|
|
Sharks building
momentum
SJ wins third straight with 4-1 win over
Nashville
The Sharks are starting to build a little momentum.
By winning their third straight game on Wednesday night, the Sharks have
started to string together some consistency that has produced results. The
Sharks are smothering teams on defense, limiting pucks toward their own net,
and are getting timely scoring. The offense was flowing to the tune of 4 goals
as they dispatched the Nashville Predators 401 at SAP Center.
Getting
back to basics sounds simple, but San Jose has parlayed the simple things into
three straight wins. They did it agaisnt the defending Western Conference
Champions with a simple formula. They took advantage of some early scoring
chances and prevented the opposition from generating many scoring chances
themselves.
Joonas Donskoi staked the Sharks to a 1-0 lead late in the
opening period with his 4th goal of the season. Donskoi crashed the net As Tim
Heed threw the puck to the front of the net from the right side. Donskoi cut to
the front of the net from the left wing, and punched the puck as Pekka Rinne
focused on Heed.
Calle Jarnkrok missed tying the game early in the 2nd
period when he chance from the doorstep bounced off the right post.
Joe Pavelski made it a 2 goal lead when he tipped a Brendan Dillon shot from
the left point. Pavelski parked himself in front of the left post and was
perfectly positioned to create noise in front of Rinne.
Joe Thornton
was credited with the secondary assist on the Pavelski goal, giving him 1,400
career NHL points. He moved into 20th all time on the NHL scoring list.
Roman Josi answered less than 2 minutes later when he battled inside
with the puck and lifted a backhand shot that floated over Martin Jones' left
shoulder. The Sharks had defensive position, but to Josi's credit, he fought
through two defenders before uncorking his shot.
Filip Forsberg was
sent off for tripping Tomas Hertl at 12:46 to setup the Sharks 4th power play
of the night. Marc-Edouard Vlasic finally helped San Jose convert, with a shot
from the high slot that slipped between Rinne and the left post. The goal was
the 1st of the season for the Sharks defenseman, but it helped fuel a Sharks
power play that has ranked in the top 10 all season.
Mikka Salomaki
got tied up with Jones to earn a trip to the box for interference with 3:19
left in the period, but it was Nashville that had the best scoring chances on
the Sharks ensuing power play.
Viktor Arvidsson just missed on a
2-on-1 break that Jones snuffed with a diving stop with 2 minutes left in the
period. Ryan Johansson had a breakaway chance with no defender within 40 feet
of him, but he rushed the shot and tried to push it between Jones' pads.
Ryan Johansen sent Vlasic to the dressing room with a hit early in the
3rd period, bouncing the Shark defenseman's head off the glass. It took several
minutes for Vlasic to gather his wits before skating gingerly off the ice.
Johansen was sent off for boarding, but Pavelski came looking for him later in
the game.
The two players would drop the gloves. For Pavelski it
was his first fight in 4 years, but it was something the Sharks captain felt
necessary.
Mikkel Boedker pushed the Sharks lead to 4-1 with a snipe
from the doorstep after Chris Tierney worked some magic behind the Predators
goal. Tierney gathered a Joakim Ryan pass along the end boards and found
Boedker roaming in front of the net.
Ryan's assist was his first NHL
point.
Nashville tried to muck it up with the Sharks late in the game
with the contest all but decided. Austin Watson tried to engage with Dillon,
but the Sharks defenseman refused to engage with Vlasic already out of the
game. Credit Dillon's level head in a situation that could not stomach the loss
of another defenseman.
Game Notes:
* Ten different
Sharks recorded points in the win. 4 of those point producers were defenseman.
* In a statistical oddity, the Predators only blocked 8 host, while
San Jose denied 26 shots. San Jose's offensive approach typically includes lots
of rubber being cast from the blueline. That may account for Brent Burns lack
of a goal this season.
* The announced attendance was 16,543, which is
more than a thousand below capacity. A casual scan put about 12,000 in the
house.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NSH |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Donskoi 4 (Heed, Boedker), 15:49. |
|
|
| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Dillon 1 (Thornton, Braun), 8:17. 3, NSH, Josi 3 (Jarnkrok), 10:04. 4, SJ,
Vlasic 1 (Labanc), 13:50, (pp). |
|
|
| 3rd period - 5, Sj,
Boedker 2 (Tierney, Ryan), 13:43. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Emelin, NSH
(holding), 4:55; Braun, SJ (tripping), 7:15; Smith, NSH (hooking), 9:17. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Bench, NSH
(too many men), 3:07; Forsberg, NSH (tripping), 12:46; Salomaki, NSH
(interference), 16:41. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Johansen,
NSH (boarding), 1:02; Burns, SJ (interference), 1:21; Heed, SJ (slashing),
4:33; Johansen, NSH (fighting major), 9:23; Pavelski, SJ (fighting major),
9:23; Watson, NSH (roughing), 12:03; Watson, NSH (roughing, 12:03; Dillon, SJ
(roughing), 12:03; Hertl, SJ (hooking), 13:26; Sissons, NHS (roughing), 17:28;
McLeod, NSH (slashing), 19:17; McLeod, NSH (10 min misconduct), 19:17;Thornton,
SJ (slashing), 19:17. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| NSH - Rinne |
23 |
19 |
| SJ - Jones |
20 |
19 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NSH |
6 |
7 |
7 |
20 |
| SJ |
7 |
8 |
8 |
23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees:
O'Halloran, Schlenker. Linesmen: Gawryletz, Pancich. |
|
|
|
|
|
