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Sharks win humdinger vs
Hawks
Special teams extra special on
Thanksgiving-eve
Losses to teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and
Phoenix Coyotes become all the more frustrating when the Sharks play the way
they did on Wednesday night. San Jose turned in a statement performance with a
solid 2-1 win over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center. Chicago leads
the Western Conference for good reason this season, but it was the Sharks night
as the special teams were extra special and Martin Jones had a second
consecutive gem of a game.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, the Sharks
relied on Jones to stop one of the most potent offenses in the NHL. The
goaltender stopped 33 shots, many of which were quality chances that forced
Jones to be on top of his game. After shutting out the New Jersey Devils on
Monday night, Jones pt his team in a position to win with clutch save after
save.
San Jose used the power play and penalty kill to generate their
offense, before leaning on Jones.
Artem Anisimov put the Sharks on the
first power play of the evening 11:20 into a wild 1st period. San Jose
capitalized when Logan Couture blasted a one-time feed from Joe Pavelski,
beating Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford through a small window against the
right post. Couture was setup at the right dot, converting 12 seconds into the
man advantage.
The Blackhawks entered the game with the league's worst
penalty kill, having given up 20 goals on 63 chances. Couture must have read
the scouting report, because he wasted no time putting rubber in the direction
of the Chicago net.
Mar-Edouard Vlasic obliged the Blackhawks with a
penalty of his own less than 3 minutes later, but the Sharks turned the tables
on Chicago when Chris Tierney poked a deflection out of his own zone. Joel Ward
got a jump on the puck, beating Brent Seabrook at the Blackhawks blueline
before taking three strides and snapping a shot past Crawford for the unlikely
goal.
What was more unlikely was the fact that San Jose executed a
more physical game plan, out-hitting the Blackhawks 19-4 in the opening period.
Marion Hossa was a frequent target of a Sharks check. San Jose finished the
games with 34 hits on Blackhawk skaters. San Jose averages 18.4 hits per game.
Hossa may have been thinking about getting hit when he misfired on
what appeared to be a sure chance early in the 2nd period on a plat from the
right side. The Blackhawks forward had Martin Jones beat and a wide open net,
but he may have heard footsteps and flubbed the puck as he raced past the right
post.
Artemi Panarin cut the Sharks lead in half 12:11 into
the 2nd period on a blast from the left side that finally eluded Jones. The
Blackhawks sustained a flurry of Sharks shots on goal earlier in the period,
then capitalized on the Panarin tally. The goal also ended Jones' shutout
streak at 92:11.
Martin Jones preserved the Sharks lead by stopping a
Ryan Hartman one-timer moments later.
Jones would earn his paycheck in
the 3rd when Chicago tried to press for the equalizer. The Sharks goaltender
had to turn aside a flurry of shots midway through the period.
Chris
Tierney narrowly missed on a chance along the left post, but Niklas Hjalmarsson
cleared the puck as it slid through the unattended crease.
Chicago was
forced to pull Crawford late in the game, but they couldn't generate any
serious chances with the clock ticking down. San Jose played a consistent
defensive game, denying the Blackhawks.
Game Notes:
*
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews suffered an undisclosed injury at some point
early in the game. Toews three shifts to start the 2nd before calling it a
night.
* San Jose also turned their faceoff games upside down, winning
30 of 54 draws (56%).
* Former Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray was in
attendance.
* The game was not a sellout, which was a bit of a
surprise given the opponent and the fact that the game fell on the eve of a
holiday. 15,501 paid, falling 151 short of capacity. Many of those in
attendance were decked out in red.
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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 |
| CHI |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, CHI,
Couture 6 (Pavelski, Burns), 11:32, (pp). 2, SJ, Ward 2 (Tierney), 14:42, (sh).
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| 2nd period - 3, CHI,
Panarin 8 (Anisimov, Hjalmarsson), 12:11. |
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| 1st period - Motte, CHI
(slashing), 10:36; Dillon, SJ (slashing), 10:36; Anisimov, CHI (hooking),
11:20; Vlasic, SJ (tripping), 14:16. |
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| 2nd period - Wingels, SJ
(interference), 14:06; Bench, CHI (too many men), 15:28; Motte, CHI (slashing),
15:47. |
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| 3rd period - Campbell,
CHI (tripping), 13:40. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CHI - Crawford |
35 |
33 |
| SJ - Jones |
34 |
33 |
| SJ - empty net |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CHI |
14 |
11 |
9 |
34 |
| SJ |
13 |
13 |
9 |
35 |
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| Referees: Morton,
Rank. Linesmen: Shewchyk, Rody. |
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