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Lightning blitz
Sharks
SJ is overmatched by talented Tampa
Bay
In what was billed as a battle of speed &
talent vs puck control and defense, the speed & battle clearly won out.
That talent came in the form of a Tampa Bay Lightning squad that blitzed the
Sharks on SAP Center ice on Wednesday night in a 5-1 pasting. Tampa Bay shook
off an early lapse, then rolled the Sharks in one of the ugliest losses of the
season for San Jose. Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov
combined for 9 points as they dominated the Sharks.
The Sharks were so
overmatched that their own building was essentially empty with 8 minutes to
play in the game. Tampa Bay ripped off five consecutive goals, proving they are
one of the teams to beat in the NHL this season.
Stamkos and Kucherov
entered the night as the top two scorers in the NHL, and they left by padding
their gaudy statistical accomplishments with 3 points each by the time the
smoke cleared.
Joonas Donskoi staked the Sharks to an early goal and
their only lead of the night just 25 seconds into the game. San Jose worked the
puck up ice and had a pair of scoring chances denied by Lightning goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy, but Donskoi finished things off with a put back from the
slot after a Joe Thornton attempt deflected out to the Finnish forward.
Jake Dotchin recorded his first career NHL goal 7 minutes later by
stepping into a shot from the top of the right circle. Sharks goaltender Martin
Jones had a clear look at the shot, but it stayed on the ice, slipping between
his pads.
Donskoi took a slashing penalty right before the 1st
intermission, which carried over to 2nd period. That enabled the Lightning to
setup in the Sharks zone to start the next frame, and Kucherov buried a wrist
shot from the slot 44 seconds in. Donskoi had a chance to tie up the league's
goal scoring leader, but his passive defense allowed the quick shot that beat
Jones for his 15th tally of the season.
Every player in the NHL has
one of those nights, and this was Martin Jones chance. After narrowly giving up
a goal while handling the puck out of his net earlier in the period, Jones
tried to hold the puck as the Lightning forecheck collapsed on him. Martin
Jones tried to fend off Ryan Callahan by tucking the Lightning forward's stick
under his arm.
Slater Koekkoek took advantage right after the Jones
penalty expired, slipping a shot from the right corner under the Shark
netminder's skate for his 3rd goal of the season with essentially four Sharks
defenders in the vicinity. The shot was one that Jones needed to make.
Things went from bad to worse less than three minutes
later when the Sharks 4th line was a skater short. The Sharks four-man
configuration proved ineffective as Namestnikov buried a Stamkos pass from just
outside the right post.
Why the Sharks failed to have a fifth skater
on the ice was indicative of the unprepared approach San Jose had all night.
Jones didn't even touch the ice in the 3rd period, giving way for
Aaron Dell who fared no better. Namestnikov scored his second of the night 6:14
into the final frame after Joe Thornton was sent off for holding.
That
goal sent the faithful packing. The remainder of the game was a concerted
effort by the Sharks to keep the puck out of their own net. No real effort to
score, but rather to keep the score from getting any more gory than it already
was.
Game Notes:
* Joonas Donskoi and Timo Meier each
recorded 5 shots on net. Tim Heed and mikkel Boedker added 4 shot each. The
four player accounted for more than half of San Jose's shot total.
*
Tampa Bay blocked 22 San Jose shots, denying anything from reaching their net.
It is a simple formula that tends to shut down the Sharks offense when
employed.
* San Jose won 66% of their faceoffs, but still ended up
getting outscored 5-1. Retaining those faceoffs was certainly a problem for San
Jose.
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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 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| TB |
1 |
3 |
1 |
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5 |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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1 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Donskoi 5 (Thornton, Pavelski), 0:25. 2, TB, Dotchin 1 (Point, Gourde), 7:17.
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| 2nd period - 3, TB,
Kucherov 15 (Namestnikov, Stamkos), 0:44. 4, TB, Koekkoek 3 (Gourde, Stralman),
9:21. 5, TB, Namestnikov 6 (Stamkos, Kucherov), 12:00. |
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| 3rd period - 6, TB,
Namestnikov 7 (Kucherov, Killorn), 6:14, (pp). |
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| Shootout - SJ:
(goal/miss), (goal/miss), (goal/miss). TB: (goal/miss), (goal/miss),
(goal/miss). |
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| 1st period - Heed, SJ
(holding), 10:03; Koekkoek, TB (slashing), 16:52; Donskoi, SJ (slashing),
18:33. |
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| 2nd period - Gourde, TB
(delay of game - puck over glass), 5:00; Jones, SJ (holding the stick),
6:42. |
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| 3rd period - Thornton,
SJ (holding), 4:48. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| TB - Vasilevsky |
20 |
19 |
| TB - empty net |
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| SJ - Jones |
21 |
17 |
| SJ - Dell |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| TB |
7 |
14 |
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21 |
| SJ |
11 |
9 |
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20 |
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| Referees: Walsh,
Watson. Linesmen: Cormier, Gawryletz. |
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