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Donskoi gets back to
scoring
Sharks unload on Flames with 4-goal 2nd
period
The Sharks returned home from their successful
4-game road trip on Tuesday night, and continued their hot hand by beating the
Calgary Flames with a solid 4-1 victory. The game kicked off a span that will
see the Sharks play at SAP Center 8 out of their next 12 games. San Jose spent
the first 20 minutes acclimating themselves to home ice, then unleashed a
flurry of goals on the Flames.
The first two periods were complete
opposites. The Sharks had no flow in the 1st period, even with a pair of power
play chances inside the first 10 minutes of the contest. San Jose out-shot
Calgary 11-6 in the period, but they just seemed out of sorts.
The
mundane 1st period, turned into a shooting gallery in the 2nd, when San Jose
erupted for 4 goals. Patrick Marleau kicked things off with his 9th tally of
the season at 5:35, by gobbling up a rebound off Flames goaltender Chad Johnson
and lifting a backhand shot into the Calgary goal. Marc-Edouard Vlasic had sent
a shot in on net from the left point, and with Joe Pavelski parked at the top
of the crease, the lone Flames defender was tied up with the Sharks captain,
which allowed Marleau to roam freely.
Paul Martin made it 2-0 just
under 4 minutes later by firing a shot from the left point that bounced twice
before floating over Johnson's left pad. Once again, Pavelski was in front of
Johnson, screening the flames goaltender. The Sharks captain had problems
trying to get this stick blade on the bouncing puck, but that served equally
challenging for Johnson, who has emerged as the Flames number one goaltender
this season.
Joonas Donskoi snapped out of his scoring drought with a
pair of goals two minutes apart.
The 2nd year forward had gone 23
games without scoring a goal, but he got back on the score sheet with his 3rd
of the season at 14:23 of the period. Tommy Wingels carried the puck down the
slot and fired a shot that sailed wide of the right post, but he beat a Flames
defender to the puck behind the net. Donskoi floated over to the bottom of the
left circle, where he one-timed a feed from Wingels that slipped between
Johnson and the left post.
Donskoi made it a 4-0 game when Mikael
Baklund tried to clear the puck from the front of his net but put if right on
the Sharks forward's tape. The Flames had four defenders surrounding Donskoi
who skated right down the slot, but none of them bothered to tie him up. After
intercepting Baklund's pass, Donskoi bore down on the goal but took a step to
his left before tapping it past Johnson.
Sam Bennett snapped Martin
Jones shutout bid with a goal 1:19 into the 3rd period, but the Flames had
nothing left. Bennett snapped a shot form the slot, beating Jones to the glove
side for his 8th tally of the season.
The only smudge on the Sharks performance was the
power play, which went 0-for-5. San Jose has plummeted in the NHL power play
rankings over the last three weeks. Three of the Flames penalties came in the
3rd period with the game already decided, so the motivation wasn't there.
The penalty kill was only forced to make an appearance once after
Brendan Dillon was called for hooking late in the 1st period. The fact that San
Jose stayed out of the penalty box was a big reason the Sharks were successful
in the game.
Calgary had scored power play goals in 4 straight games
entering play on Tuesday night. Calgary played on Monday night, and the fatigue
was evident in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Calgary went 7-2-1 in their last 10
games, which was partially offset by the back to back scheduling.
Game Notes:
* Joe Thornton played in his 1,400th NHL
game, becoming the 37th player in NHL history to do so.
* Patrick
Marleau's goal was number 490 for his career.
* Joe Pavelski and
Marleau both finished a +3 on the night.
* Brent Burns 7-game point
streak was snapped in the game.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| CGY |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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1 |
| SJ |
0 |
4 |
0 |
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4 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Marleau 9 (Vlasic, Thornton), 5:35. 2, SJ, Martin 2 (Thornton, Pavelski), 9:18.
3, SJ, Donskoi 3 (Wingels, Pavelski), 14:23. 4, SJ, Donskoi 4 (unassisted),
16:19. |
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| 3rd period - 5, CGY,
Bennett 8 (Tkachuk, Wideman), 1:19. |
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| Shootout - SJ:
(goal/miss), (goal/miss), (goal/miss). CGY: (goal/miss), (goal/miss),
(goal/miss). |
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| 1st period - Jokipakka,
CGY (cross checking), 5:58; Hamilton, CGY (tripping), 10:08; Dillon, SJ
(hooking), 17:09. |
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| 3rd period - Bouwma, CGY
(goaltender interference), 5:49; Giordano, CGY (holding), 10:57; Tkachuk, CGY
(holding stick), 15:32. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CGY - Johnson |
25 |
21 |
| CGY - empty net |
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| SJ - Jones |
16 |
16 |
| SJ - empty net |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| CGY |
6 |
10 |
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16 |
| SJ |
11 |
14 |
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25 |
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| Referees: Furlatt,
L'Ecuyer. Linesmen: Murray, Galloway. |
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