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Bad bounces sink Sharks
early
Pittsburgh rolls Sharks from odd
angles
There's something to be said about intestinal
fortitude. Unfortunately for San Jose, they didn't have it on Tuesday night as
the Pittburgh Penguins came calling. The Penguins were the benefactors of a
couple of fortuitous bounces, but when a would be San Jose goal was waved off
in the 2nd period, the Sharks packed it in and left the 13,000 plus in
attendance to wallow in another home loss.
And so it goes for San Jose
at home this season. The Sharks fell to 4-7-0 with a 5-1 loss to the Penguins.
The most troubling thing to come from the loss was all the rhetoric from the
Sharks on how the loss didn't feel like a 5-1 drubbing.
"I don't think
it was a 5-1 game," said Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer. "Having said that,
they did what they had to win. From the fist goal, there were a couple of goals
you won't see in a month. Three of them were scored from behind the goal line."
"We had some chances to score some goals," said defenseman Paul
Martin. "We didn't give up too much, so it's a frustrating loss when you play
well, but the score doesn't reflect that."
Paint it anyway you want,
but 4-goal losses are typically a reflection of a lopsided game. This one
tilted in the wrong direction from the get go.
Phil Kessel started
things rolling for Pittsburgh 2:30 into the game, by whipping around the back
of the net from right to left than throwing a puck that deflected off Paul
Martin, then bounced off the back of goaltender Martin Jones' leg and into the
Sharks goal.
Matt Cullen made it a 2-0 game 4:40 into the 2nd period
when he bounced a shot off the back of Jone's right pad from behind the Sharks
goal. Again, another unlucky deflection, but the fact is Cullen beat Paul
Martin and Tomas Hertl to a loose puck after Brent Burns made the misguided
decision to try and block a shot by leaving his feet to slide in front of a
Brian Dumoulin shot. Cullen had one option, which was to throw the puck at
Jones, and by doing so, it netted the Penguins a goal. Jones didn't help
matters by creating a gap between himself and the left post, which was all the
room Cullen needed.
Evgeni Malkin took advantage of Martin less than
two minutes later, easily beating the flat-footed defenseman around the left
side of the net and wrapping the puck around the opposite side of the goal for
the 3-0 lead. Jones seemed to be pinned to the left post which prevented any
opposition to Malkin's shot.
A Beau Bennett roughing penalty opened up
an opportunity for the Sharks late in the period. Patrick Marleau took
advantage by scoring his 10th goal of the season one a one-time chance off a
back pass from Joe Pavelski. Marleau floated down the left side of the slot,
trailing Pavelski who drew the defense over to the right side. The goal was the
only thing that tarnished goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's 33 save night.
Hertl appeared to cut the Penguins lead to a single
goal seconds later, but referee Eric Furlatt immediately waved off the goal.
DeBoer challenged the ruling on the ice, but replays confirmed that Tommy
Wingels came into contact with Fleury, negating the goal because of
interference.
Had the goal stood, the Sharks would have benefited from
a huge swing in momentum, and a little energy that was absent from the
building. Instead, the decision to overturn Hertl's tally took the life out of
the Sharks. They never threatened from that point on.
The Penguins had
a crack on the power play 6 minutes into the 3rd period when the Sharks were
whistled for too many men. David Perron redirected a Bennett feed from the left
corner, skating across the top of the crease while three Shark defenders stood
motionless around their own net.
For whatever reason, DeBoer elected
to pull Jones with 5 minutes remaining in the game. That resulted in a gimme
goal for Kessel who carried a Malkin feed half the length of the ice at
three-quarter speed, walking the puck into the open net.
"Energy wise
it was a pretty good start," said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. "We felt like we
were on them, we had the puck. We were making a few plays. The first couple
were like, the bounces when they go in for you are great, when they don't it
kid of tough. We talked that we weren't going to let them [the goals] beat us."
Game Notes:
Justin Braun returned to the ice after
missing two games with an infection in his left elbow.
The Sharks
honored Patrick Marleau for his 1000th career point with a ceremony before the
opening faceoff. Marleau was joined on the ice by his four sons.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PIT |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, PIT,
Kessel 8 (Malkin, Perron), 2:30. |
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| 2nd period - 2, PIT,
Cullen 2 (Dumoulin, Fehr), 4:40. 3, PIT, Malkin 12 (Kunitz), 6:35. 4, SJ,
Marleau 10 (Pavelski, Ward), 15:35, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 5, PIT,
Perron 4 (Kunitz, Bennett), 8:42, (pp). 6, PIT, Kessel 9 (Malkin, Cole), 15:54,
(en). |
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| 1st period - Braun, SJ
(hooking), 4:33. |
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| 2nd period - Malkin, PIT
(hooking), 0:56; Bennett, PIT (roughing), 14:30; Crosby, PIT (roughing), 19:09;
Pavelski, SJ (roughing), 19:09. |
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| 3rd period - Bench, SJ
(too many men), 6:51; Cole, PIT (tripping), 11:13. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| PIT - Fleury |
34 |
33 |
| SJ - Jones |
28 |
24 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PIT |
13 |
7 |
9 |
29 |
| SJ |
12 |
8 |
14 |
34 |
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| Referees: Leggo,
Furlatt. Linesmen: Heyer, Mach. |
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