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Sharks stun everyone with wild
period
SJ scored 6 goals in the 3rd
period
The Sharks looked like a team ready to mail in a
loss on Thursday night after sleep-walking through the first 40 minutes of play
against the visiting Nashville Predators. Then came the eruption. Then came the
3rd period. Then came six goals in the final 20 minutes. In a wild turnaround,
the Sharks torched the score sheet and stunned the Predators in an 8-5 barn
burner at HP Pavilion.
Trailing by a pair of goals entering the final
period of play, San Jose offense went haywire. The 3rd period comeback was San
Jose ’s third straight, which set an NHL record.
After all of that, Sharks head coach Todd McLellan was
still able put the first 40 minutes of the contest into
perspective.
“I knew you guys would want to talk about the great
third period," said McLellan. " Coming back and scoring six goals. You know we
won the game and that’s great but that’s not what I’ll focus on.
We were clearly outworked and outhustled for two periods and that’s very
disappointing.”
The Sharks got themselves into penalty trouble
early, which enabled Nashville to take a commanding lead in shots in the first
half of the opening period. Torrey Mitchell was sent off for tripping former
Shark Marcel Goc, then Dan Boyle followed him four minutes later for
interference.
The second penalty would cost the Sharks, when Patric
Hornqvist converted his 24th goal of the season on the 5-on-4 advantage. Shea
Weber put a shot on goal that kicked out to Hornqvist for the put back and a
1-0 Nashville lead.
Dany Heatley would tie the game with 5:50
remaining in the period on the Sharks first shot of the game. Heatley fired a
shot from the high slot after taking a pass from Joe Thornton near the top of
the right circle. The 55-foot shot beat Nashville goaltender Dan Ellis high to
the stick side.
Nashville jumped back on top 4:29 into the 2nd period
on an odd-man rush that ended with more Predators in front of the Sharks net
than San Jose defenders. Steve Sullivan carried the puck up the left side
before putting on the breaks and putting a shot on goal. Patrick Bouillon
scooped up the deflection and slid a pass to Honrqvist who was parked on the
right post for the easy tap in.
Martin Erat would put the Sharks on
the power play less than two minutes later and San Jose would strike. Heatley
tried jamming a shot past Ellis from in tight, but the puck deflected off the
goaltender, chipping out to the right side. Thornton swept in from eh right dot
and lifted the deflection past Ellis to tie the game at 2-2.
Scott Nichol would reciprocate by taking a high
sticking penalty at 10:42 of the period and he Predators would jump right back
on top. Nashville put a simple power play scheme together and threw the puck on
net with traffic in front of Evgeni Nabokov. The traffic created enough of a
distraction to allow the puck to find twine.
Nashville appeared to
take a 4-2 lead just moments later, but replays clearly showed Predators
centerman Dustin Boyd kicking the puck past Nabokov. The goal was disallowed,
but San Jose still had to chase a deficit.
The Predators would get the
goal back with less than five minutes to play before the second intermission
when Colin Wilson lifted a shot past Nabokov from just outside the right post.
Cody Franson sent a puck in from the right point to Wilson for the easy
deposit.
The penalty parade continued in the 3rd period when Dan
Hamhuis was sent off for tripping Devin Setoguchi at 3:08. Right on script, the
Sharks converted on the ensuing power play when Heatley deflected the puck past
Ellis for his 17th power play goal of the season. Manny Malhotra would knot the
game less than two minutes later on a play could have just as easily been
overturned. Malhotra was driving to the net when a Joe Pavelski pass came
whistling through the crease. Malhotra turned his skate, deflecting the puck
into the net. After a lengthy review, the puck was ruled good and just like
that the Sharks had erased a two goal-deficit in the 3rd period.
At one
point I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that we were getting out shot 30-10
three-quarters of the way through the second period," McLellan added. "Odds are
you have no chance of winning those games. But tonight we found a
way.”
