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Jones shuts out
Wild...again
SJ scores 3 times to take road
opener
The Sharks stayed perfect in March, by winning for
the 5th straight time on Monday night. San Jose kicked off a quick two-game
road trip, with a stop in Minnesota to play the Wild. The Sharks scored three
times, then leaned on Martin Jones, who stopped 24 shots to earn his third
shutout of the season. The Sharks also hop-scotched past the Calgary Flames to
reclaim the top spot in the Western Conference with the win. The Sharks sit a
point better than the Flames who have one fewer overtime wins than San Jose.
The strength of schedule for the remaining schedule favors San Jose, who still
also has 8 of their remaining 13 games at SAP Center.
Monday night's
affair was methodical. The Sharks kept the Wild in check in the opening period,
then chipped away on the score sheet.
Jones made the saves that he
needed to make, and also received some love from the post early to win for the
34th time this season.
Zach Parise came inches from putting the Wild
on top in the opening period, when his shot from the left dot hit the right
post.
The Sharks would skate on a pair of power play chances, but
failed to convert on both mad-advantage situations. The two teams traded 11
shots apiece in the period, but it would remain scoreless.
Timo Meier
missed on his own golden chance when he rang a shot off both posts with 6:50
left in the 2nd period. The Wild immediately countered with a rush up ice, but
Jones denied Minnesota.
San Jose finally cracked the score sheet, when
Marc-Edouard Vlasic clipped Barclay Goodrow's jersey before the puck found its
way into the Minnesota net. Vlasic pumped a shot from the left point with
Goodrow parked at the top of the Minnesota crease. Goodrow tried to evade the
shot as it headed straight for his chest, but the puck caught jersey material
which altered the trajectory by 45 degrees. Goodrow was credited with his 6th
goal of the season on the play.
Tomas Hertl pushed the Sharks lead to
2-0 with his 31st goal of the season 4:37 into the 3rd period. Hertl traded
passes with Timo Meier, before racing in on net uncontested and deeking Devyn
Dubnyk. Hertl would draw the puck to his forehand and lift it over Dubnyk's
right leg pad.
Logan Couture put the game out of reach 6 minutes later
on a bit of controversy. Couture found nothing but Minnesota ice between him
and Dubnyk after receiving a pass just outside the Wild blueline. Couture was
stalled a bit as he was forced to reach back for the puck at the blueline which
allowed Anthony Bitetto to catch him. Bitetto hooked the Sharks centerman,
drawing a penalty shot.
Couture capitalized on the penalty shot by firing a
laser between Dubnyk's pads for his 24th goal of the season.
The
controversy came after Couture converted, when referees Eric Furlatt and Kevin
Pollock skated to the scorer's table for a conference. The NHL later clarified
that the referees wanted clarification on a possible offside by Couture before
the hook occurred. The NHL declared that the play was not reviewable, which let
the goal stand.
The Xcel Energy Center expressed their displeasure
with Furlatt, Pollock, and linesman Steve Barton, who failed to call the
offside. Replays clearly showed that Couture's skaters entered the Minnesota
zone before the puck, but it's still not clear if that would have mattered. The
rulebook states that a player controlling the puck may have his skates enter
before the puck so long as he is in control of the puck.
Game
Notes:
* Timo Meier bounced the puck off both posts on one shot,
and that would as close as he would come to extending his goal scoring streak
to a 5th game.
* Devin Dubnyk has probably seen enough of the Sharks
this season. The Wild netminder lost to San Jose for the 3rd time this season.
* Not only was is the third shutout for Martin Jones this season, but
it was the second consecutive goose egg for Jones at Excel Energy Center. It
was teh first time a visiting goaltender shutout the Wild twice in a season on
Minnesota ice since 2011-12.
* Barclay Goodrow was credited with the
game winning goal. Of his 6 goals this season, 3 of them have been game
winners.
* Logan Couture's penalty shot goal was his second of the
season. It was the first time in Sharks history that a San Jose player has
recorded more than one penalty shot goal in a season.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| MIN |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Goodrow 6 (Vlasic, Heed), 14:06. |
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| 3rd period - 2, SJ,
Hertl 31 (Meier), 4:37. 3, SJ, Couture 24 (penalty shot), 10:01. |
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| 1st period - Fehr, MIN
(tripping), 11:05; Rask, MIN (hooking), 16:39. |
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| 2nd period - Nyquist, SK
(holding). 1:30; Dillon, SJ (holding), 17:37. |
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| 3rd period - Haley, SJ
(trippping), 12:07. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
24 |
24 |
| MIN - Dubnyk |
29 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
8 |
10 |
29 |
| MIN |
11 |
6 |
7 |
24 |
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| Xcel Energy Center -
18,907 |
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| Referees: Furlatt,
Pollock. Linesmen: Barton, Cormier. |
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