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Sharks fall flat in the Windy
City
SJ drops second straight
Chicago Blackhawks backup goaltender J.F. Berube
was making his first start for the Chicago Blackhawks, in his 23rd career NHL
game on Friday night. A no-name goaltender in net automatically equates to
Kryptonite for the Sharks and this one was no different, as the Sharks fell 3-1
to the Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago. Berube made 42 saves against
a lifeless Sharks offense that simply made it easy for the career backup
netminder.
The 42 save statistic is deceiving in that the Sharks never
really pressured Berube. The shots were the standard variety long distance
attempts that any NHL caliber goaltender should stop in his sleep. Berube's
biggest accomplishment was that he was able to stay awake against the lethargic
Sharks.
The most disappointing part of this stinker was the Sharks
response to the 7-1 drubbing they took 24 hours earlier in Nashville. After
getting their teeth kicked in by the Predators, the follow up effort was simply
absent.
Given the trade deadline is less than 72 hours away, the
absence of hair-on-fire play was baffling. At no point in this game did the
Sharks give the impression that they were motivated, interested or engaged.
This was a classic example of a team going through the motions.
Sleep
walking through the 1st period, San Jose didn't even bother to put a third puck
in Berube's direction until the 13 minute mark of the period. They somehow
managed to out-shoot the Blackhawks by period's end, but nothing came close to
challenging Berube.
Chicago opened the scoring 5:14 into the 2nd
period when Jan Rutta pumped a shot home from the slot with five Sharks jerseys
standing around the net. Barclay Goodrow literally stood next to the Blackhawks
forward and watched him take the shot, rather than play any form of defense.
Nick Schmaltz scored what amounted to the game winner just 2:01 into
the 3rd period. Mikkel Boedker's shoddy puck control resulted in a turnover in
the high slot, allowing Anthony Duclair to swipe the puck and feed Schmaltz for
a one-timer fro the bottom of the left circle.
Timo Meier scored the
only Sharks goal of the game at 12:09 of the 3rd period, pumping a shot through
traffic from the high slot for his 15th tally of the season. The Sharks forward
took a Brent Burns feed from the right side and found a seam with a shot that
beat Berube to the stick side.
San Jose had nothing else for the under-achieving
Blackhawks. San Jose head coach Peter DeBoer's decision to pull Jones for an
extra skater, turned out to be a comedy of errors, as the Blackhawks setup for
multiple shots on the Sharks net. Artem Anisimov finally buried one of those
chances to cap the game's scoring.
Game Notes:
* New
acquisition Eric Fehr was limited to 13:43 of ice time on 18 shifts as he fills
the 4th line center spot. Fehr was 10-for-11 in faceoffs to turn in one of the
few positives for San Jose. The Sharks won 61% of the game's draws.
*
Barclay Goodrow and Melker Karlsson were the only Sharks to not record a shot
on goal. Sharks defensemen were responsible for 15 of the 43 shots on goal.
Brent Burns led all skaters with a fruitless 7 shots.
* Sharks GM Doug
Wilson was in attendance. He spent 14 seasons as a member of the Blackhawks.
This is his 15th season as Sharks General Manager.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| CHI |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
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| 2nd period - 1, CHI,
Rutta 6 (Duclair, Schmaltz), 5:46. |
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| 3rd period - 2, CHI,
Schmaltz 17 (Duclair), 2:01. 3, SJ, Meier 15 (Burns, Pavelski), 12:09. 4, CHI,
Anisimov 17 (Rutta), 19:29, (en). |
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| 2nd period - Ryan, SJ
(holding), 18:01. |
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| 3rd period - Murphy, CHI
(interference), 5:33; Burns, SJ (holding the stick), 6:05. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
35 |
33 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| CHI - Berube |
43 |
42 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
15 |
10 |
18 |
43 |
| CHI |
11 |
13 |
12 |
36 |
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| Referees: Peel,
Chmielewski. Linesmen: Miller, Nansen. |
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