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Shoddy defense burns Sharks
again
SJ gags up 3rd period lead, then losses in
OT
The Sharks wrapped up their four-game road trip by
doing what they did for most of the trip. Losing. San Jose tricked everyone by
taking a lead, but inevitably morphed back into a mediocre hockey club that has
no answers for any of the top teams in the Western Conference's Central
Division teams. The Sharks blew a third period lead, then gagged up a loss in
overtime on a defensive miscue involving Brent Burns. San Jose fell 3-2 to the
Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
Since Joe Thornton has gone down
with his knee injury, the Sharks have seemingly lived by Burns and died by
Burns. This was one of the many deaths inflicted by gaping defensive hole
created by Burns inability to actually play defense.
Let's face it, he
stinks when it comes to defending his own net. Sunday night was no different.
Burns was on the ice for two of the three Wild goals, including the game winner
in overtime.
Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer has such little faith in
the rest of his offense, he feels the need to have Burns on the ice at every
opportunity, regardless of the risk. And for the Sharks that risk seems to be
more costly than beneficial. On a night when the Sharks had already blown a
lead in the 3rd period, you don't put your worst defensive defenseman out on
the ice in a 3-on-3 situation. Deboer did that, and the Sharks limp home from a
trip that saw them win once in four tries.
Joakim Ryan doesn't get
many chances to score for the Sharks, but he's made the most of his chances
this season. The rookie defenseman bagged his 3rd goal of the season 14:00
minutes into the game with a shot from the top of the right circle. Ryan sent a
slap shot past Devin Dubnyk off a Barclay Goodrow feed.
Chris Tierney
made it a 2-0 game 2:28 into the 2nd period after the Sharks forced a turnover
in the neutral zone. Kevin Labanc grabbed the puck along the right wing boards
and sent a pass through Nate Prosser's skates as Tierney approached the front
of the Wild net. Tierney received Labanc's pass and deeked Dubnyk left then
right before lifting the puck over the Wild goaltender's left leg pad for his
15th goal of the season.
The Wild out-shot the Sharks 19-4 in the
period, but San Jose came within 44 seconds of making it through the first 40
minutes of play unscathed. That is until Brent Burns was left to play defense.
The Sharks defenseman lost his stick which contributed to a turnover that ended
when Jared Spurgeon hit Matt Cullen with a pass just outside the goal mouth.
Cullen converted that pass with a stickless Burns in tow for his 7th goal of
the season.
It was another one of those gaffs which resulted in a
player with marginal offensive skills burying a puck in the Sharks net. It has
been the Sharks Achilles heel all season, and Burns wrapped up Cullen's goal
with a big teal bow on it.
The Sharks went into prevent mode in the 3rd, so it
was only a matter of time before the Wild tied the game. That would happen with
4:44 left in regulation when Eric Staal wrapped a shot around the right post
and banked it off defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and past Martin Jones for his
30th goal of the season.
The trend of giving up goals late carried
into the overtime where the Sharks did nothing to challenge Dubnyk. DeBoer
wrote the Sharks death sentence when he stuck Brent Burns out on the ice in the
last minute of the extra session. Burns, Tierney and Timo Meier did their best
Keystone cops imitation, tripping over themselves in their own end as Jason
Zucker drew the threw to the right side before sending the puck to the left
side for a one timer that beat Jones.
Game Notes:
*
While defense continues to be a major hole for the Sharks, the big money
offensive players for the Sharks have largely been AWOL on this trip. Logan
Couture and Joe Pavelski did nothing on Sunday. Couture has been ineffective
since suffering his last facial injury three weeks ago.
* Martin Jones
deserved a better fate after stopping 38 of 41 shots. His play has largley been
sub-par this season, but he gave the Sharks a chance to win. They let him down
with their inability to keep the puck away from him late.
* The Sharks
made an odd trade o Sunday, sending goaltender Troy Grosenick to the Nashville
Predators. Last year's AHL goaltender of the year was shipped along with
forward Brandon Bollig for a 6th round draft pick. With backup Aaron Dell
likely to test free agency this season, the Sharks don't have an internal
option to fill that spot should Dell leave this summer.
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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 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| MIN |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ, Ryan
3 (Goodrow, Hansen), 14:00. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Tierney 15 (Labanc), 2:28. 3, MIN, Cullen 7 (Spurgeon, Foligno), 19:16. |
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| 3rd period - 4, MIN,
Staal 30 (Suter, Zucker), 15:16. |
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| Overtime - 5, MIN,
Spurgeon 8 (Zucker), 4:48. |
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| 2nd period - Demelo, SJ
(holding), 8:27. |
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| 3rd period - Foligno,
MIN (hooking), 3:15; Pavelski, SJ (slashing), 3:55; Hertl, SJ (hooking), 9:35.
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
41 |
38 |
| MIN - Dubnyk |
28 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
17 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
28 |
| MIN |
10 |
19 |
10 |
2 |
41 |
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| Xcel Energy Center -
19,105 |
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| Referees:
Joannette, Walsh. Linesmen: Suchanek, Alphonso. |
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