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Sharks blow late lead and lose
again
No answers for SJ as they fall to another
doormat
The good news is, Captin Joe Pavelski made his
return to the Sharks lineup on Tuesday night in Vancouver. The bad news is the
Sharks didn't have 20 more guys like him on the ice, as the Canucks rallied for
3 goals in the 3rd period to comeback and beat the suddenly hapless Sharks 4-2
at Rogers Arena. San Jose lost for the 9th time in their last 10 games and
don't seem to have any answers. One goal leads aren't something the Sharks can
trust right now, but they also don't seem to have the fortitude to build any
buffer.
This one stung, because the Sharks hadn't lost to Vancouver in
11 games, and their hosts have nothing to play for but pride as they'll be on
the sidelines come playoff time. The Sharks will join them in due time if they
don't figure out how to right the ship.
A lack of any killer instinct
prevented this one from going down as a victory. The Sharks allowed the Canucks
to grab and early lead, but they battled back to take a lead. Then they quit
putting any pressure on Vancouver.
The Canucks took advantage of the
sharks inability to get out of the gate on time, when Tanner Pearson scored
1:28 into the game. Bo Horvat chased down a puck along the end boards and
flipped a backhand pass out to the front of the net, where Pearson swooped in
to deposit a shot past Martin Jones. Defenseman Jacob Middleton was late to
pick up Pearson, allowing the Canucks forward to convert his scoring chance
unimpeded.
Micheal Haley recognized the lethargic start so he engaged
Luke Schenn in a bout that looked more like punching practice for the Sharks
forward. Schenn never got a fist up as Haley fired several jabs.
Kevin
Labanc squared things up less than 4 minutes later, when he deflected a Brendan
Dillon shot from the front of the net. Dillon wound up at the blueline and
cranked a blast that Labanc got a thigh high stick on to beat Canucks
goaltender Thatcher Demko.
The Sharks were awarded the rare first
power play of the game at 9:34, when Adam Gaudette was called for hooking. The
Sharks wasted little time converting on the man-advantage, when Joe Pavelski
scored his 38th goal of the season. After missing the last 7 games with an
injury, Pavelski made his presence felt when he tapped home a rebound after
Tomas Hertl tried jamming a puck home from the left side.
San Jose had
another power play carry over into the 2nd period, but nothing came of it. The
Canucks read the scouting report on Sharks propensity to give up juicy scoring
chances at the start of a period. Loui Eriksson had a golden opportunity to
take advantage of that trend when he found himself on a breakaway chance in the
first minute of the period. Only a Jones glove save kept the Sharks lead
intact.
Neither team would score in the 2nd period, although
the Sharks out-shot the Canucks 11-7 in the frame.
The Sharks
complacency came back to bite them in the 3rd period. The Sharks had the
scoring chances, but they couldn't get anything past Demko. The Canucks finally
solved Jones at the 11:18 mark when Pearson jammed home a puck from the crease
that Jones didn't cover up.
Eriksson pushed a shot on net that Jones
controlled, but Jones tried to get his glove over it, but he fumbled it in the
crease. Timo Meier was the first skater on the scene, but he never aided in the
coverage, allowing Pearson to swoop in and punch it out of the scrum and into
the Sharks net.
Vancouver grabbed the lead 2 minutes later when Markus
Granlund swept a puck home after it slipped past Jones while a scrum was
whirling in front of the net. Tim Schaller pushed a shot that hit Jones, but
fluttered past him, sitting precariously in front of the goal line. The Sharks
goaltender tried to reach back to grab it, but Granlund got there first.
A late Canucks penalty gave the Sharks one last chance to scratch out
a point in this game, but they couldn't control the puck on a 6-on-4 power play
after DeBoer pulled Jones. Troy Stetcher sent a rink length shot down the ice
and into the empty net to put the final nail in San Jose's coffin.
Game Notes:
* Rookie defenseman Jacob Middleton made his 2nd NHL
start for San Jose.
* San Jose entered play with a 11-0-1 record
against the Canucks in their last 12 meetings.
* Linesman Lonnie
Cameron worked his 1,554th and final regular season game.
* Micheal
Haley had a tough night. He landed a punch off of Luke Schenn's helmet, then
used the same hand to get in the way of a shot that stung him. The Sharks
forward finished his shift with the mitt dangling by his side.
* Joe
Thornton tied Steve Yzerman for 9th on the all time assists list (1,063). He
also tied Niklas Listrom for 12th on the all time games played list.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| VAN |
1 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, VAN,
Pearson 15 (Horvat), 1:28. 2, SJ, Labanc 16 (Dillon, Thornton), 5:09. 3, SJ,
Pavelski 38 (Hertl, Thornton), 10:47, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 4, VAN,
Pearson 16 (Eriksson, Horvat), 11:18. 5, VAN, Granlund 11 (Schaller, Biega),
13:39. 6, VAN, Stecher 2 (Edler), 18:39, (sh)(en). |
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| 1st period - Haley, SJ
(fighting major), 1:52; Schenn, VAN (fighting major), 1:52; Gaudette, VAN
(hooking), 9:34; Edler, VAN (slashing), 18:23. |
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| 2nd period - Middleton,
SJ (tripping), 5:03; Granlund, VAN (slashing), 16:39. |
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| 3rd period - Kane, SJ
(hooking), 7:07; Edler, VAN (slashing), 17:34. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
22 |
19 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| VAN - Demko |
35 |
33 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
12 |
11 |
12 |
35 |
| VAN |
6 |
7 |
10 |
23 |
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| Referees:
Skilliter, Rehman. Linesmen: Cameron, Murchison. |
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