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Sharks hit the ground running
in opener
SJ outclasses Kings in spirited
game
It wasn't a Stanley Cup victory, but it was still
sweet. With the sting of their oh-so-close loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins
still lingering in the SAP Center air, the San Jose Sharks did the only they
could do on Wednesday by hitting the ice. The Los Angeles Kings tried to
exercise some of the demons of their playoff loss to San Jose by simply hitting
as many Sharks as they could find. In the end, San Jose skated away with an
entertaining 2-1 win over the Kings by brushing off the rough stuff and
focusing on the style of play that got them to the Finals last Spring.
After shaking off some early rust, it was clear who the better team was. The
Sharks controlled the tempo for most of the game, moving past an early Kings
goal by chipping away at the undermanned Kings.
Things started
auspiciously for San Jose, who may have been a bit amped up by en energetic
pre-game ceremony. The Sharks unveiled a Western Conference Championship
banner, which was accompanied by a series of videos and player introductions.
The energy in the building was similar to the electricity that rang through the
building last spring during the playoffs.
The season was all of 33
seconds old when Logan Couture tripped Anze Kopitar to put the Sharks in an
early hole. Tyler Toffoli cashed in less than a minute later with a goal that
had half the arena fooled. The Kings forward sent what's best described as a
seeing-eye shot that floated from the right dot, slipping past Sharks
goaltender Martin Jones on the near side.
The puck lodged itself
between the net and the bar that runs behind the top of the crossbar. Couture
sat in the penalty box unaware that the puck was in the net and had to be told
to exit after the tally was recorded. Referee Grant Skilliter looked perplexed
as the Kings started celebrating in front of Jones.
That would be it
for Los Angeles in terms of generating anything resembling a threatening
scoring chance the remainder of the game.
Couture atoned for this
penalty later in the period after Kyle Clifford was sent off for running
interference on new Sharks defenseman David Schlemko. The Sharks forward
snapped a shot from the high slot, catching the cross bar for his first goal of
the season. Referee Justin St Pierre waved off the goal, thinking it had hit
the crossbar. That prompted Joe Thornton to chase the puck and poke it back
into the net. Sharks captain Joe Pavelski followed suit after it appeared that
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped Thornton's follow up attempt.
Pavelski's poke at the puck set Quick off, initiating
a tirade by the goaltender that saw everyone on the ice converge into a big
scrum. Quick did everything in his power to get at Pavelski, but was rebuffed
by the shear number of teal and white jerseys that were conjoined in front of
the Kings goal.
The big question of the night, was if Quick was
injured on the goal or the ensuing scrum, because he didn't return to start the
2nd period. Kings backup Jeff Zatkoff was forced to make his Kings debut, and
was able to turn aside 15 shots. The problem for Los Angeles is the Sharks took
16 shots over the final 40 minutes.
Both teams traded 7 shots apiece
in the middle period, but it was San Jose that controlled the puck for much of
the period.
Brent Burns deposited what turned out to be the game
winner on a fortuitous deflection 3:20 into the 3rd period. Couture worked a
puck off the left wing boards with a kick pass to Joonas Donskoi, who grabbed
the pass and tried to hit new linemate Mikkel Boedker with a pass through the
slot. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty had the near post covered and tried to
block Donskoi's pass to the right side, but the puck deflected right to Burns
who was cutting in down the slot. The big defenseman jammed the puck home for
the 2-1 lead.
The Kings were outclassed the remainder of the period.
Their main accomplishment was the 41 hits they landed on teal jerseyed skaters
throughout the night. Add another 30 cross checks that went uncalled, and it
was a bruising evening for the Kings.
Jones finished the evening with
21 saves for his first win of the season. The Kings reported that Quick
suffered a lower body injury, but didn't disclose much beyond that.
Game Notes:
* The two teams finished even in the faceoff circle,
winning 28 faceoffs each. Tommy Wingels won 4 of 7 faceoffs, playing center for
the first time in his NHL career.
* Tomas Hertl led all Sharks with 6
hits. Matt Greene and Kyle Clifford accounted for 11 of the Kings 41 hits.
* Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau led San Jose with 4 shots apiece.
* 11 Sharks skaters recorded blocked shots, including Brent Burns who
had a team high 4 blocks.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, LA,
Toffoli 1 (Kopitar, Doughty), 1:22, (pp). 2, SJ, Couture 1 (Pavelski,
Thornton), 14:05, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
Burns 1 (Donskoi, Couture), 3:20. |
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| 1st period - Couture, SJ
(tripping), 0:33; Greene, LA (holding), 5:29; Clifford, LA (interference),
13:12; Quick, LA (roughing), 14:05; Pavelski, SJ (roughing), 14:05; Muzzin, LA
(hooking), 19:49. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| LA - Quick |
15 |
14 |
| LA - Zatkoff |
16 |
15 |
| SJ - Jones |
22 |
21 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
7 |
7 |
8 |
22 |
| SJ |
15 |
7 |
9 |
31 |
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| Referees: St
Pierre, Skilliter. Linesmen: Nagy, Rody. |
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