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Minnesota goes wild in 3rd
5 goal period dooms San Jose
10/19/05 - by Mike Lee

Halloween is still two weeks away, but the Sharks were treated to a night of horrors in Minnesota on Wednesday night as the host Wild unleashed five 3rd period goals to break open a tightly contested game at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild played two periods of typical Jacques Lemaire snooze fest hockey, before busting things open with a nightmare period for San Jose. Manny Fernandez stopped 34 shots to keep the Sharks in check, then allowed his teammates to ravage the visiting Sharks.

Derek Boogaard scored his first career goal to unlock a 1-1 tie early in the 3rd period, then Marc Chouinard, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Todd White and Filip Kuba tacked on goals of their own to complete the 6-1 route.

The Wild, who have relied on slow tempo, defensive first hockey, delivered as planned for the first 40 minutes. The new clutch-free NHL rules took the night off for nostalgia's sake, allowing the Wild to suppress San Jose's speedy forwards. San Jose's offensive plan didn't include being pressed up against the glass every time they held the puck, but without any support from the officiating crew, they were hard pressed to counter the Wild's pinching tactics.

"I just asked them to play," Lemaire said. "That's why we're named the Wild. We're wild. Awful period, then great period."

Niko Dimitrakos managed to slip one past Fernandez late in the 2nd period, but it would far from enough once the final period got under way. Trailing 1-0, Dimitrakos fired a shot that bounced off Wild defenseman Andrei Zyuzin's arm and into the Wild goal. Marcel Goc started the play by firing a shot off Fernandez on a partial break. Dimitrakos scooped up the big rebound and deposited it for his second goal of the season.

"We shot ourselves in the foot," Sharks head coach Ron Wilson said after the game. "We had some guys with off nights who made some mistakes they normally don't make."

San Jose's power play continues to haunt them after an 0-for-5 night. Chouinard added insult to injury by scoring short handed after picking off a Scott Hannan pass attempt. The special team woes have been costly during the Sharks four losses this season.

Early scoring chances also resulted in little for the Sharks offense, which has sputtered int eh 1st period this season.

"You have to put the puck in the back of the net," Sharks center Patrick Marleau said. "It's not good enough to be getting good chances."

The Wild may have been energized by the return of Marion Gaborik, their rising superstar. Gaborik had two assists on the evening.

"I was skating for 10 days, so I felt good out there," Gaborik said. "The biggest thing is we won the game."

Notes:

Josh Langfeld made his debut of for the Sharks, replacing Ryan Clowe in the lineup. Langfeld logged 13 minutes of ice time, had three shots on goal and finished the evening a +1, which is outstanding given the score of the game.

The Sharks had one small consolation, finally ending up on the positive side of the faceoff results. San Jose 35 of 59 faceoffs (59%), led by Marleau, who won 12 of 18 faceoffs (67%).



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Scoring
1 2 3 T
SJ 0 1 0 1
MIN 1 0 5 6
1st period - 1, Minnesota, Mitchell 1 (Gaborik, Daigle), 14:42.
2nd period - 2, San Jose, Dimitrakos 3 (Goc, McLaren), 17:46.
3rd period - 3, Minnesota, Boogaard 1 (Wanvig, Burns), 2:10. 4, Minnesota, Chouinard 5, 4:33, (sh). 5, Minnesota, Bouchard 4 (Rolston, White), 8:03. 6, Minnesota, White 2 (Daigle), 13:13. 7, Minnesota, Kuba 2 (White, Gaborik), 16:34.
Penalties
1st period - Boogaard, MIN (interference), 7:00; Davison, SJS (interference), 16:35
2nd period - Daigle, MIN (hooking), 1:57; Robitaille, MIN (goaltender interference), 7:49; Stuart, SJS (holding), 13:40
3rd period - Robitaille, MIN (holdi minor-major (cross-checking, fighting), 10:01
Goaltending
  Shots Saves
SJ - Nabokov 25 19
MIN - Fernandez 35 34
Shots On Goal
1 2 3 T
SJ 12 12 11 35
MIN 6 10 9 25
Power Play Conversion
SJ 0 of 5
MIN 0 of 2
3 Stars of the Game
Manny Fernandez
Derek Boogaard
Todd White
Attendence
18,064
Officials
Referees: Dennis LaRue, Mike Leggo. Linesmen:Ryan Galloway, Dan Schachte.

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