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Sharks get it done in
Toronto
Nabokov beats Giguere in showdown of former
rivals
The Sharks turned in another yeoman’s
performance on the road, take a 3-2 win at the Air Canada Center in Toronto on
Monday night. Battling against a Maple Leaf roster that has been injected with
new life through a series of trades over the past week, the Sharks went
toe-to-toe with Toronto to win their 9th straight on the road. Ryan Clowe
scored the winning goal late in the 3rd period to help San Jose extend their
Western Conference lead.
The storyline was filled with a cast of
players that have lots of history with the Sharks, including Toronto head coach
Ron Wilson. A trio of former Shark adversaries including Jean-Sebastien Giguere
and Dion Phaneuf made their presence be known all night long.
Both teams spent the first half of the opening period
probing for a weakness in the opposing team’s defense. San Jose would find
Colton Orr’s weakness soon enough.
Jody Shelley and Orr squared
off for a brief fight at 9:55 of the period, which ended with a Shelly right
dropping the Maple Leafs right winger like a lead brick. Orr fell to his knees
after taking the shot right off the chin.
The bout got the Maple Leafs
attention and they would respond a minute later with a shot of their own,
coming in the form of the game’s first goal. Phil Kessel took an awkward
bounce off the right wing boards and cutting in on the Sharks net before
sliding a pass through the crease to Tyler Bozak on the left post. Bozak simply
had to gather the pass and sweep it into the empty net.
Former Anaheim
Duck defenseman Francois Beauchemin took a tripping penalty at 18:40, to give
the Sharks a brief power play. The league’s worst penalty killing unit
almost converted on a short-handed goal after Joe Thornton turned the puck over
in the Toronto zone. Lee Stepniak pick off the puck and raced up ice before
uncorking a shot that Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov was forced to glove.
The Maple Leafs would outshoot San Jose 13-7 in the period, which may
have served as a wake up call for the Sharks.
Toronto just missed
pushing their lead to two goals early in the 2nd period when Alexei
Ponikarovsky ripped a shot that split Nabokov’s pads and clanked off the
right post.
San Jose began to turn up the heat on Maple Leafs
goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. After Brad Staubitz just missed putting a
puck past the former Duck netminder, San Jose finally tallied a point when Dan
Boyle pumped a shot from the right circle after a faceoff win by Thornton . The
goal was the fist allowed by Giguere in two and a half games after the Maple
Leafs acquired him last week.
Joe Pavelski gave the Sharks the lead 2:24 later on a
wrist shot from the right dot, after taking a feed from Devin Setoguchi.
Pavelski had Giguere leaning the wrong way as his shot slid inside the near
post.
Staubitz and Garnet Exelby dropped the mitts on the ensuing
faceoff, fighting to a draw.
Shelley put the Sharks in a precarious
position right before the 2nd intermission after he took a bad roughing penalty
for roughing Dion Phaneuf. The former Calgary Flames defenseman checked Shelley
from behind and the Sharks tough guy retaliated, earning a trip to the box.
Phaneuf would add insult to injury by setting up the tying goal for
Toronto just 9 seconds into the ensuing power play. After the Maple Leafs won
the faceoff, Tomas Kaberle slid a pass to Phaneuf on the right point. Phaneuf
sent a shot on goal that deflected off Nabokov, right to Kessel for the easy
deposit.
Phaneuf would put Toronto back on the power play at 7:39 of
the 3rd period after eating Clowe’s stick. Bozak would come inches from
scoring after swatting a shot from the Sharks doorstep that Nabokov was able to
smother. The Sharks would kill the penalty, setting up Clowe’s heroics.
Clowe and Setoguchi cycled the puck behind the Maple
Leafs net, before Setoguchi tried stuffing a wrap-around chance past Giguere.
The puck deflected off a Toronto defender to Clowe outside the right post.
Clowe threw the puck on net from a tight angle, finding twine with 6:39 left in
regulation.
Nabokov saved his best save for the final 10 seconds of
regulation, denying three Maple Leafs from scoring during a wild rush in front
of the Sharks goal. Viktor Stalberg came closest with a stab at a loose puck
from the top of the crease.
Game Notes:
The Sharks
appearance in Toronto was their first since December of 2005. Dwight Helminen
made his debut for the Sharks, donning number 36. Nabokov moved into 30th place
all time in career wins.
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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 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| TOR |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, TOR,
Bozak 3 (Kessel), 10:36. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Boyle 11 (Heatley, Thornton), 3:17. 3, SJ, Pavelski 16 (Setoguchi), 5:41. 4,
TOR, Kessel 21 (Phaneuf, Kaberle), 19:09, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Clowe 15 (Setoguchi, Blake), 13:21. |
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| 1st period - Nichol, SJ
(holding), 6:08; Shelley, SJ (fighting major), 9:55; Orr, TOR (fighting major),
9:55; Beauchemin, TOR (tripping), 18:40. |
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| 2nd period - Staubitz,
SJ (fighting major), 5:43; Exelby, TOR (fighting major), 5:43; Beauchemin, TOR
(interference), 16:32; Shelley, SJ (roughing), 19:00. |
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| 3rd period -
Clowe, SJ (high sticking), 7:39. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
34 |
32 |
| TOR - Giguere |
26 |
23 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
7 |
9 |
10 |
26 |
| TOR |
13 |
13 |
8 |
34 |
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| Referees: McCreary,
Kimmerly. Linesmen: Miller, Morin. |
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