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Another 11th hour win SJ finally beats Nashville 11/2/05 - by
Mike Lee
The cardiac kids extended their win streak to four
games on Wednesday night over the visiting Nashville Predators in the same
dramatic fashion that has carried them through their current win streak. Same
11th hour, pull-a-win-out-of-a-hat ending, different savior this time. After
trailing in the 3rd period once again, Patrick Marleau extended things with a
goal with 7:27 remaining in regulation, then Alyn McCauley capped the storybook
finish with a short-handed goal in overtime.
The Sharks seemed to be destined for an overtime loss after defenseman Rob
Davison drew a high sticking penalty in the extra period. Starting the period
4-on-4 provides plenty of room on the ice, but forgoing a skater to defend with
three players is suicide in the NHL. The sudden death setup also leaves no
room for error, so the Sharks turned the tables by capitalizing on a Nashville
gaff.
McCauley started things by pouncing on the puck following a faceoff in the
Sharks zone. Predators center David Legwand and McCauley got tied up as the
puck trickled toward the top of the right circle, but Legwand lost his feet and
ended up face down on the ice. McCauley pushed the puck up ice to Brad Stuart,
who forced defenseman Kimmo Timmonen to commit to a sliding block attempt as
Stuart skated in on the Predators goal. Rather than shoot, Stuart fed the puck
across the slot to McCauley who was breaking in on the left post.
McCauley uncorked a one-timer that beat Predators goaltender Chris Mason and
sent the HP Pavilion crowd into a frenzy. It was McCauley's first goal of the
season.
"The draw was won by their center (David Legwand) and I noticed
him falling, so I went after his stick," McCauley said. "I immediately saw
Stuart and sent him the puck right away hoping he'd shoot. I've been a little
snakebit lately, but I was more than happy to take his great pass."
The only downside to the win was the fact that the Sharks had to play catch up
yet again. San Jose has had problems controlling things defensively in the
early stages of games, although Wednesday night's game may have been a step in
the right direction.
After giving up a goal to Martin Erat just 1:35 into the contest, San Jose
buckled down for the most part. Marcel Goc tied things up five minutes later,
by redirecting a Josh Langfeld shot, but the Sharks relinquished the lead 7
seconds later on a fluke goal.
"It's a nice way to win, but you'd
rather come out with the lead and stick with it," Marleau said. "I guess the
good thing is, we know we can do it if we have to."
Immediately following the faceoff, Nashville dumped the puck deep into the San
Jose zone and Predators winger Paul Kariya tracked it down behind the Sharks
net. Sharks goaltender Nolan Schaefer tried to make a play on the dump in and
got caught out of his net. As the Sharks hustled to cover their own net,
Kariya tried throwing the puck out in front of the net, but the puck hit Niko
Dimitrakos square in the stick and bounced into the Sharks empty goal.
"We did some good things, but the last two games penalties have just
killed us," Kariya said. "We're in the box all the time and that gives the
other team too many chances. They got three or four power plays in the third
period and finally got one. Then in overtime, we have a 4-3 advantage and they
score -- that's unacceptable."
After only mustering 5 shots on goal in the 1st period, San Jose picked things
up in the final two periods, but they couldn't solve Mason. The Sharks got a
break midway through the final period when Danny Markov was sent off for high
sticking Nils Ekman.
On the ensuing power play, Marleau scored his team leading 7th goal on a feed
from Marco Sturm. The Sharks kept the offensive pressure on Mason, but
couldn't end things in regulation.
Notes
Schaefer became the first Sharks rookie to win his first four decisions in net
with the victory.
Forwards Wayne Primeau and Scott Thornton were both scratched for injuries.
Mark Smith tried sending a message to Darcy Hordichuk after the Predators left
winger took a run at Marleau in the 2nd period. Hordichuk went on the
offensive early and landed a square shot before both players tumbled to the
ice.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
NAS |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
SJ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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1st period - 1, Nashville, Erat 3 (Timonen,
Kariya), 1:35. 2, San Jose, Goc 2 (Langfeld, McLaren), 6:14. 3, Nashville,
Kariya 5, 6:21. |
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3rd period - 4, San Jose, Marleau 7 (Sturm,
Cheechoo), 12:33, (pp). |
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Overtime - 5, San Jose, McCauley 1 (Stuart),
1:44, (sh). |
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1st period - Hordichuk, NAS major
(fighting), 7:16; Smith, SJS, minor-major-misconduct (instigator, fighting),
7:16; Stevenson, NAS (interference), 10:23 |
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2nd period - Nichol, NAS (high-sticking),
8:19; Hordichuk, NAS (holding), 10:44; McLaren, SJS (boarding), 10:46 |
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3rd period - Suter, NAS (tripping), 4:23;
Eaton, NAS (holding), 8:49; Markov, NAS (high-sticking), 11:30 |
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Overtime - Davison, SJS (high-sticking),
1:12 |
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Shots |
Saves |
NAS - Mason |
36 |
33 |
SJ - Schaefer |
23 |
21 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
NAS |
5 |
9 |
8 |
1 |
23 |
SJ |
5 |
15 |
14 |
2 |
36 |
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Referees: Tom Kowal,
Bill McCreary. Linesmen: Mike Cvik, Pat Dapuzzo. |
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