 8:25; Briere, PHI (fighting major),
9:31; Vlasic, SJ (fighting major), 9:31; Carter, PHI (high sticking),
17:33. |
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| 3rd period -
Boyle, SJ (hooking), 7:23; Hartnell, PHI (roughing), 9:32; Pronger, PHI
(roughing), 9:32; Nichol, SJ (roughing), 9:32; Huskins, SJ (roughing), 9:32;
Laperriere, PHI (high sticking), 12:36; Carcillo, PHI (high sticking),
16:46. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| PHI - Emery |
29 |
23 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
29 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PHI |
8 |
11 |
10 |
29 |
| SJ |
13 |
6 |
10 |
29 |
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| Referees: McCauley,
O'Rourke. Linesmen: Heyer, Mach. |
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