|
|
Gritty Sharks take shootout win
in B.C.
Niemi and Luongo combine for 80 saves in
duel
Doug Wilson's reminder that the trade deadline is
quickly approaching may have hit home. With two new players in the lineup, the
Sharks turned in one of their grittiest performances of the year and took a 2-1
shootout win on the road versus the Vancouver Canucks. Joe Pavelski beat
Roberto Luongo for the only goal in the shootout to help the Sharks extend
their winning streak to three games.
The league's 2nd ranked power
play was held without a score in five chances against a Sharks penalty-killing
unit that stepped up with clutch play, including a Vancouver man-advantage in
for a full two minutes in the overtime period.
It won't show up in the
stats, but San Jose was also credited with killing off 55 minutes of 7-on-5
play. Referees Rob Martell and Dan O'Halloran failed to call any infraction in
front of the net, so the cross-checking was in full force. They also missed a
blatent high stick to Joe Thornton, which left a half in gash inches from the
Shark captain's right eye.
Aside from Thornton's cut, the only other
Sharks blemish came in the form of Vancouver's first goal of the game. Henrik
Sedin tallied his 10th goal of the season at 11:08 of the opening period, after
Dany Heatley coughed up the puck in the offensive zone. Heatley would fail to
get back in time to stop Deniel Sedin from feathering a pass to his brother for
a drop shot that slid around Antti Niemi's glove side.
Jeff Tambollini
had a golden chance to push a puck into a wide open net after Niemi was forced
to make a big save13 minutes into the 2nd period. Niemi was making snow angels
in the crease after losing sight of the puck, which sat perched outside the
crease. Tambollini crashed in, but put the puck off the Shaks netminder.
Logan Couture would pull the Sharks even at 13:46 of the period after
he picked Christian Ehrhoff's pocket with a poke check inside the Canucks zone.
The Sharks rookie would skate in on Luongo and bounce a shot off the Vancouver
netminder before backhanding the rebound into the Canucks net for his 21st goal
of the season.
The Sharks would put 25 shots on Luongo in the 2nd
period to set a franchise record for shots in a period on the road.
Patrick Marleau would find Thornton all alone on a breakaway 3 minutes into the
3rd period, but Luongo just got a piece of Thornton's shot to deny the
centerman.
Thornton would be sent off for a ticky-tack tripping
penalty at 8:57 of the period. Given all the cross-checking nonsense, it would
have been tough to give up a goal on such a weak penalty, but the Sharks
penalty kill denied the Canucks for the third time in the game.
San
Jose made a strong push in the Canucks zone with 7 minutes to play, but
Vancouver weathered the storm. San Jose had the puck in the offensive zone for
a good two minutes before Alex Edler finally cleared it.
Thornton
would get cut at a key point in the game, because time was winding down in
regulation and the Sharks were tilting the ice toward Luongo.
Martell
didn't miss Heatley chipping the puck over the glass with 3:14 left in
regulation. The infraction would give the Canucks another power play, but Jason
Demers would bait former Shark Mikael Samuelsson into taking a dumb roughing
penalty with 110 seconds left in regulation.
Thornton had another
golden chance to win it in overtime, when he found himself with the puck in
front of the Vancouver net, but he put a shot off Loungo's pad.
Dan
Boyle would take a roughing penalty 47 seconds into the overtime by knocking
Ryan Kesler over with an extended arm. San Jose would kill yet another penalty
to extend things in the extra session. Both teams would trade decent scoring
chances, but both goaltenders denied the OT winner.
In the shootout,
Niemi would poke check Mason Raymond's leadoff chance, but Couture would also
miss high on the ensuing chance. Daniel Sedin would put a shot wide left,
setting up Pavelski's chance. The Sharks forward skated in on the left side and
head faked right before putting the puck past Luongo stick side. Niemi would
end it by denying Kesler, who tried a stop and go move that was poked away by
the Sharks netminder.
Game Notes:
Goaltender Antero
Niittymaki was injured during the morning skate and was immediately placed on
the injured reserve. With no prospect close enough to reach Vancouver in time
for the game, so San Jose signed University of British Columbia goaltender
Jordan White to a one-day amateur contract. White was dressed for the game, but
did not see any action. Newly acquired forwards Kyle Wellwood and Ben Eager saw
limited minutes in their debuts for San Jose.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| VAN |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, VAN, H.
Sedin 10 (D. Sedin, Hamhuis), 11:08. |
|
|
| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Couture 21 (unassisted), 13:46. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Shootout - Van: Raymond
(miss), D. Sedin (miss), Kesler (miss). SJ: Couture (miss), Pavelski
(goal). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Demers, SJ
(tripping), 2:46; Mayers, SJ (fighting major), 13:38; Glass, VAN (fighting
major), 13:38; McCarthy, SJ (hooking), 17:37. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Malhotra,
VAN (tripping), 17:25. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Thornton,
SJ (tripping), 8:57; Heatley, SJ (delay of game - puck over glass), 16:46;
Samuelsson, VAN (roughing), 18:10. |
|
|
| Overtime - Boyle, SJ
(roughing), 0:47. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
37 |
36 |
| VAN - Luongo |
45 |
44 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
25 |
9 |
2 |
45 |
| VAN |
17 |
9 |
8 |
3 |
37 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Martell,
O'Halloran. Linesmen: Cameron, Cameron. |
|
|
|
|
|
