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Sharks buzz Jets in 4-0
win
Couture scores two goals and Jones makes 38
saves
After letting a win slip through their fingers 24
hours earlier, the Sharks played one of their best all around games of the
season on Saturday night at SAP Center. San Jose scored four ways against the
red hot Winnipeg Jets and Martin Jones made 38 stops to lead the Sharks to a
4-0 win. Winnipeg entered the game with the second best record in the Western
Conference, but it was the Sharks who looked like dominant team.
Jones
was the man of the hour by keeping the Jets at bay all night long. His play was
simply textbook. Solid positioning all game long equated to mundane looking
saves. He didn't have to make any diving or dramatic saves, because he seemed
to predict where the puck was going to be before it happened.
Jets
goaltender Steve Mason had a little different experience. His night was
relatively unmemorable for the first 10 minutes. Then defenseman Dustin
Byfuglien was sent off for interference at 10:11.
The Sharks took
advantage on the power play, when defenseman Tim Heed uncorked a cannon blast
from the high slot that beat Mason stick side inside the left post. Kevin
Labanc setup the shot with a blind backhand pass from the right dot. Joe
Thornton had missed moments earlier, bouncing a shot off the crossbar.
Logan Couture extended the Sharks lead to 2-0 with 15.4 seconds left in the
period. Justin Braun shot the puck on net, but it was deflected by a Jets
defender. Mason slid to his left in an attempt to stop the shot, but it kicked
off his blocker right to Couture in front of the net for the easy put back
goal.
Mason's night would end with the late goal. Connor Hellebuyck
replaced Mason after the 1st intermission.
The Sharks got into penalty
trouble in the 2nd period. Dylan DeMelo and Brendan Dylan took slashing
penalties 4 minutes apart, which kept San Jose at bay offensively. The Jets
out-shot San Jose 16-5 in the period, but the Sharks made the most of their
shots. One in particular. DeMelo was sent off for interference at 13:02, but
Couture turned the tables on Winnipeg.
A turnover in the Sharks zone ended with Tomas Hertl
springing Couture with a lead pass up the left wing. Couture raced up ice and
slipped a backhand attempt past Hellebuyck for the 3-0 lead.
With
DeMelo still in the penalty box, Couture found himself with the puck and an
open path to the Jets goal once again, but he lost the handle on the puck as he
tried to pulling it to his backhand.
Neither team went into a
defensive shell in the 3rd period. The two teams would put plenty of rubber on
the opposing goal with the Sharks winning the shot race 16-13 in the period.
Down by 3 goals with 4 minutes to play, the Jets elected to pull
Hellebuyck for the extra attacker. It was a peculiar move given the deficit,
which grew after Tomas Hertl sent a shot into the empty net with 3:10 still to
play.
Hellebuyck finished that remaining three minutes parked in the
net.
Game Notes:
* Couture had several opportunities to
complete the hat trick, as his teammates tried setting him up. The forward
finished the game with a game high 6 shots on goal.
* Marc-Edouard
Vlasic, Danny O'Regan, Dylan DeMelo and Mikkel Boedker were the only Sharks who
did not record a shot on goal.
* Forward Jannick Hansen played his
best game of the season. After dealing with an injury early in the season,
Hansen has been slowly trying to earn more ice time. The forward skated 21
shifts and recorded 3 shots, 1 hit and 2 blocked shots.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| WPG |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ, Heed
3 (Labanc, Thornton), 11:30, (pp). 2, SJ, Couture 12 (Braun, Vlasic), 19:44.
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Couture 13 (Hertl, Vlasic), 13:13, (sh). |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Hertl 5 (Pavelski, Burns), 16:50, (en). |
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| 1st period - Byfuglien,
WPG (interference), 10:11. |
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| 2nd period - DeMelo, SJ
(slashing), 6:05; Dillon, SJ (slashing), 9:56; DeMelo, SJ (interference),
13:02. |
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| 3rd period - Armia, WPG
(high sticking), 5:08. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| WPG - Mason |
13 |
11 |
| WPG - Hellebuyck |
20 |
19 |
| WPG - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Jones |
38 |
38 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| WPG |
9 |
16 |
13 |
38 |
| SJ |
13 |
5 |
16 |
34 |
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| Referees:
Chmielewski, Pollock. Linesmen: Nansen, Barton. |
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