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Nabokov's hot hand
continues SJ beats Oilers with continuous
pressure 3/11/07 - by Mike Lee
Evgeni Nabokov continued his hot hand, albeit against a much
depleted
Edmonton Oilers roster on Sunday afternoon at HP Pavilion. Nabokov turned
aside 22 shots en route to his 3rd shutout in the past four games, and 7th
of
the season. A Steve Bernier goal held up for the San Jose, who would end
up
knocking off the visiting Oilers 3-0. The Sharks played well enough to
win,
but failed to bury a tail-spinning Oilers team early.
San Jose game plan was simple, but it took a while to wear down the Oilers.
Sustained pressure and solid play in the defensive zone was the recipe.
Edmonton entered the game having lost six straight following the trade of
Ryan
Smythe, the team's heart and soul. The pickings should have been easy for
the
Sharks, especially after the Ducks softened the Oilers up on Friday night
with
a 5-1 thumping.
Minus Smyth and a platoon of injured regulars Petr Nedved, Ales Hemsky, Marty
Reasoner, Steve Staios and Jan Hejda, the Oilers have been forced to call
up
several prospects to fill the void.
The Sharks got the puck in the net midway through the period, but what appeared
to be Jonathan Cheechoo's 24th goal of the season, but officials ruled that
the
Sharks forward kicked the puck into the net.
Steve Bernier opened the scoring with his 13th of the season 12:50 into the
contest. Marc-Edouard Vlasic sent a shot in on goal from the blueline,
hitting
Danny Syvret in the chest. Positioned between Syvret and the goal, Bernier
muscled around the Oilers defenseman to sweep the puck past Dwayne Roloson
just
inside the right post.
San Jose tried taking advantage of a young Oilers roster by stepping up the
heat after Bernier's goal. Both Craig Rivet and Patrick Rissmiller bounced
shots off metal. Rissmiller's just missed padding the Sharks lead before
intermission, ringing a shot off the right post after beating Roloson.
An up tempo flow continued in the 2nd period, with the Sharks controlling much
of the play. Edmonton had few chances in the first 10 minutes until
Zachery
Stortini flubbed a wide open net at the 10 minute mark. Nabokov dove to
his
left to deflect the misfired puck as it dribbled to the goal-line.
Jonathan Cheechoo had two unobstructed chances, but he elected to take
slap-shots from outside of 20 feet that Roloson smothered. Roloson's
ability
to control rebounds denied the Sharks any real chance to capitalize on
their
perimeter shooting.
More of the same carried into the 3rd period. Vlasic just missed on an
open-net chance when Patrick Marleau set him up with a nice pass after
drawing
three defenders to the slot. Vlasic was pinching along the right wing, but
pushed his one-timer right of the goal.
The hard work finally paid dividends with 3:51 to play when Kyle McLaren rifled
a shot past Roloson from the point. Rissmiller and Curtis Brown were
credited
with assists, but Mike Grier created the chance by screening Roloson.
Matt Carle would add an empty-net goal later after Craig MacTavish pulled
Roloson. The Sharks gained the zone then worked the puck around the
perimeter
before Carle fired it through traffic to the unattended goal.
Notes:
The Sharks reassigned goaltender Dimitri Patzold to Worcester before the game.
Vesa Toskala was moved back onto the roster from the injured reserve.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
EDM |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
SJ |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
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1st period - 1, SJ, Bernier 13 (Vlasic,
Clowe), 12:50. |
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3rd period - 2, SJ, McLaren 5 (Rissmiller,
Brown), 16:09. 3, SJ, Carle 10 (Rivet, Thornton), 19:20, (pp, en). |
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1st period - Carle, SJ (hooking), 6:02;
Stortini, EDM (charging), 10:08. |
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2nd period - Pouliot, EDM (tripping),
14:01. |
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3rd period - Syvret, EDM (tripping),
18:43. |
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Shots |
Saves |
EDM - Roloson |
30 |
28 |
EDM - empty net | 1 | 0 |
SJ - Nabokov |
22 |
22 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
EDM |
9 |
9 |
4 |
22 |
SJ |
10 |
12 |
9 |
31 |
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Referees: Dan Marouelli, Rob Shick. Linesmen: Shane
Heyer, Pierre Racicot. |
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