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Kane's career night leads
Sharks
Forward scores 4 goals in 7-4 win
Evander Kane was a game time decision on Friday
night as he fought a bout with the flu. As it turns out, playing him was the
right decision. The Sharks forward scored a career high 4 goals to lead the
Sharks to a 7-4 win over the host Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome
on Friday night. The Sharks needed every bit of Kane's epic performance, as
they try to keep a hold of their spot in the standings. The Sharks keep a
3-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division with 11 games
to play.
Kane and the Sharks had Flames goaltender Mike Smith figured
out pretty quickly, but it took San Jose 30 minutes before then unloaded on
him.
The Sharks appeared to take an early lead when Timo Meier chopped
a puck past Smith, but referee Brad Watson immediately waved off the score.
Meier was ruled to have made contact with the puck with a high stick.
Kane put a puck past Smith using a more conventional method, sending a long
slapper that crossed up the Flames goaltender at the 6:00 minute. Kane skated
up the left wing and ripped a shot that tucked inside the right post for his
22nd goal of the year.
Troy Brouwer tied the game with 3:18 left in
the period when he one timed a Curtis Lazar feed from behind the net. Brouwer
was left unattended in the slot and snapped a shot that Martin Jones could do
little with. Jones barely flinched as the puck sailed over his left shoulder.
Mark Jankowski pushed the Flames out front 2:10 into the 2nd period
with a shot from the right corner that eluded Jones. The Flames forced a
turnover in the corner after two Sharks skaters failed to control it. Garnet
Hathaway flipped it to Jankowski for the shot that resulted in the centerman's
13th goal of the season.
The Sharks tied the game again when Kane
deflected a Dylan Demelo shot past Smith while parked in front of the Flames
net. Demelo got all of one from the right point, and Kane's stick blade altered
the trajectory of the puck perfectly, moving it three feet to the left and into
the Calgary goal.
Johnny Gaudreau made it a 3-2 lead midway through
the period, skating up the right wing boards before cutting to his left towards
the slot. With four Sharks surrounding him, Gaudreau whipped a shot that beat
Jones for his 23rd goal of the season.
San Jose's offense kicked it
into gear 90 seconds later when Kevin Labanc beat Smith with a shot from the
left wing boards. The scouting report on Smith must have included a blurb on
the hole above Smith's waist, because Labanc's 35-foot shot sailed just under
the crossbar for his 10th tally of the season.
Kane completed his hat
trick less than five minutes later when he charged the goal and jammed his own
rebound home after cutting across the goal mouth from right to left. The newest
Shark slid on his knees to the left corner with his hands in the air. It was
his first career hat trick and ended the distinction of having the most career
two-goal games without a trifecta.
Tomas Hertl got in on the act with 1:58 remaining in
the period, after Justin Braun threw a puck at the front of the net. Smith made
the initial save on Braun's shot but Hertl was in the perfect spot to jam the
rebound between the netminder's pads.
Kane had nothing better to do to
start the 3rd period, so he added a fourth goal 1:02 in. The forward was
lurking near the left post when Joe Pavelski sent a long pass from the right
wing boards above the circle. Kane tapped home the pass, giving him 25 goals on
the season.
That goal would end Smith's evening as the Flames inserted
David Rittich in net. Smith's replacement would make 5 saves before being
pulled for an extra attacker with 6 minutes left in regulation.
The
move paid off for Calgary when Michael Ferland grabbed a loose puck and lifted
it with a backhand shot from just outside the right post past Jones. Sean
Monahan tried firing a shot on goal that was deflected by a Sharks defender,
but the puck skipped right to Ferland for the quick goal.
Eric Fehr
was the benefactor of another empty net chance, as he deposited his 2nd goal of
the season into the unattended goal with 3:58 left in regulation.
Game Notes:
* Evander Kane became the fourth Shark to score four
goals, joining Owen Nolan, Patrick Marleau and Tomas Hertl.
* The 7
goals was only the second best offensive output for the Sharks in Calgary. San
Jose scored 8 goals in an 8-0 win at the Saddledome on December 4, 2000.
* 12 Shark players recorded points in the game. Timo Meier was one
player who did not tally anything in the points department, which was ironic
given his would be goal in the opening moments of the game and San Jose's
eventual goal haul.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
| CGY |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ, Kane
22 (Hansen), 6:00. 2, CGY, Brouwer 6 (Lazar, Stajan), 16:42. |
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| 2nd period - 3, CGY,
Jankowski 13 (Hathaway), 2:10. 4, SJ, Kane 23 (Demelo, Dillon), 6:29. 5, CGY,
Gaudreau 23 (Ferland, Stone), 10:16. 6, CGY, Labanc 10 (Burns), 11:42. 7, SJ,
Kane 24 (Tierney), 16:32. 8, SJ, Hertl 19 (Braun, Vlasic), 18:02. |
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| 3rd period - 9, SJ, Kane
25 (Pavelski), 1:02. 10, CGY Ferland 21 (Monahan, Hamilton), 14:25. 11, SJ,
Fehr 2 (Hertl), 16:02, (en). |
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| 1st period - Hamilton,
CGY (tripping), 6:37. |
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| 2nd period - Kulak, CGY
(holding the stick), 2:45; Tierney, SJ (interference), 12:24; Kane, SJ (high
sticking), 13:40. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
34 |
30 |
| CGY - Smith |
20 |
14 |
| CGY - Rittich |
7 |
7 |
| CGY - empy net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
4 |
14 |
10 |
28 |
| CGY |
9 |
12 |
13 |
34 |
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| Scotiabank Saddledome -
19,196 |
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| Referees: Watson,
Meier. Linesmen: Murphy, Wheler. |
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