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Desperate Hawks remain
desperate
Sharks open up in the 3rd period to beat
Chicago 5-2
The Sharks continued to enjoy some home cooking, as
they squared off against the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center on Sunday night.
That cooking is helping the Sharks fatten up the win column, as San Jose
knocked off the Blackhawks 5-2. Desperate to climb back into the playoff hunt,
Chicago couldn't afford to leave San Jose without any points, but that wasn't
enough to overcome a three goal 3rd period by the Sharks. San Jose was the
aggressor most of the evening, but it took a 40 minute warm up before they
kicked the offense into gear.
Martin Jones dueled with Blackhawks
goaltender Cam Ward, who kept Chicago in the game through the first two
periods. Ward made 30 saves, but he denied San Jose on several high caliber
scoring chances early in the contest.
Jones made 28 saves to earn his
31st win of the season.
Tomas Hertl staked the Sharks to a 1-0 lead
12:16 into the game, taking a Tim Heed drop pass just outside the Blackhawks
blueline and racing around defenseman Duncan Keith before beating goaltender
Cam Ward with a uncontested shot from the slot. Hertl deeked left, before
sliding the puck through Wards pads as the netminder tried to poke check the
puck away from the Sharks forward.
San Jose controlled the puck for
most of the opening period, with the exception of a turnover late. A dump in
attempt caromed of a Sharks skate in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 chance
for Chicago heading in the opposite direction. Dylan Strome ended that rush by
putting a shot past Martin Jones with 28 seconds left in the frame.
Timo Meier pushed the Sharks back in front 1:38 into the 2nd period. The Sharks
forward redirected a Tim Heed shot from the right point. Joonas Donskoi worked
the puck to the left corner where Meier wrapped it around the end boards to
Heed before cutting through the slot. The Sharks forward was near the inside of
the right circle when Heed's shot attempt whistled to his stick blade for the
tip past Ward.
Erik Gustafsson re-tied the game 5 minutes later on a
wrist shot from the high slot that found a seam through traffic out in front of
Jones. Gustafsson worked a give-and-go pass with Jonathan Toews from the right
point, skating in to a spot between the tops of the circles before snapping
home his 13th goal of the season.
Tomas Hertl was called for an iffy
high sticking penalty with 2:23 left in the period, which setup a great chance
for the Blackhawks to grab their first lead of the game. It was the second
power play chance of the evening for Chicago, but the Sharks snuffed out both
chances.
The Sharks opened the 3rd period with a Marcus Sorensen,
which gave them their third lead of the game. The Swedish forward busted down
the slot as Joe Thornton fought off a defender to slide a feed for the one time
chance that beat Ward. The goal was Sorensen's 14th of the season.
San Jose pushed that lead to a pair of goals less than
4 minutes later when Brent Burns fired a shot from the high slot that clipped
Melker Karlsson's stick, slipping the puck past Ward. Micheal Haley had drawn a
delayed hooking penalty by beating a Blackhawks defender to a puck, allowing
the Sharks to add an extra attacker.
Chicago pulled Ward with 3
minutes to play. Melker Karlsson ended things with an empty net goal at 17:38.
Karlsson had a chance for the hat trick, when Haley was called for
high sticking at 18:34, but he elected to clear the zone on the penalty kill
rather than shoot at the unguarded net.
Game Notes:
*
After losing to Minnesota on Saturday night, the Calgary Flames finally
conceded some room in the Western Conference standings. With their victory on
Sunday night, the Sharks pulled to within three points of Calgary for the best
record in the West.
* With his two assists, Tim Heed recorded his
first multi-assist game of his NHL career.
* Joe Thornton tied Red
Wings great Alex Delvecchio for 14th on the all-time NHL games played list
(1,550). With his assist, he now sits 2 points behind Stan Mikita for 14th ont
he all-time points list (1,467).
* Barclay Goodrow led the Sharks with
5 shots on goal in the game. Dylan Strome and Erik Gustafsson also recorded 5
shots each for Chicago.
* Micheal Haley had himself a game, recording
2 assists, 2 shots on goal and 3 hits. His hustle play to draw the delayed
penalty that led to Brent Burns goal may have been his biggest contribution of
the night.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CHI |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Hertl 29 (Heed), 12:16. 2, CHI Strome 17 (Debrincat), 19:32. |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Meier 23 (Heed, Donskoi), 1:38. 4, CHI, Gustafsson 13 (Toews, Keith), 6:40.
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| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Sorensen 14 (Thornton, Donskoi), 4:27. 6, SJ, M. Karlsson 10 (Burns, Haley),
8:16. 7, SJ, M. Karlsson 11 (Goodrow, Haley), 17:38, (en). |
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| 1st period - Donskoi, SJ
(tripping), 8:16. |
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| 2nd period - Hertl, SJ
(high sticking), 17:39. |
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| 3rd period - Perlini,
CHI (tripping), 5:06; Haley, SJ (high sticking), 18:34. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CHI - Ward |
33 |
29 |
| CHI - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Jones |
30 |
28 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CHI |
11 |
12 |
7 |
30 |
| SJ |
7 |
14 |
13 |
34 |
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| Referees: Hanson,
Syvret. Linesmen: Gawryletz, Cherrey. |
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