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Kane shines in his Sharks
debut
San Jose rolls Oilers in 5-2 win
Evander made his Sharks debut on Tuesday night and
made his presence felt up and down the ice and all over the score sheet, as the
Sharks steam rolled the visiting Edmonton Oilers 5-2 at SAP Center. Kane
assisted on the Sharks first two goals, and was a force, pestering Oilers
goaltender Cam Talbot all night. He endeared himself to the 17,327 in
attendance midway through the contest by scrapping with Oilers defenseman Matt
Benning, and showing some teeth in the Sharks win.
Kane would earn a
minor for roughing that was offset by an identical penalty to Benning, but it
showed his metal to the Sharks faithful. It was an crafty way to win the favor
of the home crowd in his new environment, but it took little more than a little
initiative.
Benning had a score to settle with Kane after the newest
Shark checked the Oilers defenseman into the boards earlier in the period,
rendering him a blob on the ice after he went headfirst into the boards. That
play also allowed the Sharks to tie the game at 1-1 after Joe Pavelski tipped
in a pass from Kane while stationed at the top of the crease. WIth Benning
laying on the ice, the Sharks essentially skated 5-on-4 during the sequence.
The Oilers had taken a 1st period lead on Connor McDavid's 28th goal
of the season after he raced around Melker Karlsson up the right wing. McDavid
had Milan Lucic on his left wing and Justin Braun between both of them. The
Oilers captain froze Martin Jones by looking to Lucic, then snapping a shot
under Jones right arm.
That opening period wasn't exactly a display of
precision and execution for San Jose. The team appeared to still be feeling the
effects of their dismal four-game road trip that ended with an overtime loss to
Minnesota on Sunday night. Edmonton was the better team in the opening period.
The Sharks looked disjointed. Kane and his linemates spent the period
trying to acclimate themselves to one another. It was clear that Pavelski and
Joonas Donskoi were out of synch with their new partner, as several passes
floated to empty space.
Corrections were made as both teams did an
about face in their play to open the 2nd period.
Pavelski's goal was
the start of a knock-out punch by the Sharks. Braun gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead
7:02 into the 2nd period by rifling a shot from the high slot that caught the
upper right corner of the net. Kane was credited with the secondary assist for
his second point of the night.
Timo Meier tacked on his 16th goal of
the season 9 minutes later, using a little puck luck. The Sharks forward fished
the puck out of a scrum in the left corner then drove to the goal mouth. Meier
sent a backhand shot to the front of the goal mouth, hitting defenseman Andrej
Sekera in the shin pad and banking it home for the 3-1 lead.
Logan Couture finished off the period with a fourth
Sharks goal 83 seconds later. The centerman tried to send a pass out of the
right corner across the top of the crease, but defenseman Adam Larsson blocked
it with his skate. Couture reclaimed it as he drove toward the net and lifted a
shot past Talbot for his 26th goal of the season.
Jesse Puljujarvi cut
the Sharks lead in half 6 minutes into the 3rd period after Brent Burns coughed
the puck up in his own zone to Ryan Strome. The Oilers centerman moved the puck
over tot he right side with a pass to Pontus Aberg, who immediately fed
Puljujarvi on the left post for the one time chance that knuckled on him but
still got past Jones.
San Jose tightened up the defense, keeping the
Oilers off the board for the remainder of the game. Chris Tierney capped the
game's scoring with an empty net goal late.
Game Notes:
* Hockey pioneer Willie O'Ree was in attendance and dropped the ceremonial
opening faceoff before the game. O'Ree broke the color barrier in the NHL in
1958.
* 4th line centerman Eric Fehr made his debut on SAP Center ice,
skating 13:09 of ice time on 19 shifts. Fehr recorded an assist on Tierney's
goal and was credited with 2 shots, 2 hits, 2 blocked shots and was 3 for 6 on
faceoffs.
* Timo Meier led all skaters with 9 shots on goal. Mikkel
Boedker and Marc-Edouard Vlasic were the only Shark skaters not to record a
shot on goal.
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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 |
T |
| EDM |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
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| 1st period - 1, EDM,
McDavid 28 (Sekera), 4:33. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Pavelski 16 (Kane, Ryan), 1:20. 2, SJ, Braun 3 (Pavelski, Kane), 7:02. 4, SJ,
Meier 16 (Pavelski, Donskoi), 16:15. 5, SJ, Couture 26 (Boedker), 17:38. |
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| 3rd period - 6, EDM,
Puljujuarvi 10 (Aberg, Strome), 6:06. 7, SJ, Tierney 16 (Fehr, Pavelski),
19:05, (en). |
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| 1st period - Braun, SJ
(delay of game - puck over glass), 0:18; Strome, EDM (tripping), 1:02;
Slepyshev, EDM (hooking), 15:12; Hertl, SJ (tripping), 17:43. |
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| 2nd period - Draistaitl,
EDM (cross checking), 4:43; Benning, EDM (roughing), 11:12; Kane, SJ
(roughing), 11:12. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| EDM - Talbot |
36 |
32 |
| EDM - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Jones |
26 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| EDM |
12 |
4 |
10 |
26 |
| SJ |
8 |
17 |
12 |
37 |
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| Referees:
Skilliter, Nicholson. Linesmen: Gibbons, Cherrey. |
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