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Consistently bad
again
Flames latest team to get healthy at Sharks
expense
Who says the Sharks aren’t playing with any
consistency right now. They’ve been consistently bad the last five games.
They played poorly again on Friday night, dropping a 4-3 decision to the
Calgary Flames in Alberta . The script has been the same the past week and San
Jose followed it to the letter. Give up a couple of goals in the opening
period, show a glimmer of life in the middle of the game, then make the
mistakes necessary to allow the opposition to pull away.
Calgary
obliged by outworking the Sharks early to jump out to a 2-0 lead. San Jose
’s confidence entering the game was on shaky ground, but it seemed to seep
into the stratosphere with every Calgary goal.
When things are going bad, sometimes they can just snowball.
Joe Thornton tried to snap that by simply winning a faceoff. Instead, he took a
Matt Stajan stick to the face, which cut him above the eye. Both referees
missed the infraction, which should have been a double minor for drawing blood.
They didn’t miss the holding penalty that Sharks defenseman Kent Huskins
would take a minute later.
As if on cue, San Jose would then surrender
the customary first goal, coming just after Husking penalty expired. Evgeni
Nabokov made a valiant effort to deny two Flames shots in close, but he
couldn’t stop the third, a tap in from Jerome Iginla from the doorstep.
Joe Pavelski failed to get back in time to deny the Calgary captain, who
converted his 32nd goal of the season.
The Sharks followed that up
with sloppy play in their own end that resulted in another Flames goal. Dan
Boyle tried to send a puck up to forward Devin Setoguchi along the left wing
boards, but it was intercepted by Niklas Hagman who chipped it over to Damond
Langkow. The Flames centerman then snapped a shot from the high slot that found
the upper right corner of the goal.
A strong start to the 2nd period
allowed San Jose ’s top line to cut the Flames lead to 2-1 at 2:41 of the
period. Dany Heatley one-timed a Thornton feed past Miika Kiprusoff from the
slot, after Patrick Marleau beat the Calgary defense to a loose puck in the
corner. The goal was Heatley’s 37th of the season.
All the
positives of the Heatley goal would prove meaningless as Calgary would answer
with a pair of goals to close out the period.
As become all too customary, the Sharks let the
opposing team’s 3rd and 4th line get in on the scoring. Nigel Dawes
converted on a rebound in front of the Sharks net after Calgary applied a
textbook forecheck in the Sharks zone. Mikael Backlund put a shot on net from
the slot, but Nabokov was forced to defend the shot with his left leg pad. The
puck landed right on Dawes stick for the easy deposit.
Calgary would
strike two minutes later on more atrocious defense. Backlund carried the puck
into the Sharks zone and slid a pass to Eric Nystrom on the left wing for the
easy deposit. Defenseman Douglas Murray was caught out of position and could
only watch Nystrom slip his 9th goal of the season past Nabokov.
Ryane
Clowe tried to light a fire under his bench by engaging Iginla in a fight right
before the second intermission. Clowe ended up sniffing Iginla’s fists in
a bout that favored the Flames captain.
Manny Malhotra made it a 4-2
game when he punched home his 12th goal of the season at 12:01 of the 3rd
period. Rookie Logan Couture skated the puck out from behind the Calgary net
and threw a shot on goal. Kiprusoff appeared to have the puck controlled
against the right post, but a teammate chipped it out to the top of the crease,
where Malhotra was for the easy deposit.
Dan Boyle made it 4-3 with
1:51 left in regulation on a nice play setup by Couture. The youngster skated
the puck around the end boards from left to right before sending a pass through
the crease to Boyle on the left side. The defenseman whipped home his 13th of
the season.
San Jose would pull Nabokov, but it proved fruitless.
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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 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| CGY |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, CGY,
Iginla 32 (Stajan, Giordano), 3:24. 2, CGY, Langkow 14 (Hagman), 8:52. |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Heatley 37 (Thornton, Marleau), 2:41. 4, CGY, Dawes 11 (Backlund, Mayers),
9:04; 5, CGY, Nystrom 9 (Backlund, Mayers), 11:03. |
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| 3rd period - 6, SJ,
Malhotra 12 (unassisted), 12:01. 7, SJ, Boyle 13 (Couture, Heatley), 18:09.
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| 1st period - Huskins, SJ
(holding), 1:18; Langkow, CGY (tripping), 11:41; Bourque, CGY (boarding),
14:22. |
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| 2nd period -
Staubits, SJ (holding), 5:43; Giordano, CGY (hooking), 12:18; Clowe, SJ
(fighting major), 19:56; Iginla, CGY (fighting major), 19:56. |
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| 3rd period -
Clowe, SJ (roughing), 12:47. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
24 |
20 |
| CGY - Kiprusoff |
28 |
25 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
14 |
8 |
6 |
28 |
| CGY |
6 |
8 |
10 |
24 |
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| Referees: Meier,
Joannette. Linesmen: Cameron, Nelson. |
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