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Sharks wither in the
desert
Lowly Coyotes handle Sharks
Looking at the box score, the Sharks peppered
goaltender Louis Domingue and the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night but ran into
a hot goaltender that shut them down. The reality of it all is much different.
San Jose played 20 minutes of hockey at Gila River Arena, then took the easy
road to a flight back home after dropping a lifeless 3-2 decision to the worst
team in the NHL.
The Coyotes entered play in Tuesday with a 2-6-0
record and should have been easy pickings for the Sharks who had won three
straight games. October losses to doormats are games that haunt you in April,
but they even worse when they come against a team that has found every way to
lose this season.
The Sharks showed signs of concern early in the
game, when the chances piled up, but the finish was absent. San Jose certainly
controlled the temp and the puck for the majority of the opening period,
out-shooting Arizona 14-6. The Coyotes were looking to simply disrupt the
Sharks as was evident by the fight Ryan White induced Micheal Haley into 2:32
into the game. It was a simple tactic, but it seemed to focus the Coyotes, and
distract the Sharks.
Things looked like they were going to self
correct themselves when Patrick Marleau snapped a shot from the left side that
just slipped past Domingue to give the Sharks the 1-0 lead.
San Jose
then tried to get cute with the puck and mystify Domingue with their perimeter
passing. Rather than blitzing Domingue, the Sharks decided to pump long range,
unscreened shots, that the Coyotes goaltender handled with ease.
The
Coyotes survived the opening period with a 1-goal deficit.
They'd go
to work in the 2nd period and caught Sharks goaltender Martin Jones with his
pants down. Richardson tied the game 3:42 into the period by skating a puck off
the end boards to the front of the net before sliding a backhand shot around
Jones' left pad. Brent Burns and Paul Martin expected Richardson to pass the
puck to the front of the net, and both were caught flat-footed as the Coyotes
forward made a bee-line for the crease out of the left corner.
Rookie
Lawson Crouse became the latest player to score his 1st NHL goal against the
Sharks 68 seconds after Richardson's tally. Crouse slipped behind the Sharks
defense and tipped a Kevin Connauton shot from the left point. Justin Braun
just flat out lost his coverage, allowing Crouse to setup perfectly in front of
Jones.
Former Sharks forward Jamie McGinn pushed the Coyotes
lead to 3-1 with 8 minutes to play in the period. McGinn grabbed a puck as he
circled out of the high slot to the top of the left circle before pivoting to
his left and whipping a long shot that sailed over Jones left arm for his 2nd
goal of the season. Winger Anthony Duclair seemed to distract Jones as he tried
positioning himself near the right post.
San Jose had more than enough
time to make a game of it, but they seemed disinterested in venturing anywhere
near Domingue. That lack of pressure on the Coyotes netminder meant to
distraction or concern. Dominue just say back and gloved every 40-foot shot
that San Jose threw his way.
The Sharks sent 17 shots Domingue's way
in the 3rd period but only Mikkel Boedker's one timer from the slot with 10.9
seconds left in the game was the only thing that remotely challenged the
Coyotes goaltender.
Boedker's shot slipped past his former teammate
for his 2nd goal of the season, but it was too little, too late.
Game Notes:
* The Sharks may want to go back to flubbing in the
faceoff circle, because they finally dominated in that category on Tuesday
night, but the outcome didn't favor them. San Jose won 58% of the draws on the
night.
* Patrick Marleau and Tomas Hertl were both a +2 in the game.
10 Sharks finished a -1.
* Phoenix blocked 27 shots in the game, which
was indicative of the Sharks bombs-away shot selection from the safety of
distance.
* Brent Burns was credited with 11 shots in the game.
Unfortunately there were no screens or deflections to make any of those
attempts uncomfortable for Domingue.
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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 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| ARI |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Marleau 3 (Karlsson, Hertl), 14:07. |
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| 2nd period - 2, ARI,
Richardson 4 (Rieder, Schenn), 3:42. 3, ARI, Crouse 1 (Connauton, White), 4:50.
4, ARI, McGinn 2 (Ekman-Larsson, Goligoski), 11:59. |
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| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Boedkker 2 (Donskoi, Hertl), 19:48. |
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| 1st period - Haley, SJ
(fighting major), 2:32; White, ARI (fighting major), 2:32; Connauton, ARI
(interference), 10:51. |
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| 2nd period - Marleau, SJ
(tripping), 6:39. |
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| 3rd period - Richardson,
ARI (hooking) 5:22; Vlasic, SJ (tripping), 9:36. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
30 |
27 |
| ARI - Domingue |
41 |
39 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
14 |
10 |
17 |
41 |
| ARI |
6 |
11 |
11 |
30 |
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| Gila River Arena - 11,046 |
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| Referees:
Chmielewski, Leggo. Linesmen: Racicot, Gibbs. |
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