|
|
Still no answers for Red
Wings
Sharks open strong then fade in 4-2
loss
If the Sharks still have any aspirations to model
themselves after the Detroit Red Wings, they’ll need to figure out a way
to actually beat them once in a while. San Jose gave the visiting Red Wings a
run for their money in the first ten minutes of Tuesday night’s regular
season match-up at HP Pavilion, then allowed Detroit to rip off four unanswered
goals in a 4-2 loss. The victory was only the 3rd for Detroit in their last ten
games, but they continue to have a physicological stranglehold on the Sharks
who lost to the Red Wings for the 3rd time in three chances this season.
The two teams will meet one last time in the regular season as part of
the Sharks upcoming six-game road trip, which starts on Thursday in St Louis .
It will be the last opportunity to figure out how to get past the Red Wings,
who would meet the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs if they regular
season ended today.
Joe Thornton did his part to snap the Red Wings
dominance of the Sharks this season by scoring a pair of goals in the first
half of the opening period.
Thornton put the Sharks up 1-0 at 6:11
after crashing the net and poking a loose puck into the Detroit net after Dany
Heatley bounced a shot off Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard. Thornton started
a rush by chipping the puck off the left wing boards to spring Heatley on a
break up the wing. Heatley’s shot from the left dot hit Howard in the
shoulder, before dropping to the ice for Thornton to poke home.
Henrik
Zetterberg would give the Sharks a power play at 8:10 of the period after
clipping Thornton with a high-stick. Detroit killed off half the penalty before
Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray was caught for interference on Kirk Maltby.
Skating 4-on-4, Thornton would slide his 15th goal of the season home
after Heatley bounced a 35-ffot shot off Howard from the high slot. Thornton
was stationed just outside the crease, grabbing the rebound and deftly moving
it around the fallen netminder into a wide open net.
Dan Cleary cut
the Sharks lead in half five minutes later after a pair of defensive mistakes
opened the door for Detroit . First Valterri Filppula worked the puck out of
the corner then left Ryane Clowe in the dust, before sliding a pass to Cleary
in the slot. Cleary slipped past rookie defensema Derek Joslin and roamed
untouched in the slot.
A series of unfortunate penalties would bite
San Jose right before the 1st intermission. First Patrick Marleau was called
for tripping after Todd Bertuzzi stepped on the Sharks forward’s stick
blade and fell to the ice. Rob Blake would toss the puck over the glass, to
earn a delay of game penalty 29 seconds later.
Detroit would take
advantage of the two-man advantage when Zetterberg punched home a deflection
off a Tomas Holmstrom shot from the top of the crease. Pavel Datsyuk threw the
puck on net from the left circle, but Evgeni Nabokov made the save. Holmstrom
was left unattended on the doorstep, but his put back attempt was denied by the
Sharks netminder. Nabokov was didn’t have a third save in him as
Zetterberg deposited the deflection in the Sharks net.
The tied had shifted and San Jose had no response. It
took the Sharks almost nine minutes to record their first shot of the 2nd
period. Both teams would fail to score in the middle period, but not for a lack
of chances.
Red Wings defenseman Derek Meech took a holding penalty
midway through the period, setting up a Sharks power play. Devin Setoguchi just
missed putting the Sharks back on top when his backhand chance rang off the
left post after Howard had fallen face down on the ice.
Patrick Eaves
missed on a breakaway chance later in the period after Joslin misplayed the
puck then tripped on the Detroit blueline. Nabokov stopped the scoring chance
with a big stop, but it was only a mater of time before the Sharks would
succumb to the pressure.
San Jose fell victim to some marginal
officiating to open the 3rd period. First Ryane Clowe was sent off for boarding
at 2:51, on a hit two feet from the boards. Then on the ensuing power play
Sharks defenseman Jay Leach was hauled down behind he Sharks net, but no call
was made. Meech would make it 3-2 with a shot from behind the Sharks net that
deflected off Nabokov’s right leg pad, into the net.
Another defensive breakdown would cost the Sharks four
minutes later, when Brian Rafalski hit Eaves with a 40-foot pass through the
slot. Eaves was allowed to roam free just outside the left post, where he
gathered the pass and slid into an open net to cap the evening’s scoring.
San Jose tried to make a push in the final three minutes, aided by a
hooking penalty to Red Wings defenseman Niklas Lidstrom. The Sharks pulled
Nabokov for the extra attacker, but Thornton was sent off for goaltender
interference.
Still trying to make up the two goal deficit, the coup
de grace came when Sharks captain Rob Blake had his stick snapped in half on a
slash with referee Dean Morton staring right at him, but no call was made.
Blake barked at Morton the entire way back to the bench as he skated to
retrieve a new stick.
Game Notes:
The Sharks honored
their Olympians in a pre-game ceremony, having each player accompanied by a
child donning each of the five nations that will be represented by San Jose
players.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| DET |
2 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| SJ |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Thornton 14 (Heatley), 6:11. 2, SJ, Thornton 15 (Heatley, Demers), 9:45. 3,
DET, Cleary 12 (Filppula, Holmstrom), 14:52. 4, DET, Zetterberg 14 (Holmstrom,
Datsyuk), 18:58, (pp). |
|
|
|
|
|
| 3rd period - 5, DET,
Meech 2 (Bertuzzi, Filppula), 4:40, (pp). 6, DET, Eaves 9 (Rafalski, Draper),
8:58. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Zetterber
(high sticking), 8:10; Murray, SJ (interference), 9:13; Marleau, SJ (tripping),
18:11; Blake, SJ (delay of game - puck over glass), 18:40. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Meech, DET
(holding), 8:42; Heatley, SJ (slashing), 14:20. |
|
|
| 3rd period -
Clowe, SJ (boarding), 2:51; Lidstrom, DET (hooking), 17:32; Thornton, SJ
(goaltender interference), 17:55. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| DET - Howard |
34 |
32 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
37 |
33 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| DET |
11 |
13 |
13 |
37 |
| SJ |
16 |
8 |
10 |
34 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Kowal,
Morton. Linesmen: Cvik, Sharrers. |
|
|
|
|
|
