|
|
Pavelski leads Sharks over Red
Wings
SJ sweeps season series with 4-1
win
Some of the most memorable games in Sharks history
have come against the Detroit Red Wings. Those opportunities will be fewer and
farther between, now that the Red Wings relocated to the NHL's Eastern
Conference. Too bad. San Jose completed a season series sweep by knocking off
the Red Wings 4-1 at SAP Center on Thursday night in a testy matchup between
the two teams. Joe Pavelski scored a pair of goals and Antti Niemi stopped 24
of 25 shots to earn his 23rd win of the season.
* The Red Wings
entered the evening in the 6th seed in the East, with just 48 points. 48 points
doesn't even get you close to a playoff spot in the West. By comparison, the
Sharks have 9 more wins than Detroit (14 point differential in the standings),
and the Sharks sit in the 4th position by a hair over the Los Angeles Kings.
* Joe Pavelski scored his 20th goal of the season a tick shy of the 5
minute mark, one-timing a Joe Thornton feed from the slot. Thornton took a
Brent Burns feed near the end line with his back to the end boards, then found
Pavelski parked in the slot. Thornton's pass weaved past a pair of defenders
for the quick 1-0 lead.
* Tomas Tatar tied things up at 16:48 after
Marc-Edouard Vlasic lost his stick has he tried defending the Red Wings forward
along the sharks end boards. Vlasic sat back along the left post as Tatar
worked the puck off the boards before circling to the front of the net where he
sent a pretty backhand past Antti Niemi. The Sharks goaltender was perched with
one knee on the ice as Tatar's shot floated over his left shoulder.
*
Henrik Zetterberg took a holding the stick penalty late in the 1st period to
setup a Sharks power play. San Jose had Detroit on the ropes when Red Wings
goaltender Jimmy Howard lost his stick late in the period, but the Sharks
couldn't get any rubber on net.
* Andrew Desjardins was sent off for
hooking at 5:53 of the 2nd period, but his teammates bailed him out with an
excellent penalty kill. The forward atoned for his misdeed by scoring his 2nd
goal of the season two minutes after his penalty expired. Desjardins fired a
puck from the outside of the left circle, slipping a puck underneath Howard's
glove hand.
* Pavelski made it a 3-1 game less than three minutes
later, using some nifty footwork work to bag his 2nd of the game. Brad Stuart
threw a puck on net that bounced over to the outside of the left post where
Pavelski was parked. The Sharks forward corralled the puck with his skate,
kicking it forward with a crossover then lifting it top shelf from a severe
angle.
* Howard's evening came to an end after 40 minutes, as Red
Wings head coach Mike Babcock elected to stick backup Petr Mrazek in net to
start the 3rd period.
* Tempers got a little testy late in the game. Kyle
Quincey had already racked up 2 minor penalties before deciding to engage Tyler
Kennedy with just over 5 minutes left in regulation. Todd Bertuzzi took some
liberties with Tommy Wingels during a scrum in front of the Red Wings net, so
Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a shot. Scott Hannan reacted to a cheap shot elbow by
Dan Cleary by skating over to the Red Wings forward and immediately engaging
him. 50 minutes in penalties were handed out in the 3rd period alone.
* Joe Thornton climbed to within 2 points of Bobby Hull for 48th on the NHL's
all-time scoring list with his 2 assists.
* Pavelski hit the 20 goal
mark for the 5th time in his 8 year career. It was the 22nd time in his career
that he's scored 2 goals in a game. Incredibly, he has never recorded a hat
trick in the NHL.
* 10 different Sharks recorded a point in the game.
* San Jose got back to controlling the faceoff circle, winning 60% of
their draws. Joe Thornton, who had a nightmare night in Nashville two days
earlier, was 8 for 10 in faceoffs.
* Jimmy Howard has now lost 9
consecutive games to San Jose.
* Tommy Wingels and Tyler KEnnedy
returned to the lineup. Wingels missed 5 games after being checked awkwardly
into the boards against Anaheim at the end of December. Kennedy missed 4 games
as he battled a case of the flu.
 |
|
| 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 |
T |
| DET |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
1 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 20 (Thornton, Burns), 4:59. 2, DET, Tatar 9 (Glendening, Smith),
16:48. |
|
|
| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Desjardins 2 (Kearns, Vlasic), 9:44. 4, SJ, Pavelski 21 (Stuart, Braun), 12:25.
5, SJ, Boyle 8 (Demers, Thornton), 16:28, (pp). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Bench, DET
(too many men), 12:34; Zetterberg, DET (holding the stick), 19:42. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Desjardins,
SJ (hopoking), 5:53; Hannan, SJ (holding), 13:40; Quincey, DET (interference),
15:57. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Quincey,
DET (tripping), 6:11; Braun, SJ (hooking), 11:57; Quincey, DET (fighting
major), 14:57; Kennedy, SJ (slashing), 14:57; Kennedy, SJ (fighting major),
14:57; Bertuzzi, DET (roughing), 15:55; Bertuzzi, DET (unsportsmanlike
conduct), 15:55; Vlasic, SJ (roughing), 15:55; Wingels, SJ (roughing), 15:55;
Cleary, DET (roughing), 18:07; Cleary, DET (fighting major), 18:07; Hannan, SJ
(instigator), 18:07; Hannan, SJ (fighting major), 18:07; Hannan, SJ (game
misconduct), 18:07. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| DET - Howard |
23 |
19 |
| DET - Mrazek |
3 |
3 |
| SJ - Niemi |
25 |
24 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| DET |
12 |
8 |
5 |
25 |
| SJ |
9 |
14 |
3 |
26 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Pollock,
Rooney. Linesmen: Gibbs, Murphy. |
|
|
|
|
|
