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Early mistakes cost
Sharks
Chicago takes 3 of 4 from San Jose in season
series
The contest was billed as the “game of the
year” but a shaky opening period almost turned it into a laugher. After
surrendering three 1st period goals to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sharks
chipped away at Cristobal Huet and made a game of it by taking things to
overtime. San Jose came a hair from stealing two points in the extra session,
but a Troy Brouwer goal gave the Blackhawks a 4-3 win at HP Pavilion on
Thursday night.
The opening eight minutes looked reminiscent of the
Sharks debacle back on November 25th, when San Jose surrendered seven goals,
including a franchise record three short-handed goals. Simply put, the Sharks
looked bad in that opening period and it would contribute to the overall
outcome of the game.
San Jose had an early power play after Ben Eager took
a charging penalty at 2:36, but the Sharks couldn’t muster much pressure
on Blackhawks goaltender Cristobal Huet. Chicago on the other hand used it as a
warm up. They would unleash a lightning strike that once again left the Sharks
reeling at home.
Dustin Byfuglien gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 5:02 on a
shot from the slot that beat Evgeni Nabokov. Patrick Kane took a Brian Campbell
feed up the right wing boards before slamming the breaks and sliding the one
time chance to Byfuglien.
Toews hit the post on the next shift, but
that was the one shot that didn’t end up in the net. Troy Brower would
make it 2-0 just 48 seconds after Byfuglien’s goal, snapping a wrist shot
from the left dot, beating Nabokov on the short side.
Things went from
bad to worse less than three minutes later when Andrew Ladd tapped home a
Patrick Sharp feed from the top of the Sharks crease, even though Rob Blake was
standing between him and the goal. Blake failed to pick up the puck, allowing
Lad to tap the pass from the right side past Nabokov.
It looked as if
the Blackhawks would pad their lead when Douglas Murray took an interference
penalty at 9:35, but the Sharks killed the penalty, then struck shortly after
Murray was allowed to leave the box.
San Jose scored when Joe Pavelski
parked in front of Huet, and tapped a Marc-Edouard Vlasic feed from the left
side past the Chicago netminder. Pavelski beat two Chicago defenders to the
spot in front of Huet and was untouched as tapped in his 13th goal of the
season.
The 2nd period was a back and forth exchange of tepid scoring
chances for each team, but the Sharks cleaned up their defensive positioning,
which led to more offensive chances. The Sharks would outshoot Chicago 19-10 in
the period.
An interference penalty to Brent Seabrook with 3:20 left
in the period put the Sharks on the power play for the third time.
Pavelski would cut the Chicago lead to 3-2 with his
second goal of the night on a simple shot from the blueline that deflected off
of Blackhawks forward Marion Hossa then bounced just inside the left post. Huet
appeared to be screened by defenseman Brent Sopel, and was late to react to the
shot.
Down by a goal entering the 3rd period, the Sharks went to work
early, peppering Huet with a flurry of shots. The long climb back from that
early three goal deficit finally paid off when Manny Malhotra deflected a blast
by Blake into the Blackhawks net. Perched in the slot, Malhotra had his back to
the net, but had a clear look at Blake’s shot from the right point.
Chicago would try to counter with up-tempo play in the Sharks zone
midway through the period, showing why they’ve been so successful this
season. They cycled the puck in the Sharks zone for an eternity, but San Jose
weathered the storm.
Marleau and Heatley had a two-on-one break with
just over 8 minutes left in the period, but Seabrook made a nice play to cut
off a shot attempt by Marleau.
Joe Thornton took a delay of game
penalty after he gathered the puck into his body with his hand. Chicago had
1:27 to finish things off with the ma advantage, but the Sharks would hold off
the Blackhawks.
The remaining 33 seconds of the penalty carried over
into the overtime, which allowed Chicago to skate with a 4-on-3 advantage. The
Sharks were really put in a precarious position when Malhotra broke his stick
to start the extra session, but Nabokov was able to get a stoppage by pouncing
on a shot by Hossa.
Blake just missed hooking up with Thornton on a
play in front of the Chicago net, bu the puck hoped over Thornton ’s
stick. That would be as close as San Jose would get as Brouwer raced up the ice
and snapped a shot past Nabokov after defenseman Jason Demers fell down on the
play.
Game Notes:
Heatley’s assist on
Pavelski’s second goal was his 600th career point. Vlasic was dinged up in
the 2nd period and had to leave the game. He did not return.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| CHI |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, CHI,
Byfuglien 14 (Kane, Campbell), 5:02. 2, CHI, Brower 16 (Toews, Keith), 5:50. 3,
CHI, Ladd 10 (Sharp, Hossa), 8:23. 4, SJ, Pavelski 13 (Vlasic, Marleau),
11:52. |
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| 2nd period - 5, SJ,
Pavelski 14 (Demers, Heatley), 17:40, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 6, SJ,
Malhotra 6 (Blake, Setoguchi), 4:56. |
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| Overtime - 7, CHI,
Brouwer 17 (Hjalmarsson), 1:37. |
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| 1st period - Eager, CHI
(charging), 2:36; Murray, SJ (interference), 9:35; Keith, CHI (interference),
17:36. |
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| 2nd period - Seabrook,
CHI (interference),16:40. |
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| 3rd period -
Thornton , SJ (delay of game), 18:33. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CHI - Huet |
37 |
34 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
39 |
35 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| CHI |
9 |
10 |
18 |
2 |
39 |
| SJ |
7 |
19 |
11 |
0 |
37 |
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| Referees:
O'Halloran, Walsh. Linesmen: Nansen, Sericolo. |
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