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WCSF Game 6: Landeskog forces a
Game 7
Sharks comeback three times, but lose in
overtime
The Sharks may regret their performance in Game 6
of their Western Conference Semi Final series with the Colorado Avalanche.
Should the Avalanche come back to win Game 7 on Wednesday, the Sharks will look
back to all the missed chances in Game 6. After overcoming three separate
deficits in the game, San Jose let their guard down in overtime and let Gabriel
Landeskog take the game with a goal 2:32 into the extra period to take a 4-3
decision.
San Jose played a calm and collect game all night, but they
let Colorado work a puck out of the right corner after a scrum and allow
Landeskog to put a an uncontested shot past Martin Jones to force a deciding
Game 7 on Wednesday night at SAP Center.
Erik Karlsson tried to pursue
a dump in the right corner, but Landeskog checked him off the puck.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic moved it up the boards, but Timo Meier couldn't push it
past Cale Makar, who gathered it and sent it toward back toward the goal,
putting it on Landeskog's tape. The Avalanche captain then worked from right to
left across the slot before snapping a shot that hit Jones in the chest but
pushed across the goal line.
To nobody's surprise, the Avalanche came
out with guns blazing. They skated with speed and hit anything in a white
sweater, through the first 10 minutes of play. The Sharks did a good job of
neutralizing the Avalanche, holding them to a pair of decent scoring chances in
the first half of the period.
Kevin Labanc was whistled for holding at
12:06 of the opening period. The Sharks killed the penalty, but San Jose went
right back on the penalty kill when Erick Karlsson turned over the puck, which
was followed by a trip by Joe Thornton.
Mikko Rantanen ended the
Avalanche brief power play when he hauled down Logan Couture to even things up.
Colorado nearly scored on the 4-on-4 when a Nikita Zadorov shot rang off the
right post.
San Jose withstood the opening period push that everyone
knew was coming, but Colorado made things interesting with a pair of scoring
chances inside the last 15 seconds of the period. The last coming right before
the horn with a puck bouncing off the left post.
The Sharks continued
to play a conservative defensive game, even though that netted them no real
offensive chances. Colorado capitalized 4:05 into the 2nd period when Tyson
Jost deposited a JT Compher feed from the left side. Compher raced into the
Sharks zone on the right wing, before sending a pass through the slot to Jost
on the off wing. Erik Karlsson quit skating on the play, allowing Jost to race
up the left wing undefended.
The Avalanche held San Jose to 7 shots on
goal through the first 34 minutes of play, but a pair of shots at 14:36 helped
San Jose knot the game at 1-1. Timo Meier tried crashing the net with the
putting a shot off Phillip Grubauer, but the netminder denied the chance.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic was trailing on the play and he followed up the Meier shot
with a snipe to the back of the net.
Colorado head coach Jared Bednar challenged the goal,
citing goaltender interference, but the goal would stand. The Avalanche lost
their timeout out after losing the challenge.
The Sharks turned on the
jets, generating a series of scoring chances. Logan Couture had a wide open net
to shoot at with 4 minutes left in the period, but Grubauer made a toe save
wile laying facedown on the ice.
That momentum was turned upside down
when Compher fired a shot from the blueline that clipped the right post and
found the back of the net with 1:16 left in the period. Alexander Kerfoot was
parked in front of Martin Jones, screening the Sharks netminder. Jones never
saw the shot.
The game looked as if it would hit the second
intermission with the Sharks trailing, but San Jose pinned their ears back and
went to work. Meier carried the puck into the zone, then dropped it to Erick
Karlsson on the left side. Karlsson scanned the defense then saw Brent Burns
racing from the bench on the right side, so he feathered a pass to his
defensive partner. Burns gathered Karlsson's feed, then snapped a shot past
Grubauer with 9.8 seconds left in the period.
Compher continued to
torment the Sharks when he put Colorado back on top 4 minutes into the 3rd
period. The Avalanche forward slipped past the Sharks defense and received a
Derick Brassard feed in front of the net, then went backhand and lifted a shot
past Jones for his 4th goal of the playoffs.
Vlasic pulled a rabbit
out of his hat with 2:28 left in regulation. The Sharks defenseman punched a
puck past Grubauer from the left side after the Sharks raced the puck up ice on
an Avalanche turnover at the Sharks blueline.
The overtime didn't last
long after Landeskog buried his chance 2:32 into the extra frame.
Game Notes:
* The Sharks forwards were essentially shutout in
Game 6. All the Sharks scoring came from defenseman.
* The Sharks have
had 13 chances to eliminate an opponent in a Game six, and this was the 10th
failure in franchise history. Not exactly a killer instinct from a franchise
that has a reputation for being pacified come playoff time.
* Game 6
marked the second time in Sharks history that defenseman accounted for three
goals in a playoff game. Dan Boyle and Rob Blake combined for three goals 2009
against the Anaheim Ducks.
* Gabriel Landeskog got away with a big
cross check after Vlasic scored his second goal to tie the game in the 3rd
period. For whatever reason, referees Wes McCauley and Brian Pochmara chose to
ignore the obvious infraction. The Sharks have had their share of 3rd period
penalties in the playoffs, but this officiating crew decided to go old school
and stow the whistles.
* Brendan Dillon, Kevin Labanc and Erik
Karlsson were a combined -6 on the night. Labanc took a bad penalty in the 1st
period and was limited to 14:15 of ice time.
* There is a possibility
that Joe Pavelski may be available for Game 7. Pavelski traveled with the team
to Denver and skated with the Sharks during their morning skate.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| COL |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
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| 2nd period - 1, COL,
Jost 2 (Compher, Cole), 4:05. 2, SJ, Vlasic 2 (Meier, Nyquist), 14:36. 3, COL,
Compher 3 (Soderberg, Kerfoot), 18:44. 4, SJ, Burns 5 (E. Karlsson), 19:50.
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| 3rd period - 5, COL,
Compher 4 (Brassard, Wilson), 4:00. 6, SJ,Vlasic 3 (Couture, Nyquist), 17:32.
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| Overtime - 7, COL,
Landeskog 3 (Makar), 2:32. |
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| 1st period - Labanc, SJ
(holding), 12:06; Thornton, SJ (tripping), 15:00; Rantanen, COL (tripping),
15:34. |
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| 2nd period - Haley, SJ
(roughing), 9:17. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
26 |
22 |
| COL - Grubauer |
22 |
19 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
5 |
8 |
8 |
1 |
22 |
| COL |
11 |
8 |
5 |
2 |
26 |
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| Referees: Pochmara,
McCauley. Linesmen: MacPherson, Shewchyk. |
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