|
|
Jones caps another
shutout
Sharks knuck off Ovechken-less
Capitals
The Sharks kicked off a 4-game road trip with a
stop in our nation's capital on Tuesday night, with a resounding 5-0 victory at
the hands of the host Washington Capitals. The Sharks got plenty of scoring in
this closer than the score tells game, but defense was the story of the night.
Namely from goaltender Martin Jones, who turned aside all 31 shots he faced to
earn his 2nd consecutive shutout.
In their three games this season,
the Sharks have allowed a single goal, which came 3 minutes into their season
opener in Los Angeles last week. Since that score, Jones has gone more than 175
minutes without surrendering an opposing team from getting anything remotely
close to his goal.
Denying the other team any goals eliminates plenty
of pressure from the offense. San Jose built a nice cushion throughout the
evening, then weathered three penalties in the final 20 minutes to lock up
their 6th point of the season.
The Capitals were coming off a season
opening win over New Jersey last Saturday, but skated without captain Alex
Ovechkin, who was scratched for what the team called "personal reasons."
Washington seemed prone to mistakes in the opening period, which resulted in
three Shark power plays. A Jay Beagle slashing call on Joe Thornton, setup a
power play that did everything except score. Logan Couture's scoring chance
toward the end of the infraction ended with a shot bouncing off the right post.
Brooks Orpik put San Jose back on the power play 6 minutes later after
tripping Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. Brent Burns setup the game's first goal
with a blast from the blueline that Thornton tipped past Braden Hotlby for the
game's only special team's tally.
The Sharks 4th line stung Holtby
2:36 into the 2nd period, when Mike Brown followed a Chris Tierney chance from
the doorstep an slammed the puck home for the 2-0 lead. Tierney drove to the
net from the right side, whipping past Dmitry Orlov before pushing the puck on
net. Holtby denied Tierney, but Orpik failed to cover Brown, who trailed on the
play and easily buried the rebound.
Tomas Hertl extended the Sharks
lead to three goal with his 2nd goal of the season at 7:25 of the period. Tommy
Wingels fired a shot on net from the top of the right circle, and once again
Holtby allowed a juicy rebound out to the front of his net. Hertl pivoted 180
degrees to track the shot and whipped a shot home with defenseman Karl Alzner
draped all over him.
Washington appeared to cut into the Sharks lead midway
through the 3rd period on the power play when Orlov crushed a shot from between
the circles that Jones had no chance to stop, but Sharks head coach Peter
DeBoer used his coach's challenge to protest contact with goaltender. Beagle
was ruled to have brushed Jones, preventing him from "doing his job" as referee
Tim Peel so eloquently explained.
Burns took a slashing penalty 5
seconds after Goodrow's penalty expired to extend the Capitals man-advantage,
but Jones tucked his ears back and went to work.
Capitals head coach
Barry Trotz pulled Holtby with just over 2 minutes left in regulation, but that
backfired when Matt Nieto sent a long shot from the left wing boards down ice
for his first goal of the season.
For whatever reason, Trotz kept
Holtby on the bench with his team trailing by 4 goals. That allowed Tierney to
get in on the scoring action, by backhanding a puck into the empty net for the
5th goal.
The Sharks move on to New Jersey for the second log of their
trip, where DeBoer will make his return to his former coaching stomping ground.
Game Notes:
Joel Ward returned to the place where he
called home for the past four seasons, to a nice ovation from Capitals fans.
The forward played in 276 games for Washington, and 35 playoff games, including
14 games last season during the Capitals playoff run that ended in the
Conference Finals.
 |
|
| 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 |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
| WAS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Thornton 2 (Burns, Pavelski), 10:54, (pp). |
|
|
| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Brown 1 (Tierney, Goodrow), 2:36. 3, SJ, Hertl 2 (Wingels, Nieto), 7:25 |
|
|
| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Nieto 1 (unassisted), 18:00, (en). 5, SJ, Tierney 1 (Goodrow), 19:!3, (en).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Beagle, WAS
(slashing), 4:34; Orpik, WAS (tripping), 10:41; Kuznetsov, WAS (hooking),
16:55. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Burns, SJ
(high sticking), 10:56. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Burns, SJ
(hooking), 0:35; Galiev, WAS (holding), 3:31; Chimera, WAS (unsportsmanlike
conduct), 5:33; Goodrow, SJ (holding), 8:34; Burns, SJ (slashing), 10:39. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
31 |
31 |
| WAS - Holtby |
30 |
27 |
| WAS - empty net |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
17 |
10 |
5 |
32 |
| WAS |
8 |
12 |
11 |
31 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Peel,
Luxmore. Linesmen: Mach, McElman. |
|
|
|
|
|
