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Couture bails out Sharks in
Texas
Sharks let another 3rd period lead
slip
The Sharks season of inconsistency has had one
constant the past few weeks. They can’t hold a 3rd period lead. San Jose
would surrender a lead late for the second consecutive night, but would win in
overtime on Logan Couture’s 15th goal of the season. The rookie centerman
bailed out his teammates who were on the verge of another collapse after
playing a solid game on the road. The 4-3 win wasn’t pretty, but it was
two points that the Sharks desperately need. It also came against a division
foe.
The biggest downside was that they allowed the Stars to earn a
point by getting the game to overtime. San Jose trails Dallas by two points
after the win, but could have pulled to within a single point of the Pacific
Division lead had they finished the stars off in regulation.
San Jose
still hasn’t ironed out their issues with finishing an opponent off, but
the two points keeps them in the Western Conference hunt.
A high
sticking call against Jeff Woywitka at 6:03 was followed by a delay of game
penalty to Toby Petersen 21 seconds later to give the Sharks a lengthy 2-man
advantage. San Jose would promptly blow the big advantage with a passive power
play that seemed more intent on making the pretty pass than driving the puck on
net.
The best scoring chance on the power play came off the stick off
Woywitka who had a breakaway chance after his penalty expired.
Devin
Setoguchi would help San Jose get over their power play failure by scoring his
3rd goal of the season at 10:05. Rookie defenseman Justin Braun carried the
puck up ice and fired a shot off Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen. The rebound
floated out to the right side where Joe Pavelski corralled it before sweeping a
pass to the slot. The pass landed right on Setoguchi’s stick for the tap
in goal.
A pretty decent opening 20 minutes on the road ended poorly
after Stephane Robidas baited referee Francois St Laurant into issuing Jamal
Mayers a hooking penalty after he grabbed Mayers stick and tucked it under his
left arm. Dallas would convert on the ensuing power play with 50.2 seconds left
in the period. Brendan Morrow deposited a Loui Eriksson pass with a one-time
chance from the right side.
San Jose outshot Dallas 16 – 6 in the
period, but the late letdown kept the game tied heading into the 1st
intermission.
Jamie McGinn would put the Stars on the power play for
the second time in the game at 8:35 of the 2nd period, and the league’s
23rd ranked power play promptly converted for the 2-1 lead. Ericsson tapped in
a deflection of Antero Niittymaki for his 13th goal of the season.
Torrey Mitchell would answer 37 seconds later by sweeping a shot from the high
slot past Lehtonen. The goal was Mitchell’s first tally in over a month.
San Jose regained the lead at 11:49 when Setoguchi deposited a shot
from the high slot. McGinn distracted Lehtonen by parking himself in front of
the Stars goaltender right as Setoguchi’s shot arrived.
Patrick
Marleau missed on a chance in front of the net with the Sharks on a power play
early in the 3rd period after Karlis Skrastins was sent off for hooking. The
forward has been snake bit the past two weeks, and his backhand chance from 8
feet out sailed over the crossbar to keep the Stars within a single goal.
Dany Heatley misfired on a one-time chance from the right side of a
wide open net moments later. San Jose’s failure to create any space
between them and their opponent would allow the Star to hang around and
eventually knot it up.
The lead would prove too slim for San Jose who
surrendered the tying goal at 7:56, when Tom Wandell fired a shot past
Niittymaki stick side after sweeping around the back of the net to the slot.
The Sharks would get another power play chance at 9:56 after Skrastins
took his second minor penalty of the period and their fifth of the game, but
once again the man-advantage proved fruitless. San Jose fanned on three shots
during the power play and failed to put a single shot on Lehtonen.
James Neal missed on a wide open net with 4:26 to
play, putting the puck off the left post to keep the game tied.
Mike
Ribeiro would cut Dany Heatley with an ill-advised high stick with 29.5 seconds
left in regulation, taking a double minor for drawing blood. The Stars would
hold off the Sharks for the remainder of regulation, sending the game to
overtime. With the penalty carrying over to the extra frame, Dallas was forced
to defend with only three defenders.
Couture would end it with a shot
from the slot that deflected off the right post and into the net.
Game Notes:
With his assist on Setoguchi’s first
goal, Pavelski earned his 200th career point. Pavelski would earn the primary
assist on both of Setoguchi’s scores. Douglas Murray was a injury scratch
for the third straight game.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| DAL |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Setoguchi 3 (Pavelski, Braun), 10:05. 2, DAL, Morrow 10 (Eriksson, Robidas),
19:09, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, DAL,
Eriksson 13 (Richards, Robidas), 9:26, (pp). 4, SJ, Mitchell 4 (Heatley,
Huskins), 10:03. 5, SJ, Setoguchi 4 (Pavelski, Wallin), 11:49. |
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| 3rd period - 6, DAL,
Wandell 3 (Ott), 7:56. |
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| Overtime - 7, SJ,
Couture 15 (Boyle), 1:20, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Woywitka,
DAL (high sticking), 6:03; Petersen, DAL (delay of game – puck over
glass), 6:24; Burish, DAL (charging), 12:34; Mayers, SJ (hooking), 18:35. |
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| 2nd period - McGinn, SJ
(tripping), 8:35. |
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| 3rd period - Skrastins,
DAL (hooking), 4:24; Skrastins, DAL (tripping), 9:56; Ribeiro, DAL (high
sticking – double minor), 19:10. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niittymaki |
18 |
15 |
| DAL - Lehtonen |
43 |
39 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
16 |
7 |
17 |
3 |
43 |
| DAL |
6 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
18 |
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| Referees: McCauley,
StLaurent. Linesmen: Rody, Sharrers. |
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