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Meier bails out Sharks in
Anaheim
SJ wins in overtime after dominating
game
San Jose wrapped up their 3-game road trip with a
frustrating overtime win in Anaheim against their division rivals on Sunday
night. Outplaying the Ducks for a majority of the game, the Sharks allowed
Anaheim to stick around all night and eventually force overtime by surrendering
the lead in the 3rd period. Timo Meier was the Sharks savior, scoring the game
winner in overtime. The Sharks forward finished the game with a pair of goals,
an assist and a +4 night.
Meier could have easily been credited with a
hat trick to go along with his stellar night, but a goal was overturned earlier
in the contest on an off side call. He still managed to be a one-man wrecking
ball against an injury depleted Ducks lineup.
Like a St Bernard, Meier
rescued the Sharks who were fading after man-handling the Ducks for most of the
night. The Ducks survived an onslaught of shots, thanks to netminder John
Gibson who finished the evening with 45 saves, but he couldn't stop
Meier.
Joonas Donskoi fed Meier the puck during the 3-on-3 overtime
right in front of the net. Meier whacked at the puck but Gibson turned it
aside. The Sharks forward managed to slide back over to the right side of the
slot, where Donskoi tried to get a stick on it, but a trio of Ducks defenders
tied up the situation. Gibson tried to sweep the puck out of harms way, but
ended up putting it right on Meier's stick for the game winner.
San
Jose should have put the game out of reach in regulation, but it was a lack of
detail that prevented a regulation victory.
The Sharks jumped on the
scoreboard early, when Logan Couture whipped home a shot form the bottom of the
left circle 2:34 into the game. With the attention focused on the right side of
the ice, Brent Burns found Couture unattended on the off wing, setting up the
Shark forward's 6th goal of the season. Ducks goaltender John Gibson was caught
covering the right post, leaving the entire left half of the Anaheim goal
exposed.
The defensive coverage by San Jose lapsed less than two
minutes later when Josh Manson slipped a puck past Martin Jones.
Rourke Chartier put the Sharks back on top 2:13 into the 2nd period with his
first NHL goal. Tomas Hertl put one of 15 shots on Gibson with a blind
pirouette that kicked off the Duck goaltender's leg pad out to the front of the
net. Chartier gathered the puck with his back to the net and did his own 180
spin to his right, whipping the puck between Gibson's right leg and the left
post.
Meier made it a 3-1 game with his 7th goal of the season less
than 2 minutes after Chartier's goal. Couture carried the puck up the left wing
before setting up a one-time chance by Meier who skated even with him. The
sharks forwarded unloaded a shot from the high slot, even with the goal,
clipping Gibson in the left leg pad. That pad wasn't enough to prevent the shot
from working across the goal line.
San Jose appeared to take a 4-1 lead with just under 7
minutes left in the period after Meier put a deflection past Gibson from in
tight, but Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle challenged the play for offside.
Video relay showed that Meier lifted a skate that was in the neutral zone as
the puck entered the zone, but because it was not in contact with playing
surface, his other skate put him offside.
The overturned goal became
even more relevant when Pontus Aberg found a seam between Jones and the left
post with 3:01 left in the period. The chest high shot turned into Aberg's 1st
goal of the season. That made what would have been a 4-1 game, a 3-2 game.
Aberg tied the game 8:36 into the 3rd period after he stick-handled in
on net form the right side then put a pair of direction change moves on Joakim
Ryan before sweeping the puck home. Ryan looked like a pee wee player unsure at
a magic show, unaware of Aberg's slight of hand.
San Jose never let
Anaheim challenge Jones in the overtime period. The Sharks controlled the puck
the full 2:12 of the extra session, throwing 5 shots at Gibson. Meier's magic
sealed things for San Jose, who return home for the first time since October
20th.
Game Notes:
* Tomas Hertl made his return to the
ice after missing all of the 3rd period in Carolina for an undisclosed injury.
* Rourke Chartier became the 2nd Sharks to score their 1st NHL goal in
as many games. Antti Suomela bagged his first NHL tally on Friday night in
Carolina.
* Erik Karlsson played one of his better games as a Shark.
The defenseman was solid defensively all night and led the overtime period by
quarterbacking the first trio. He finished the game with a an assist on 7 shots
and was a +2 plus/minus.
* Logan Couture quietly had a goal and an
assist.
* Ducks forward Pontus Aberg was a waiver dumpster claim for
the Ducks, who are suffering from a slew of injuries. Anaheim has seven players
on the injured reserve, including Corey Perry, who will not return for several
months while recovering from knee surgery.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| ANA |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Couture 6 (Burns, Hertl), 2:34. 2, ANA, Manson 1 (Getzlaf, Henrique), 4:16.
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Chartier 1 (Hertl, Meier), 2:13. 4, SJ, Meier 7 (Couture, Karlsson), 4:10. 5,
ANA, Aberg 1 (Getzlaf, Welinski), 16:59. |
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| 3rd period - 6, Aberg 2
(unassisted), 8:36. |
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| Overtime - 7, SJ, Meier
8 (Donskoi), 2:14. |
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| 1st period - Manson, ANA
(cross checking), 19:06. |
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| 2nd period - Sorensen,
SJ (fighting major), 10:54; Blandisi, ANA (fighting major), 10:54. |
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| 3rd period - Pavelski,
SJ (high sticking), 4:02; Montour, ANA (hooking), 9:34. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
30 |
27 |
| ANA - Gibson |
49 |
45 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
19 |
15 |
10 |
5 |
49 |
| ANA |
8 |
9 |
13 |
0 |
30 |
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| Referees:
O'Halloran, Sutherland. Linesmen: Nansen, Smith. |
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