A strong forecheck would give the Sharks their first lead of
the game at 11:16 of the period The Sharks drove the puck deep into the
Nashville zone before Ellis wound the puck around the end boards. Malhotra
pinned himself against the left wing boards, chipping the puck out to Pavelski
who was circling around from the back of the net. Pavelski grabbed the
deflection and skated to the front of the net before lifting a shot past Ellis.
The roller coaster hit another bump when Dumont tied
the game 2:20 later on a bit of luck for the Predators. A clearing chance
kicked off the linesman keeping it in the Sharks zone. Dumont ripped a shot
from the right circle, nicking the right post and into the goal.
Pavelski tied a franchise record with his 4th point of the period with what
will certainly make the highlight reels. Skating up the left side, the Sharks
forward pulled a spin-o-rama, before backhanding a shot that slipped between
Ellis’ pads for the 6-5 lead.
Ellis night was done. Pekka RInne
would replace him in net.
“They got the two goals and drove the
net," Predators head coach Barry Trotz lamented on his team's 3rd period
performance. "They had the momentum. I thought we got the game settled down. I
was feeling pretty good. I felt like we got the momentum back. It started with
an unnecessary turnover from (Dan) Ellis on the fifth goal. And the sixth goal
– you’ve got to save that.”
Marleau broke the 40-goal
plateau for the first time in his career with 2:50 to play on a 2-on-1 break.
The centerman skated up the left wing along with Mitchell, using his linemate
to cross up Rinne. The Predators goaltender had little chance of stopping the
Marleau cannon-shot from 15 feet out.
Jay Leach would score his first
NHL goal on an empty-net chance to ice the whacky period.
“The
first two periods I thought we played extremely well," Trotz said. "I thought
we controlled the puck, and didn’t give San Jose too many opportunities to
capitalize. I thought we played very well on both sides of the puck. Then in
the third period they got the two goals to tie it up. Then the fifth and sixth
goals were some of the most horrendous things that ever happened to
me.”
Game Notes:
Douglas Murray left the game in
the 2nd period for an undisclosed injury. The six goals the Sharks scored in
the third period ties a franchise record for goals in a period (6) that was
previously set in the second period Jan. 30, 1996 vs. the Hartford Whalers.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NSH |
1 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
6 |
8 |
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| 1st period - 1, NSH,
Hornqvist 24 (Weber, Suter), 9:11, (pp). 2, SJ, Heatley 35 (Thornton,
Setoguchi), 14:10. |
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| 2nd period - 3, NSH,
Hornqvist 25 (Bouillon, Sullivan), 4:29. 4, SJ, Thornton 17 (Heatley, Marleau),
6:11, (pp). 5, NSH, Dumont 14 (Franson, Wilson), 11:31, (pp). 6, NSH, Wilson 5
(Franson, Erat), 15:22. |
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| 3rd period - 7, SJ,
Heatley 36 (Boyle), 3:40, (pp). 8, SJ, Malhotra 11 (Pavelski, Huskins), 5:16.
9, SJ, Pavelski 19 (Malhotra), 11:16. 10, NSH, Dumont 15 (Klein, Legwand),
13:26. 11, SJ, Pavelski, 20 (Nichol, Malhotra), 14:40. 12, SJ, Marleau 40
(Mitchell, Clowe), 17:34. 13, SJ, Leach 1 (Wallin, Nichol), 19:34, (en). |
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| 1st period - Mitchell,
SJ (tripping), 4:29; Boyle, SJ (interference), 7:53; Legwand, NSH (tripping),
17:50. |
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| 2nd period -
Erat, NSH (interference), 5:52; Nichol, SJ (high sticking), 10:42; Blake, SJ
(high sticking), 17:50. |
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| 3rd period -
Hamhuis, NSH (tripping), 3:08. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| NSH - Ellis |
23 |
17 |
| NSH - Rinne |
2 |
1 |
| NSH - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
45 |
40 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NSH |
17 |
17 |
11 |
45 |
| SJ |
6 |
5 |
15 |
26 |
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| Referees: Leggo,
Lee. Linesmen: Sericolo, Sharrers. |
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