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Sharks struggle but beat
Islanders
Dan Boyle provides offensive
support
The New York Islanders stumbled into San Jose on
Thursday night primed for a beating, having lost eight straight games and
playing 24 hours earlier in Southern California. They also hadn’t recorded
a single point in the standings during their eight game slide, so the odds were
all in the Sharks favor. Given all that, the Sharks still required a shootout
to secure the two points that they should have locked up in regulation.
Devoid of any big name players on their roster, the Islanders look
more like a minor league franchise on paper. That all went out the window, with
the Sharks still struggling to find some cohesiveness. It was the home rested
team that played sluggishly throughout the night, generating much in the form
of scoring chances. It would take a 2-man advantage to record their only
regulation goal. The long range shot seems to be the offensive weapon of choice
for San Jose, but again that did little to create any serious scoring
opportunities.
“We haven’t been scoring a lot of goals
obviously it took to the end of the shootout, but two points are in the bank
and it hasn’t been happening often enough so we’ll take it
tonight,” siad Sharks head coach Todd McLellan
The Sharks decided
to play with fire early in the contest, repeatedly handing the Islanders the
puck in their own zone. Kent Huskins and Niklas Wallin had a pair of glaring
giveaways that turned into Islander scoring chances.
Jack Hillen would
give the Sharks a power play at 16:54 of the opening period, but it was New
York that would get the majority of scoring chances on the San Jose man
advantage. A sloppy showing on the power play negated any serious chance at
getting a puck past Islanders goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Hillen almost had a
breakaway chance after leaving the penalty box, but Jason Demers stabbed a lead
pass over the glass with a diving play.
A Blake Comeau interference
penalty gave the Sharks another power play early in the 2nd period, but once
again a lack of cohesion with the man advantage really hurt the sharks. A limp
pass by Demers turned into a breakaway chance for Josh Bailey, giving the
Islanders another short-handed chance, but Niittymaki made the save.
P.A. Parenteau would eliminate all the white space on the score sheet with an
Islanders goal at 4:51 of the period, snapping a long shot from the high slot
past Antero Niittymaki. Parenteau used a screen by a group of bodies in from of
the Sharks netminder to score his 4th goal of the season. It was the first time
the Islanders grabbed an initial lead in nine games.
Hillen would take
another interference penalty with 6 minutes to play, which was followed by a
delay of game penalty by Mike Mottau 6 seconds later to give the sharks a
lengthy 5-on-3 power play.
Dan Boyle would make the Islanders pay for
the infractions with a wrist shot that beat Roloson at 14:26. The Sharks
defenseman snapped an 18-foot wrist shot that sailed over the Islander
goaltender’s left shoulder.
Joe Pavelski appeared to break out of his slump with a
goal early in the 3rd period after he deposited the puck in a wide open net,
but the would-be go-ahead goal was waved off because Logan Couture was ruled to
be in the crease. Roloson had mishandled the puck near the end boards, and
couldn’t get back into the crease because Couture was standing near the
right post, cutting off the Islanders netminder.
"That's the call they
make, and that's all it is," Pavelski said after the game. "I don't know what
exactly happened. I assume it's (Couture) there, but he's out of the crease
too."
San Jose spent the rest of the period sending long range shots
that Roloson gobbled up. It was reminiscent of his playoff performance against
the Sharks three seasons ago when he played for the Edmonton Oilers. Lots of
rubber thrown his way, but nothing challenged the goaltender.
The only
thing even semi-interesting was a Boyle shot that caught Roloson in the mask
after it was deflected in the slot. The shot dropped the netminder, drawing a
stoppage.
“Although we did not have the territorial play, we did
outshoot them in the third period," said Islanders head coach Scott Gordon. "We
did not give them a lot, even though they kept coming. We did a good job on
defending in our zone, and not allowing any opportunities at all.”
In the shootout Couture set the tone with a backhand shot that beat Roloson
through the five-hole goal after a dipsy-doodle move in the slot. Parenteau
followed that with a shot that missed high. McLellen went with Pavelski as his
second shooter, but the centerman’s troubles continued with a shot that
was stuffed against the right post by Roloson.
Niittymaki made the play
of the game for San Jose gloving a backhand chance by Frans Nielsen with a wave
of his glove. Boyle ended it with a deek at the top of the crease and a
backhand shot that beat Roloson stick side.
Niittymaki summed up the
shootout best.
"It's great when you win, it sucks when you lose,"
quipped the goaltender.
Game Notes:
Joe Thornton retured to the
ice after serving his two-game suspension for his hit on David Perron. Thornton
was held scoreless.
"Timing was a little off, but that's to be
expected," Thornton said. "It was nice to get back there and compete with the
guys. I'll be better next game."
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| NYI |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
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| 2nd period - 1, NYI,
Parenteau 4 (Hillen, Taveres), 4:51. 2, SJ, Boyle 2 (Pavelski, Marleau), 14:26,
(pp). |
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| Shootout - SJ: Couture
(goal), Pavelski (miss), Boyle (goal). NYI: Parenteau (miss), Nielsen (miss).
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| 1st period - Wallin, SJ
(delay of game – puck over glass), 12:21; Hillen, NYI (hooking), 16:54.
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| 2nd period - Comeau, NYI
(interference), 1:05; Gervais, NYI (cross checking),7:42; Hillen, NYI
(interference), 14:04; Mottau, NYI (delay of game – puck over glass),
14:10. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| NYI - Roloson |
38 |
37 |
| SJ - Niittymaki |
25 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| NYI |
8 |
7 |
7 |
3 |
25 |
| SJ |
12 |
18 |
8 |
0 |
38 |
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| Referees: Auger,
LaRue. Linesmen: Lazarowich, Cvik. |
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