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Not so wild about
Minnesota
Home woes continue for Sharks
Home or road, the Sharks just can't seem to shake
out of the doldrums that have plagued them the last 6 games. San Jose returned
home on Saturday night to take a middle of the pack Minnesota Wild team that
slow played the Sharks into a 2-0 loss at SAP Center. The Wild played the
perfect road game, suppressing their hosts before scoring a 3rd period goal to
steal a win. Zach Parise played spoiler, scoring the game winning goal and then
tacking on an assist on a late empty-net score that sealed the Sharks fate.
Recognizing the team's struggles, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer
juggled his lines on Saturday night, moving Joe Thornton to the second line and
elevating Tomas Hertl to the top line. The move had little effect.
In
fact, the Sharks got worse on Saturday night. Facing a team that's not exactly
gifted with team speed, the Sharks looked like they had just finished walking
home from Edmonton. The Wild didn't walk all over the Sharks, but they were the
team that generated actual scoring chances throughout the game.
You
could count the scoring chances San Jose generated on one hand, as the Wild
simply waited out the Sharks. It's a typical ploy for teams playing in a
hostile environment. Get through the first 40 minutes of the game and pick your
chances.
The Wild did exactly that, keeping the puck away from their
net and goaltender Darcy Kuemper. The Sharks were credited with 6 shots in the
opening period, which netted them a single quality scoring chance.
A
Mikael Granlund holding penalty midway through the opening frame gave the
Sharks an opportunity to at least test Kuemper, but the Sharks did nothing with
the power play opportunity.
A Miko Koivu tripping infraction 1:30 into
the 2nd period, setup another chance for the Sharks. San Jose seemed to slip
back into the power play impotent state that dragged them to the bottom of the
league's special teams rankings earlier in the season, by lacking any
discipline with zone entry and passing.
The Wild snuffed out both
chances with ease.
The came as close as they would come to scoring with
2:48 left in the 2nd period, when Chris Tierney raced up the right wing on a
2-on-1 break with Melker Karlsson on his left. The Sharks forward took one
strides too many, sending a pass to the front of the goal mouth as Karlsson was
hauled down by Koivu. Referee Greg Kimmerly seemed hesitant to call a third
consecutive penalty on the Wild, allowing the play to go on.
Mike
Brown would draw a penalty 30 seconds later, after he hit Granlund with what
Tom Kowal deemed boarding. The Sharks held the Wild to a pair of shots on the
power play to carry the 0-0 tie into the final frame.
In that fateful
period, defenseman Brent Burns failed to protect the front of his own net by
floating out to the left dot while a puck cycled out to the left point. Parise
parked himself in front of the net where he received a pass from Granlund. All
he needed to from there was pivot toward the net and lift a shot past Martin
Jones for the 1-0 lead.
The Sharks lacked any real urgency after the
Parise goal, burning clock without a pressing need to try and tie the game.
DeBoer pulled Jones with 1:39 left in the game, but the Wild buried
San Jose when Koivu sent a shot from behind the centerline into the empty net.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| MIN |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| 3rd period - 1, MIN,
Parise 9 (Granlund, Pominville), 4:41. 2, MIN, Koivu 5 (Parise, Spurgeon),
19:26, (en). |
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| 1st period - Granlund,
MIN (holding), 9:35. |
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| 2nd period - Koivu, MIN
(tripping), 1:30; Brown, SJ (boarding), 18:15. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| MIN - Kuemper |
25 |
25 |
| SJ - Jones |
29 |
28 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| MIN |
8 |
8 |
14 |
30 |
| SJ |
6 |
9 |
10 |
25 |
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| Referees: Kimmerly,
Kowal. Linesmen: Knorr, Murchison. |
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