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Sharks bomb against league
doormats
SJ unprepared for league worst
Sabres
Through 16 games this season, the Buffalo Sabres
had won a grand total of 2 games. Their 5 points in the standings had them
firmly planted in the NHL's basement. San Jose should have been poised to
pummel the league's doormat, but instead, they rolled over to harder working
team that flat out embarrassed them on home ice. San Jose fell victim to their
own unprepared approach to a game they clearly looked past, and a missed goal
call in overtime to miss a chance to grab a share of the Western Conference
lead.
* The final outcome of the game was decided in the shootout,
when Cody Hodgson put a shot in the 4th round past Sharks goaltender Antti
Niemi. Much like San Jose's shootout loss to Phoenix last weekend, Logan
Couture put the Sharks up with a quick goal, then watched his teammates flub
their chances. Niemi surrendered goals to Matt Moulson and Hodgson.
*
The big debate of the night came down to a missed call in the overtime period.
Sharks winger Tommy Wingels stabbed at a puck that Sabres goaltender Ryan
Miller failed to cover, poking it over the goal line. Referee Mike Leggo never
saw the puck cross the goal line, and assumed Miller had it covered. After the
puck had clearly crossed the goal line defenseman Tyler Myers kicked it back
out into the crease, masking the play by parking himself into the goal area and
blocking Leggo's view. It appears that nobody on the ice except for Myers knew
the puck crossed the line, so there was no protest by Sharks players or
coaches. TV replays clearly caught the missed call, but officials in the
building had no clue what had transpired, so there was no review.
*
The loss was the Sharks third in a row.
* San Jose never should have
been in the position to have the game decided in the overtime or the shootout,
but mistakes and missed opportunities sealed their fate. Buffalo scored a pair
of goals in the 2nd period off of miscues in the Sharks zone. Drew Stafford
scored off a turnover in the Sharks zone 2:#6 into the 2nd period. Cody
McCormick added a second goal three minutes later.
* Martin Havlat had
staked the Sharks to their only lead of the night 8:48 into the game. It was
Havlat's first goal of the season after returning to the lineup last Saturday
following a long stint in the injured reserve.
* The believe it or not
stat of the night: Buffalo has surrendered the first goal in all 17 games they
have played in this season.
* Tommy Wingels clanked a shot off the
crossbar during a 2nd period power play. Wingels took a pass from outside the
left post before pivoting toward the front of the net and lifting the puck over
Miller. The shot hit iron, then landed in the crease where Justin Braun missed
stuffing it home when miller reached back and gloved the second chance.
* The four goals scored by Buffalo is the most they've scored in
regulation this season.
* San Jose scored three goals in the 3rd
period, including two to tie the game. Tyler Kennedy scored his 2nd of the
season at 3:19 of the period. Tomas Hertl scored his 9th of the season on a
nifty move around the back of the Sabres net 70 seconds later. Wingles scored
his 4th of the season late in the 3rd just after a hooking penalty to Marcus
Foligno expired.
* The Sabres had 1:28 of 5-on-3 time in the 3rd
period, but failed to cash in. Hodgson put a shot off the crossbar.
*
Unlike the flameout against the Coyotes three days earlier, the Sharks outshot
their opponent in the overtime. San Jose had a pair of scoring chances rebuffed
early. One of those chances came off a Kennedy shot that clanked off the post.
* The Sharks have lost their last five meetings with
Buffalo.
* San Jose threw 51 pucks at Miller during the game. It was
the 4th time this season that the Sharks have posted 50 or more shots on goal
in a game. San Jose has only won 2 of those 4 games. Kennedy lead all skaters
with 8 shots on goal.
Quote of the night:
Head Coach Todd
McLellan: "This was a fear of mine. That we would get complacent. And that we
would turn it up when we had to, and that was what we got. We were outworked
for a large part of the game, and out-detailed certainly. We weren't anywhere
near what we need to be to play against anybody in this League."
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| BUF |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Havlat 1 (Stuart, Boyle), 8:48. |
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| 2nd period - 2, BUF,
Stafford 2 (McBain, Larsson), 2:36. 3, BUF, McCormick 1 (Stafford, Girgensons),
5:53; Larsson, BUF (high sticking), 14:18. |
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| 3rd period - 4, BUF,
Ennis 2 (Hodgson, Moulson), 1:20, (pp). 5, SJ, Kennedy 2 (Vlasic, Pavelski),
3:19. 6, SJ, Hertl 9 (Hannan, Thornton), 4:29. 7, BUF, Tallinder 2 (Ennis,
Hodgson), 7:28. 8, SJ, Wingels 4 (Hertl, Braun), 16:14. |
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| Shootout - SJ: Couture
(goal), Pavelski (miss), Marleau (miss), Hertl (miss). BUF: Moulson (goal),
Ennis (miss), Stafford (miss), Hodgson (goal). |
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| 1st period - McCormick,
BUF (fighting major), 1:25; Brown SJ (fighting major), 1:25; Leino, BUF
(hooking), 14:03; Myers, BUF (roughing), 16:31; Brown, SJ (slashing),
16:31. |
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| 2nd period - Larsso, BUF
(fighting major) 5:50; Kennedy, SJ (fighting major), 5:50; Ristolainen, BUF
(interference), 7:39. |
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| 3rd period - Boyle, SJ
(hooking), 1:05; Kennedy, SJ (interference), 9:22; Hannan, SJ (hooking), 9:28;
Foligno, BUF (hooking), 14:11. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| BUF - Miller |
51 |
47 |
| SJ - Niemi |
36 |
32 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| BUF |
10 |
11 |
12 |
3 |
36 |
| SJ |
16 |
11 |
18 |
6 |
51 |
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| Referees: Leggo,
Pochmara. Linesmen: Grandt, Lazarowich. |
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