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Stars get nasty in
finale
Cheap shots galore in 4-2
loss
4/6/08 - by Mike Lee
What
should have been a casual closing to the regular season in a meaningless game
between the Sharks and Dallas Stars was anything but that on Sunday. The two
teams combined for 160 penalty minutes, which included nine fighting majors and
two game misconduct penalties. Dallas decided to kickoff the playoffs early by
playing an aggressive game that was filled with questionable hits and cheap
shots, but wound up with a 4-2 win at the American Airlines Center. Jody
Shelley set a new team record with 41 penalty minutes before the 2nd period was
even over.
The game opened casually, with both teams settling in for
the season finale, which had no bearing on playoff seedings. That would change
6 minutes into the game when Kyle McLaren and Krystoffer Barch dropped the
gloves.
The real shenanigans started when Steve Ott took at run at Joe
Thornton at 8:42 of the period. Thornton took exception to the play and went
after Ott. The Sharks centerman was assessed cross checking and instigator
minors to go along with 5 minutes for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.
With the on-ice officials doing nothing to control the game, the Stars
would continue to take cheap shots. Brandon Crombeen took a run at Milan
Michalek at 12:40, which resulted in fisticuffs. Michalek was cut during the
fight, sending him to the dressing room for stitches.
Things started
to really get out of hand when Stephan Robidas plastered Joe Pavelski with a
hit from behind in the corner. Robidas was assessed a 5-minute penalty for
checking from behind and was tossed from the game for the infraction. A
4-minute high sticking penalty to Stu Barnes 2:31 later gave the Sharks a
5-on-3 power play.
Patrick Marleau would capitalize with his 19th of
the season. The Sharks captain wrested a shot from 30 feet out that beat Stars
goaltender Marty Turco.
With all the dirty play in the opening period,
Sharks head coach Ron Wilson would pull starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to
open the 2nd period as a precautionary measure, replacing him with Brian
Boucher. Nabokov had stopped all 7 shots that he faced, but Boucher wouldn't
fare as well.
Jonathan Cheechoo would push the Sharks lead to 2-0 at
5:46 of the period on a nifty move around Mat Niskanen before slipping a shot
past Turco.
The bad blood spilled over into the period when Douglas
Murray and Crombeen would drop the gloves at 8:58 of the 2nd, but it was
quickly broken up when the two leaned up against the glass. Ryane Clowe was
also sent off for roughing on the play, giving the Stars a power play.
Anti Miettinen would cut the Sharks lead to 2-1 at 11:35 of the period. Brendan
Morrow sent an 80-foot pass from the left wing to Mike Modano, who dropped the
puck for Miettinen.
Barnes would tie the game at 16:13 of the period
on a power play after Torrey Mitchell was sent off for charging. Barnes skated
in on the left wing and tucked the puck inside the right post.
Jody
Shelley decided it was time to let Ott know what he thought of his hit on
Thornton earlier in the game by engaging the Stars forward at center ice. Ott
wanted nothing to do with Shelley, doing everything in his power to skate away
from the Sharks enforcer. Shelley's persistence resulted in a couple of shots
to Ott's head as he turtled and a trip to the dressing room after getting
tossed with a game misconduct.
Shelley's infractions resulted in a 7
minute minor for the Stars. Mathias Norstrom would give the Stars the lead at
3-2 with a tap in after the Sharks were about to go down another man after
Thornton leveled a Stars player in the Stars end.
The 3rd period felt
like church mass compared to the first two stanzas of the game. The only thing
of interest was figuring out who the Sharks would matchup against in the
playoffs. When Colorado reached overtime in their game with the Minnestoa Wild,
the 7th spot was locked up by the Calgary Flames. San Jose will host the Flames
in the opening round of the Western Conference quarterfinals starting later
this week.
Ott would score a meaningless goal late in the game on a
2-o-n-1 break after Sandis Ozolinsh coughed the puck up at his own blueline.
Game Notes:
The Sharks rested Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff,
Craig Rivet and Matt Carle, alon with forwards Mike Grier, Jeremy Roenick and
Marcel Goc.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| DAL |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Marleau 19 (Campbell, Pavelski), 17:33, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Cheechoo 23 (Marleau, Michalek), 5:46, (pp). 3, DAL, Miettinen 15 (Modano,
Morrow), 11:35. 4, DAL, Barnes 12 (Morrow, Niskanen), 16:13. 5, DAL, Norstrom 2
(Petersen, Hagman), 19:47. |
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| 3rd period - 6, DAL, Ott
11 (Lundqvist), 18:38. |
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| 1st period - McLaren, SJ
(fighting major), 6:00; Shelley, SJ (roughing), 6:00; Shelley, SJ (cross
checking), 6:00; Barch, DAL (fighting major), 6:00; Winchester, DAL (cross
checking), 6:00; Thornton, SJ (fighting major), 8:42; Thornton, SJ (cross
checking), 8:42; Thornton, SJ (instigator), 8:42; Thornton, SJ (10 min
msconduct), 8:42; Ott, DAL (fighting major), 8:42; Ott, DAL (charging), 8:42;
Rissmiller, DAL (roughing), 9:01; Semanov, SJ (10 min misconduct), 9:01;
Michalek, SJ (fighting major), 12:40; Michalek, SJ (roughing), 12:40; Crombeen,
DAL (fighting major), 12:40; Shelley, SJ (10 min misconduct), 14:47; Robidas,
DAL (checking from behind major), 14:47; Robidas, DAL (game misconduct), 14:47;
Daley, DAL (10 min misconduct), 14:47; Barnes, DAL (high sticking - double
minor), 17:18. |
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| 2nd period - Lundqvist,
DAL (charging), 0:25; Petersen, DAL (tripping), 4:36. Clowe, SJ (roughing),
8:58; Murray, SJ (fighting major), 8:58; Crombeen, DAL (fighting major), 8:58;
Mithcell, SJ (charging), 14:13; Shelley, SJ (roughing), 16:47; Shelley, SJ
(fighting major), 16:47; Shelley, SJ (10 min misconduct), 16:47; Shelley, SJ
(game misconduct), 16:47; Miettinen, DAL (tripping), 17:49. |
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| 3rd period - Miettinen,
DAL (high sticking), 2:26; Eriksson, DAL (slashing), 13:38; Marleau, SJ
(holding he stick), 14:51; Nostrom, DAL (hooking), 19;09. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
7 |
7 |
| SJ - Boucher |
15 |
11 |
| DAL - Turco |
34 |
32 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
15 |
10 |
9 |
34 |
| DAL |
7 |
9 |
6 |
22 |
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| Referees: Kozari,
Leggo. Linesmen: Racicot, Gibbs. |
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