Support this community by becoming a Sponsor

LGS FEATURES   MESSAGE BOARDS   NEWSROOM   SHARKS SCHEDULE   SHARKS ROSTER   DEPTH CHARTS   INJURY REPORT   SHARKIVES   HOSER of the WEEK   TICKET EXCHANGE   LINKS   HOME  SITE INFORMATION   Contact Us   Meet the Staff   Join the Team   Advertise   Our Sponsors

Stalock's 38 saves leads Sharks Sharks win on back to back nights 10/27/13 - By Mike Lee - Playing in their third game in the past four nights and second in the last 22 hours, the Sharks had plenty of reasons to mail in their game against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. Add the fact that these games are all part of a long road trip and it would be easy to expect a sub-par performance. Someone forgot to tell the Sharks that. San Jose followed up their win in Montreal with a dominating 5-2 victory over the Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. * Alex Stalock made his first career NHL start and earned the victory after making 38 saves against a Senators offense that went after the Sharks from the opening faceoff. While not as big as the Sharks regular backstop, Antti Niemi, Stalock is a bit more nimble on his feet, and is more adept with his stick than Niemi. * While Stalock was holding the fort, San Jose shared the wealth with five different players scoring. Tomas Hertl, Andrew Desjardins, Tommy Wingels, James Sheppard and Joe Pavleski all recorded goals for the Sharks. * Hertl wasted little time recapturing the rookie scoring lead, but notching his 8th goal of the season just 76 seconds into the game. Hertl swept home a shot from the slot after hovering around the Senators net. His willingness to stick his nose in places that can mean trouble for skaters has paid dividends. He's proving to be more than a skater than just score on breaks. * Desjardins and Sheppard scored their first goals of the season. Desjardins came on a pretty backhand shot from the slot with his back to the goal. The puck landed on his stick as he sat parked in front of Senators goaltender Craig Anderson. Sheppard scored a 3rd period goal from outside the left post on a Joe Thornton feed. Sheppard also assisted on Hertl's goal, giving him his first multi-point game in over five years. * Wingels scored the Johnny Hustle goal of the game, cashing in on the Senators defense lack back checking. Logan Couture had a breakaway on Anderson, but the Senators goaltender stopped him. While Anderson stopped the breakaway, he didn't control it, as it sat precariously in the crease. Wingels was pursuing the play, and simply beat Erik Karlsson and Bobby Ryan to the puck, tapping it home as Anderson watched helplessly. * Karlsson scored one of two goals to get past Stalock. His 1st period shot from the point was tipped by a Sharks defender to slip past Stalock. The Sharks goaltender was partially screened on the play as well. * Karlsson had a game high 9 shots on goal. * Stalock was also screened on Marc Methot's 1st goal of the season midway through the second period. Brad Stuart was going to be called for a delayed penalty as the Senators worked the puck behind the Sharks net. Methot ripped a shot from the left point as several bodies were parked in front of Stalock. The goaltender never saw the shot, but it didn't help that his own teammate, Matt Irwin was screening him during the play. * Pavelski added his 4th goal of the season on a pretty exchange with Justin Braun after Jared Cowan heeled a shot from the blueline that turned into a Sharks break. Pavelski shoveled a pass to his Braun on his right, then continued on to the left post where Braun sent a return pass through the slot. Pavelski slammed the puck home to cap the night's scoring. * Five Shark goaltenders have won their first NHL starts in the history of the franchise. Stalock recorded the most saves of those five. The last Shark to win their first NHL start was Nolan Schaefer, who beat the Los Angeles Kings on 10/28/2005. The victory was not Stalock's first in the NHL however. He won in relief for San Jose two season ago. * San Jose killed off all three penalties assessed during the game. They rank 3rd in the league, having killed 88.2% of their shot-handed situations (30 of 34 chances). * Matt Nieto was scratched from the game after injuring his hand blocking a shot in Montreal on Saturday night. * The Sharks are targeting Wednesday for Dan Boyle's return. The Sharks wrap up their five-game road trip that night in Los Angeles as the Sharks meet the Kings for the first time since being eliminated by them in last season's Conference Semi-Finals. SHARE THIS STORY: 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 Scoring 1 2 3 T SJ 3 0 2 5 OTT 1 1 0 2 1st period - 1, SJ, Hertl 8 (Sheppard, Demers), 1:16. 2, SJ, Desjardins 1 (Stuart), 6:35. 3, OTT, Karlsson 3 (Turris, Conacher), 11:07. 4, SJ, Wingels 3 (Couture, Vlasic), 18:15, (sh). 2nd period - 5, OTT, Methot 1 (Karlsson, Spezza), 9:09. 3rd period - 6, SJ, Sheppard 1 (Thornton), 1:29. 7, Pavelski 4 (Braun, Wingels), 7:59. Penalties 1st period - Brown, SJ (interference), 17:17. 2nd period - Spezza, OTT (tripping), 1:54; Bench, SJ (too many men), 4:21; Corvo, OTT (hooking), 11:16. 3rd period - Neil, OTT (cross checking), 11:37; Irwin, SJ (broken stick), 13:17. Goaltending Shots Saves SJ - Stalock 40 38 OTT - Anderson 29 24 Shots On Goal 1 2 3 T SJ 12 11 6 29 OTT 17 12 11 40 Power Play Conversion SJ 0 of 3 OTT 0 of 3 3 Stars of the Game Joe Pavelski Erik Karlsson Tomas Hertl Attendence 17,145 Officials Referees: Lee, Hebert. Linesmen: Barton, Murchison.

0