|
|
Defensive circus nothing to
laugh at
Vegas takes 5-3 decision with three 3rd
period goals
The Vegas Golden Knights have been the NHL's
biggest surprise this season, and they showed everyone in San Jose why on
Thursday night. The visitors from Southern Nevada scored three unanswered 3rd
period goals to knock off the Sharks 5-3 at SAP Center. The game was a
mini-recap of both the Sharks and Knight's seasons. Vegas played hard nosed
hockey land scored late to win a game, while the Sharks floundered on defense
to drop a game they could have won.
It was the first visit by the
NHL's newest team to San Jose, and the games outcome had to sting long time
Sharks fans who had to endure the miserable early years in San Jose. The
Knights played like a team that has been together for years. Solid two way play
and late grit in the 3rd were enough to dispatch a Sharks team that is 26 years
lost.
The Sharks welcomed the Knights to San Jose with a Joe Pavelski
goal 4:40 into the contest. Pavelski was floating around the top of the crease
when Brent Burns cranked a shot from the blueline. The goal was Pavelski's 11th
of the season, but more importantly, it gave the Sharks the early lead.
The Sharks kept the Knights from recording a shot on net for the first
14 minutes of the game, and led 12-0 on the shot counter until David Perron was
credited with one. Perron's attempt bounced back to Erik Haula, who was
unattended in front of the net. The Knights forward grabbed the rebound and
slipped it past Martin Jones to tie the game at 1-1.
All the Sharks
hard work went up in smoke when William Karlsson sccored 37 seconds into the
2nd period. The Sharks turned the puck over in their own zone when it hit Logan
Couture on a clearing attempt. Jonathan Marchessault found himself with the
puck on the doorstep, but Jones made a crazy stop to deny the Knights forward.
The puck sat just outside the goal line at Justin Braun's feet but the Sharks
defenseman was simply too slow to get a stick on it, allowing Karlsson to tap
it home.
A Cody Eakin hooking penalty at 10:13 of the period put the
Sharks on the power play for the 3rd time. That turned out to be the charm for
the Sharks power play, which converted when Timo Meier pushed home a deflection
from the doorstep after Burns fired a shot on Fleury from right side.
Things got contentious for the officials in the 3rd period, when they missed a
series of would be penalties that resulted in a roar of boos raining down from
the 17,562 paid. The cat calls reached a crescendo when Mikkel Boedker was
called for a phantom tripping penalty at 3:09. Alex Tuch was called for a high
stick on Tomas Hertl.
San Jose would convert when Pavelski took a Burns
feed just off the left post and lifted the puck over an outstretched Fleury.
The Sharks lead was short lived however, when Brayden McNabb carried a
Burns turnover up the left wing and snapped a shot past Jones. It was a shot
that Jones probably should have stopped, but he didn't and the Sharks were
forced to fight on.
With a chance to flex some division muscle, San
Jose packed it in with a defensive comedy of errors. The Sharks had the
misfortune of having both Burns and Justin Braun on the ice at the same time.
That was a recipe for disaster. David Perron and James Neal paired up and made
the Sharks defensemen look like rodeo clowns.
Neal chipped the puck up the right wing boards, before
cutting diagonally at the Sharks blueline and dropping the puck back to David
Perron who immediately returned the pass, with Burns falling to his knees
twice. Neal uncorked a shot that beat Jones with another stoppable shot, and
Vegas had the goal they needed.
San Jose was forced to pull Jones with
2 minutes left in regulation, but Dylan Demalo's comedy of errors resulted in a
turnover, followed immediately by a dumb high sticking penalty as he waved his
stick from the seat of his pants after he was pushed off the puck. The net net
was that it allowed Marchessault to pad his stats with a empty-net power play
goal to make it a 5-3 game.
Game Notes:
* Joel Ward
suffered an injury to his right shoulder midway through the 2nd period when
Nate Schmidt hit him from behind and driving him into the boards. No penalty
was called a Schmidt which raised the ire of Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer.
Ward did not return.
* Melker Karlsson was also dinged up in the game
and when Logan Couture was hit with a check that resulted in a chipped tooth,
Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer was about to lose it on the bench. Several
questionable non-calls had DeBoer stewing and he didn't hold back in expressing
his displeasure to referees Brad Watson and Kyle Rehman.
* Brent Burns
finished the game with 3 assists, but would end with a -2 plus/minus. It was a
rough defensive night for Burns, although when asked by a reporter if he
thought he had a good two-way game, Burns responded, "yes." It was hard to
believe the response.
 |
|
| 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 |
| VGK |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 11 (Burns, Meier), 4:40. 2, VGK, Haula 21 (Perron, Miller), 14:00.
|
|
|
| 2nd period - 3, VGK,
Karlsson 29 (Marchessault, Smith), 0:37. 4, SJ, Meier 13 (Burns, Tierney),
11:47, (pp). |
|
|
| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Pavelski 12 (Burns, Couture), 7:50, (pp). 6, VGK, McNabb 3 (Lindberg, Eakin),
9:36. 7, VGK, Neal 24 (Perron, Miller), 15:10. 8, VGK, Marchessault 20 (Smith,
Schmidt), 18:39, (pp), (en). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Theodore,
VGK (slashing), 9:19. |
|
|
| 2nd period -
Marchessault, VGK (holding), 4:10; Bench, SJ (too many men), 5:02; Eakin, VGK
(hooking), 10:13; Karlsson, SJ (slashing), 12:46. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Boedker, SJ
(tripping), 3:09; Tuch, VGK (high sticking), 6:47; Tierney, SJ (tripping),
10:11; Demelo, SJ (high sticking), 17:47. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| VGK - Fleury |
38 |
35 |
| SJ - Jones |
32 |
28 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| VGK |
4 |
17 |
12 |
33 |
| SJ |
16 |
9 |
13 |
38 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Watson,
Rehman. Linesmen: Murchison, Barton. |
|
|
|
|
|
