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Eichel beats Sharks with
4-point night
Sharks drop 4-3 decision to Sabres in
OT
The Sharks had a chance to exact some revenge on
the Buffalo Sabres on the back end of their home-and-home series in Western New
York on Tuesday night after dropping the first half of the game last weekend.
Unfortunately, they still have too many guys that aren't buying into defensive
commitments. That resulted in a 4-3 overtime loss after they jumped out to a
2-0 lead on the road. The game kicked off a 5-game trip through the East, and
extended their current losing streak to two games.
The expectations on
the back end weren't met in key situations, and it cost the Sharks, who had a
chance to build on a great opening period that finished with the Sharks holding
a multi-goal lead. The most egregious play came from Evander Kane who simply
failed to lock guys up defensively, and it led to goals.
San Jose
played a fantastic opening 20 minutes, but it went by the wayside.
Dylan Gambrell scored his 1st career NHL goal 5:46 into the contest when he
tipped an Erik Karlsson shot as he cruised in front of the Buffalo net. It was
only the second time this season that the Sharks scored a game's opening goal.
This one came when Karlsson threw the puck at the front of the net from the
blueline and Gambrell was there deflect it with a stick at this waist. The
Sharks centerman had a similar goal taken away on what was deemed a highstick
last week.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic pinched on a Sharks rush at 15:23 of
the opening period and slammed home a pretty Patrick Marleau pass. Marleau took
a Timo Meier feed as he skated up the right wing, before spotting Vlasic on the
far side. The Sharks centerman sent a perfect backhand feed through the slot to
Vlasic on the left for the defenseman's 1st goal of the season.
San
Jose let things get away from them in the 2nd period. Buffalo would out-shoot
San Jose 10-5 in the period, but most of those shots were generated on three
power play chances in the period. A Barclay Goodrow tripping infraction 6:10
into the period setup a Jack Eichel goal 71 seconds later.
Martin
Jones appeared to cutoff Eichel's blast from the left dot, but the puck snuck
underneath the Sharks goaltender. San Jose had a chance to clear the puck
moments earlier, but Melker Karlsson failed to get a stick on the puck as it
trickled by him.
The Sharks looked as if they would get to the 2nd
intermission with the lead, but Kane turned the puck over on a soft play,
allowing Sam Reinhart to bag his 4th of the season with 31 seconds left in the
period.
The 3rd period opened with another Sabres goal, time courtesy
of Kane's reluctance to work on defense. Jeff Skinner punched home an Eichel
feed from behind the net 45 seconds into the frame as Kane failed to cover the
Buffalo centerman.
Erik Karlsson helped the Sharks salvage a point in the
standings by scoring his 1st goal of the season with 8:33 left in regulation.
Kevin Labanc carried the puck out of the left corner then circled up the boards
before spotting Karlsson cutting on the right side. Labanc sent a bullet
through the high slot to Karlsson, who whipped a shot from the right dot that
beat Carter Hutton.
Buffalo controlled the puck for most of the 3:13
that ticked away in the extra period. When San Jose did briefly gain control of
it, Labanc tried to back pass it to Jones of all people, who couldn't control
the pass. Buffalo collected it, then worked it in the zone until Eichel jammed
it past Jones from the top of the crease.
It was the only shot taken
between the two teams in overtime, but it was all Buffalo need to take both
games from the Sharks.
Game Notes:
* Patrick Marleau
tied Bobby Hull for 52nd on the all-time scoring list with his assist on
Gambrell's goal, then moved ahead of Hull for sole posession of that spot with
the secondary assist on Karlsson's goal. Sergei Federov sits in the 51st spot
with 1,179 points. Marleau trails Federov by 1,171 points.
* The
Sharks got a scare in the 2nd period when Jack Eichel lost his balance and
tripped himself right into Timo Meier's right knee. Eichel appeared to hit
Meier with full force, buckling the Sharks forward. Meier hobbled to the bench,
but did continue later in the game.
* The good news is that the Sharks
won't see Eichel the remainder of the regular season. The Sabres captain was
shutout on Saturday night in San Jose, but he recorded a 4 point night in the
second game with a pair of goals and two assists.
* Evander Kane and
Tomas Hertl finished the game a combined -4.
* Tim Heed continues to
be the odd man out on the blueline. While he did make it into the lineup, the
defenseman skated only 15 shifts, logging 8:52 of ice time.
* Mario
Ferraro was sent to the box twice for tripping, but his second infraction was a
bewildering call. The rookie defenseman lined up Johan Larsson with a check
along the side boards, but rookie referee TJ Luxmore called Ferraro for
tripping.
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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 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| BUF |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Gambrell 1 (E. Karlsson, Sorensen), 5:46. 2, SJ, Vlasic 1 (Marleau, Meier),
15:23. |
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| 2nd period - 3, BUF,
Eichel 5 (Dahlin, Olofsson), 7:21, (pp). 4, BUF, Reinhart 4 (Ristolainen,
Eichel), 19:29. |
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| 3rd period - 5, BUF,
Skinner 6 (Eichel, Jokiharju), 0:45. 6, SJ, E. Karlsson 1 (Labanc, Marleau),
11:27. |
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| Overtime - 7, BUF,
Eichel 6 (Ristolainen, Mittelstadt), 3:13. |
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| 1st period - Ferraro, SJ
(tripping), 10:46. |
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| 2nd period - Goodrow, SJ
(tripping), 6:10; Ferraro, SJ (tripping), 10:43; Jokiharju, BUF (tripping),
14:02. |
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| 3rd period - Eichel, BUF
(interference), 6:22; Goodrowm SJ (boarding), 9:07. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
29 |
25 |
| BUF - Hutton |
28 |
25 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
5 |
13 |
0 |
28 |
| BUF |
14 |
10 |
4 |
1 |
29 |
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| Referees: Luxmore,
McIssac. Linesmen: Kovachik, Toomey. |
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