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Sharks exact a little
revenge
SJ wins opening round series 4-1 over Los
Angeles
The Sharks got a little redemption on Friday night.
It wasn't full retribution for the great playoff collapse of 2014, but it was a
nice little accomplishment that every player who wore teal two season ago had
the pleasure of enjoying. San Jose out gunned the Los Angeles Kings in a wild
6-3 shootout at Staples Center, which allows the Sharks to advance to the
Western Conference Semi-Finals. There was great irony in the game after the
Sharks blew a 3-0 lead in the game before unloading two years of frustration on
the Kings with a 3-goal 3rd period.
The game was a roller coaster
ride, filled with ups and downs, finishing with a flurry of ups that vault the
Sharks into the 2nd round by beating the Kings in five games.
The
storyline was broken down into three parts. A fantastic 1st period for San
Jose, followed by a disastrous middle frame. The climax came in the 3rd period,
when the Sharks shook off their tough 2nd period with a flurry of goals that
left no doubt who the better team was in this series.
Three of the
four Sharks wins in the series came on Staples Center ice, which was a
testament to San Jose's resiliency on the road. Shaking off that 2nd period and
attacking the net is something the 2014 Sharks failed to do. This is a much
different team.
Part of that resurgence can be credited to a young
core that went to work in game 5. Joonas Donskoi, Chris Tierney and Melker
Karlsson all scored their first career playoff goals to help pace San Jose.
Donskoi potted a pair, including the go-ahead goal in the 3rd period that
turned the tide on Los Angeles.
Donskoi opened the game's scoring by
whipping a shot from right side of the slot after carrying the puck up the
right wing 1:08 into the game. Donskoi waited for Jake Muzzin to slide out of
the shooting lane before whipping a shot that tucked inside the left post.
Luke Schenn and Dustin Brown took penalties 16 seconds apart to give
the Sharks a lengthy 5-on-3 power play, but San Jose misfired on the two-man
advantage.
Tierney made it a 2-0 game at 11:21, scoring from almost
the exact same spot as Donskoi's goal. Brent Burns fed Tierney up the right
wing, allowing the forward to carry the puck into the Kings zone as linemate
Tommy Wingels created traffic in front of the net. Tierney snapped home a shot
that beat Jonathan Quick then clanked off the left post and into the net.
San Jose picked up where they left off early in the 2nd period, when
Matt Nieto punched home his 1st goal of the playoffs from the doorstep after
Joel Ward slid a pass to the top of the crease from the right dot. Nieto stuck
his nose into an unpleasant place but was able to get his stick on the puck,
forcing it between Quick's pads.
Things looked like they were only
going to get better when Patrick Marleau was hooked on a breakaway chance to
draw a penalty shot, but the Sharks forward could only muster a weak backhand
attempt the Quick gloved with ease.
That miss seemed to serve as a
momentum shift. Rather than leading by a formidable 4-goal lead, the Sharks
allowed a small crack for the Kings to exploit. And that they did.
Los
Angeles was the benefactor of another fluky goal as a a Drew Doughty shot hit
Dwight King's skate in the high slot, redirecting it to the right side of the
goal where it hit Anze Kopitar 's skate. The deflection off Kopitar found its
way to the net, skipping past Martin Jones on the double redirect.
Jeff Carter made it a 3-2 game 4 minutes later, taking
a feed from Muzzin as he skated to the front of the net. Carter gathered the
pass then pivoted to face Jones and snap a shot from 8 feet out. There was
nothing Jones could do against the point blank shot.
With the momentum
clearly shifting in the Kings favor, the Sharks backed into the own zone for
the remainder of the period in an attempt to stop the bleeding. That didn't
stop Kris Versteeg from banging home his 1st goal of the playoffs with 3:24
left in the period. Kyle Clifford rang a shot off the right post that everyone
thought was in the net, but Versteeg deftly stayed on the puck, punching it
into the wide open net to knot the game at 3-3.
San Jose made it to
the 2nd intermission still tied, which allowed them to regroup in preparation
for their big 3rd period.
Donskoi gave the Sharks the lead for good
3:58 into the final frame. Trying to advance the puck on net from the left
side, the young Finnish forward got a off a meek that that bounced in front of
the net, where Brent Burns gathered it as he was skating from right to left.
Sensing Donskoi was circling behind the net to the right side, Burns sent a
blind pass back through the slot to the right side of the goal mouth. Donskoi
was right where Burns hoped he'd be, collecting the pass and snapping it past
Quick for the 4-3 lead.
Joe Pavelski padded the Sharks lead with 7:36
left in regulation, firing a shot from teh right side as he streaked up the
boards. The shot handcuffed Quick, slipping just past his right pad. The goal
was Pavelski's 5th of the playoffs.
Kings head coach Darryl Sutter was
forced to pull Quick with more than 4 minutes left in regulation. After a
series of icing calls, Karlsson got his stick on a loose puck and was able to
deposit it into the Kings net to cap the scoring.
The Kings only had
one 3-goal comeback in them, and they used that up in the 2nd period. Only the
customary handshake between the two teams remained, which had to be sweet
revenge for San Jose.
Game Notes:
* The Sharks are
16-11 all-time against Los Angeles in the playoffs.
* The two teams
combined for 69 hits, which was a massage compared to the 100 hit output in
Game 2.
* Ten different Sharks recorded points in the game, led by
Logan Couture and Burns who both had 3 assists in the game.
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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 |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
| LA |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Donskoi 1 (Couture), 1:08. 2, SJ, Tierney 1 (Burns), 11:21. |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Nieto 1 (Ward, Couture), 4:05. Unssuccessful Penalty Shot, SJ, Marleau, 5:31.
4, LA, Kopitar 2 (King, Doughty), 7:44. 5, LA, Carter 1 (Muzzin, Toffoli),
11:26. 6, LA, Versteeg 1 (Clifford, Muzzin), 16:36. |
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| 3rd period - 7, SJ,
Donskoi 2 (Burns, Couture), 3:58. 8, SJ, Pavelski 5 (Burns, Martin), 12:24. 9,
SJ, Karlsson (Marleau), 19:38, (en). |
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| 1st period - Schenn, LA
(interference), 2:45. Brown, LA (tripping), 3:01; ward, SJ (tripping),
16:27. |
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| 2nd period - Lewis, LA
(slashing), 17:26. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
22 |
19 |
| LA - Quick |
27 |
22 |
| LA - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
13 |
10 |
5 |
28 |
| LA |
4 |
14 |
4 |
22 |
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| Referees: Rooney,
St Laurent. Linesmen: Murray, Barton. |
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