James Reimer made his first start in six games
after battling an illness that kept him out of the lineup since November 30th.
Reimer made 34 saves to lead his team to a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars at SAP
Center on Saturday night. Reimer celebrated his 400th career NHL game, and was
the difference maker in a nail biter on home ice.
Reimer was a
consistent force in net for the Sharks, who have been the benefactors of good
goaltending the last few weeks. Hill held the fort for San Jose during Reimer's
absence, but the Sharks missed Reimer's consistency in net.
It
mattered in this one, as the Stars kept the game close, and pulled to within a
goal with a 3rd period tally.
San Jose grabbed the 1-0 lead 8:30 into
the game, when Timo Meier took an Alexander Barabanov feed near the bottom of
the right circle. Meier spun to his forehand and whipped a shot that appeared
to deflect off Tomas Hertl before slipping past Stars goaltender Braden Holtby.
Erik Karlsson was whistled for tripping at 15:24. Former Sharks
captain Joe Pavelski just missed on a backhand chance from the left side that
clanked off the cross bar. The Sharks killed the penalty, but Jasper Weatherby
was sent off with only 15 seconds left in the period after he lofted the puck
over the glass from the defensive zone.
The Stars out-shot the Sharks
14-6 in that opening period, but San Jose held the 1-0 lead at the first
intermission.
San Jose dispatched the Weatherby penalty with another
strong penalty kill to start the 2nd period, then enjoyed the man advantage
themselves after Denis Gurianov was called for slashing Barabanov. Nothing
materialized for San Jose on the power play. Penalty roulette once again
benefited the Stars when Matt Nieto was called for holding at 8:25, but again
the Stars power play could not cash in.
Karlsson stepped into a shot
at 16:28, which found twine after Holtby was late to get the glove hand up.
Stars head coach Rick Bowness decided to challenge for goaltender interference,
but that was unsuccessful, which earned the Sharks their 2nd power play of the
night.
Nothing materialized from the delay of game infraction imposed
on Dallas, but San Jose was able to kill more clock and get the 2nd
intermission with a 2-goal lead.
James Reimer did a great job of keeping the Stars
off the board, but his luck ran out at the 8:26 mark of the 3rd period. Michael
Raffel got his stick blade on a Radek Faksa shot as he sat perched in front of
the Sharks net. It was a patented Joe Pavelski tip job.
Game Notes: * Brent Burns played in his 615th consecutive game
for San Jose, which sets a new franchise record. Patrick Marleau previously
held the mark at 614 games.
* Kevin Labanc was injured in the 1st
period on a hit by Jani Hapanpaa. It was the Shark forward's first shift of the
game. He skated to the bench, but then headed to the locker room where he
stayed the remainder of the game.
* Attendance continues to be an
issue for the Sharks, who could only draw 14,145 on a Saturday night in
December. The Sharks are in the playoff hunt and Saturdays have been sellout
staples for San Jose. The pandemic has not helped the Sharks fill their
building.
* The Sharks leading shot generators were both defensemen.
Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson combined for 9 of the Sharks 25 shots.
*
Sharks captain Logan Couture had a tough offensive game. The forward generated
no shots on goal and didn't factor in the sharks scoring. He was credited with
2 blocked shots and 1 hit.