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Offense keeps rolling in win
over NJ
Six Shark skaters score in 6-2
victory
The New Jersey Devils are scrambling to hold on to
the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With the Florida Panthers
breathing down their necks just one point behind, the Devils should have been
motivated to battle on Tuesday night as they visited SAP Center. Problem is,
they ran into a Sharks team that has been firing on all cylinders as of late.
San Jose continued to pound the opponent's net, as they outscored the Devils
6-2 to extend their winning streak to five games.
The Sharks have been
scoring in droves during their streak, now tallying 27 goals in five games.
That's a 5.4 goals per game average over the five game span. They started the
month by pounding the Blackhawks 7-2 and have lost only twice in March.
Martin Jones had a relatively light load against New Jersey, but he
made some key saves early in the game, which gave his team a chance to work out
the offensive kinks.
The offense responded with goal from six
different Shark skaters. All of those skaters were forwards. In a statistical
oddity, defenseman Brent Burns did no record a shot on goal during the game.
Then again, he didn't need to shoot, because the forwards were taking care of
business.
Eric Fehr staked the Sharks to the early 1-0 lead with a
shot from the end line that floated over Devils goaltender Corey Schneider's
left shoulder. Fehr was jostling for the puck with defenseman Will Butcher, and
was able to pivot to get the shot away as his skates were pointed to the right
corer.
Dylan Demelo took am interference penalty at 6:04, who was then
followed by Melker Karlsson 40 seconds later to put the Devils on a 5-on-3
power play for 80 seconds. San Jose erased both penalties, which was a
All the positives of the penalty kill were flushed by defenseman Justin Braun,
who failed to control a puck at 11:19, which allowed Taylor Hall to steal the
puck at the Sharks blueline. Crossing into the Sharks zone, Hall wound up on a
shot that beat Martin Jones high to the stick side.
Brian Boyle put
the Sharks on their first power play of the evening with a tripping infraction
at 11:40. The Sharks responded when Joe Pavelski tipped a Kevin Labanc shot
past Schneider for his 19th goal of the season. The Sharks captain setup at the
top of the crease, screening Schneider, then floated to the right to deflect
Labanc's shot 45 degrees to the left.
Jones snuffed out a great chance
by Hall on the next shift. Demelo gathered the puck and sent a long pass down
ice to Jannick Hansen, who was already past two Devils defenders. Hansen fought
off Patrick Maroon before lifting the puck past Schneider at the end of the
breakaway for his 1st goal of the season.
The goal had to be a relief
for Hansen who has been in out of the lineup all season, mostly missing due to
coach's decision. The goal broke a 40-game goal scoring drought for the Danish
forward.
The Sharks picked up right were they left off in the
2nd period. Barclay Goodrow took a stretch pass from Brendan Dillon up the left
wing then snapped a shot that beat Schneider high to the stick side. That
spelled the end of the evening for the Devils netminder, who was replaced by
backup Keith Kincaid.
Kincaid didn't fare much better. Logan Couture
deposited the first shot Kincaid saw, releasing the puck from almost the same
location as Goodrow on his goal. The puck beat Kincaid for Couture's 30th goal
of the season.
A penalty for too many men put the Sharks on their
second power play of the evening and like their initial chance, they converted
to make it a 6-1 game. Mikkel Boedker got in on the act with a shot from 15
feet out that beat Kincaid.
Blake Coleman scored a meaningless goal
late in the 3rd period to cap the game's scoring.
Game
Notes:
* Evander Kane dropped Taylor Hall with a clean check late
in the 2nd period that left the Devils forward woozy. Hall made his way to the
New Jersey bench, but it was the hit of the game.
* Even with the big
6-2 score, five Sharks managed to finish the game with a -1 plus/minus rating.
Timo Meier, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Chris Tierney, Justin Braun and Kevin Labanc
all finished in negative territory.
* Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Melker
Karlsson both made their way back into the lineup after sustaining separate
injuries in the Sharks win in Vancouver on Saturday.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NJ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| SJ |
3 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ, Fehr
3 (Martin, Burns), 5:32. 2, NJ, Hall 32 (unassisted), 11:19. 3, SJ, Pavelski 19
(Labanc, Burns), 12:25, (pp). 4, SJ, Hansen 1 (Demelo), 15:14. |
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| 2nd period - 5, SJ,
Goodrow 7 (Dillon), 10:38. 6, SJ, Couture 30 (Dillon), 11:18. 7, SJ, Boedker 14
(Burns, Tierney), 18:29, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 8, NJ,
Coleman 10 (Maroon), 18:24. |
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| 1st period - Demelo, NJ
(interference), 6:04; Ksarlsson, SJ (hooking), 6:44; Boyle, NJ (tripping),
11:40. |
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| 2nd period - Burns, SJ
(slashing), 13:44; Bench, NJ (too many men), 17:35. |
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| 3rd period - Demelo, SJ
(interference), 10:08. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| NJ - Schneider |
14 |
10 |
| NJ - Kincaid |
11 |
9 |
| SJ - Jones |
28 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NJ |
12 |
9 |
7 |
28 |
| SJ |
9 |
7 |
9 |
25 |
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| Referees:
Joannette, Peel. Linesmen: Nagy, Rody. |
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