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Regular season ends with
win
Sharks secure 7th seed with 3-2 OT
win
With the division title locked up by the Phoenix
Coyotes earlier in the evening, the Sharks were playing for either the 7th or
8th seed in the West on Saturday night. Facing the Los Angeles Kings on the
tail end of their home-and-home series, San Jose overcame a two-goal deficit in
the 3rd period, winning in overtime on Dan Boyle's 2nd goal of the game. The
victory setup a first round date with the St Louis Blues to kick off the
Stanley Cup playoffs.
San Jose may want to reconsider their decision
to win on Saturday night, given their performance versus the Blue this season.
The Sharks lost all four games with the Blues this season, scoring 3 goals
total against one of the stingiest defenses in the league.
Too bad Los
Angeles isn't their 1st round opponent. San Jose won the season series 4 games
to 2, including San Jose's entertaining come from behind win on the NHL's last
day of the regular season.
"I think we learned, even as an old guy you
still learn every year, what works and what doesn't," said Boyle. "We showed a
lot of character the last four [or] five games; getting behind in games and
winning on the road. [Now] it does start all over. We want to erase what we've
done against St. Louis this year because it wasn't very good. We get a clean
slate with them , but it's going to be really demanding and a hard fought
series."
Things looked dicey for the Sharks early. The first 40
minutes of the contest looked like a disheveled mess. The opening period was a
microcosm of all that ills the Sharks. Surrendering the first goal, giving up a
power play tally and failing to counter punch were all wrapped into the 1st
period.
A Martin Havlat slashing penalty at 9:36 of the opening period
setup a Justin Williams power play goal. Williams redirected a Jarret Stoll
pass from the left wing boards as he skated through the slot. Traffic in front
prevented Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi from even seeing the puck as it flew
past him.
The Kings continued to push the line on suspect hits,
starting with a Mike Richards boarding infraction with 3:36 to play in the 2nd
period. Richards caught Logan Couture between the numbers, pasting the Sharks
young forward face-first into the penalty box glass.
San Jose didn't
convert and then back themselves into a corner when Havlat took a tripping
penalty at 18:14.
Where the Sharks power play unit failed, the Kings
special teams excelled. The Kings converted their 2nd power play goal of the
game with 56 seconds left in the period. Richards converted on the ensuing
power play, putting a backhand chance past Niemi after Williams tried to jam a
shot pas the Sharks goaltender from the slot.
Thomas Greiss opened the
3rd period between the pipes for San Jose, eventually earning the win after
making a paltry 6 saves.
"The Greiss and Niemi thing was something
we'd talked about," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "Thomas hadn't played
in a while and depending on the outcome of the Phoenix game and what was
happening in our game, we talked about potentially giving him a period. Going
back to the playoffs last year, Nemo played really well, but we did need
another goaltender at some point. The switch was to give Greiss an opportunity
to play, and it was also to shake things up a little bit. It had nothing to do
as far as [sic] Nemo's reflection on his play."
The Sharks cut the
Kings lead in half just 35 seconds into the 3rd period. Boyle took a lateral
feed from Havlat in the high slot, before ripping a shot that beat Jonathan
Quick as Couture cut across the top of the crease.
Kings public enemy
number one, Matt Greene, was sent off for boarding 8 minutes into the period.
Rather than retaliate, the Sharks got even on the scoreboard. Patrick Marleau
threw a puck on net from the blueline, that seemed to handcuff Quick. The puck
floated over Quick's right shoulder to give Marleau his 4th consecutive 30-goal
season.
The overtime period lasted 4 minutes, but only a
single shot was taken. Boyle dished the puck to Havlat along the left wing
boards as the two skated into the Kings zone. Havlat then returned the pass as
Bohyle skated across the left dot. The defenseman flipped a backhand attempt
that beat Quick high to the stick side and the Sharks were celebrating.
"The last four or five games, there wasn't much time out there where
there weren't smiles on our faces because we were having a great time playing,"
said Couture. "It's a battle against this team - and against Dallas as well.
Two great teams that we like to play against; so, fun hockey. It's also the
best time of the year. It's so much fun out there, going into the playoffs and
playing in loud buildings, especially here. The fans were really into it. Like
I said, [it's] just the best time of the year to play hockey."
Game
Notes:
Marleau joined Couture and Joe Pavelski in the 30-goal club,
marking the first time the Shark shad three 30-goal scorers. Pavelski had his
face opened up in the 2nd period when he took a puck off his face. He was
stitched up and returned to the ice at the start of the 3rd period. Douglas
Murray had 10 hits, topping his own franchise record for hits in a game.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| LA |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, LA,
Williams 22 (Stoll, Martinez), 1:09, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 2, LA,
Richards 18 (WIlliams, Mitchell), 19:04, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
Boyle 8 (Havlat, Couture), 0:35. 4, SJ, Marleau 30 (Pavelski, Couture), 8:14,
(pp). |
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| Overtime - 5, SJ, Boyle
9 (Havlat), 3:58 |
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| 1st period - Havlat, SJ
(slashing), 9:36. |
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| 2nd period - Nolan, LA
(slashing), 15:46; Richards, LA (boarding), 16:24; Havlat, SJ (tripping),
18:14; Williams, LA (roughing), 19:04; Havlat, SJ (roughning), 19:04; Vlasic,
SJ (roughing), 19:04. |
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| 3rd period - Stoll, LA
(holding the stick), 4:40; Greene, LA (boarding), 8:01. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| LA - Quick |
23 |
10 |
| SJ - Niemi |
25 |
23 |
| SJ - Greiss |
6 |
6 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| LA |
15 |
10 |
6 |
0 |
31 |
| SJ |
5 |
9 |
8 |
1 |
23 |
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| Referees: Furlatt,
meier. Linesmen: Devorski, Wheler. |
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