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Sharks stumble to Game
7 2-0 shutout loss burns game in
hand 4/20/08 - by Mike Lee
With
their backs against the wall, the Calgary Flames responded with a gritty
performance, worthy of the 2-0 shutout victory they earned on Sunday night.
Given a chance to end the series, the Sharks just flat out failed to show up.
Things just never clicked for a San Jose roster that seemed to fight the puck
at every opportunity. Former Sharks goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff turned aside
all 21 shots that he faced for his 1st shutout of the series.
Things
opened precariously for the Sharks in the opening minute of the game.
Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov turned the puck over in front of his own net and
barely got back as Alex Tanguay put a shot on net from point blank range.
With the rink tilted toward the San Jose net, Calary would turn up the
heat and convert when Owen Nolan punched home his 20th career playoff goal at
11:33 of the opening period. Nolan was the third man into the Sharks zone after
Robyn Regehr chipped the puck into the San Jose zone. Kristian Huselius tried
putting a shot on net with a backhand attempt from the slot, but he could only
push it forward. Trailing on the play, Nolan swatted at the puck and tucked
just inside the right post.
Patrick Rissmiller was forced to take a
hooking penalty at 16:37 after Marc-Edouard Vlasic tripped at his own blueline,
allowing Eric Nystrom an unimpeded path to the net. San Jose weathered the
storm, but almost gave up a second goal on a dump in play that allowed Jerome
Iginla to jam the puck between Nabokov's pads. If not for the angle that Iginla
had on the scoring chance, the puck would have crossed the goal line.
The Sharks enjoyed two power plays to open the 2nd period, but as has been the
case the entire series, the scoring chances failed to materialize. San Jose
started to gain some momentum with 4 minutes left in the period, but the shots
that did find their way to the Calgary net would get snuffed out by Kiprusoff.
Milan Michalek led a 3-on-2 break with 2:45 left in the period, but
Michalek inexplicably chose to hold the puck all the way to the net and sit
outside the crease without taking any action until a Flames back-checker
cleared him out of harms way.
Michalek's mistake would be magnified by
Damond Langkow's 3rd goal of the series with 56.3 seconds left in the period.
The Sharks turned the puck over in the neutral zone, then let Langkow walk in
up the left wing boards and put a shot past Nabokov on the short side. Nabokov
seemed to cheat a bit to his left in anticipation of a shot attempt toward the
right side of the net.
Rather than mount a comeback, the Sharks played a
discombobulated 3rd period that showcased more of the same bad passing and poor
decisions that dug their 2-goal hole.
The closest San Jose came to
scoring was a Joe Thornton wrap-around chance at the midway point of the
period. The Sharks centerman had more time to setup a quality shot, but he
rushed things, allowing the puck to slide off his stick and dribble into the
slot.
The puck seemed to bounce off every stick being held by a Sharks
player. A Christian Ehrhoff tripping penalty at 10:35 of the period didn't help
matters.
With 5 minutes remaining in regulation, the Flames went on
the offensive, keeping the puck out of their own end. The Sharks had no answer
for the tactic. Of the shots the Sharks put on Kiprusoff, few challenged the
Flames netminder.
Sharks head coach Ron Wilson pulled Nabokov with a
minute remaining in the game, but the 6th skater did nothing to spark any
realistic chance at overcoming the 2-goal deficit.
Game Notes:
Jeremy Roenick was a healthy scratch. Forward Patrick Rissmiller
took Roenick's spot in the lineup. Defenseman Kyle McLaren was also listed as a
scratch with a lower body injury.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
CGY |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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1st period - 1, CGY,
Nolan 2 (Huselius, Regehr), 11:33. |
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2nd period - 2, CGY
Langkow 3 (Tanuay, Iginla), 19:03. |
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1st period - Rissmiller,
SJ (hooking), 16:37. |
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2nd period - Huselius,
CGY (tripping), 2:38; Tanguay, CGY (hooking), 12:05. |
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3rd period - Moss, CGY
(hooking), 2:03; Ehrhoff, SJ (tripping), 10:35. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Nabokov |
25 |
23 |
CGY - Kiprusoff |
21 |
21 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
5 |
9 |
7 |
21 |
CGY |
11 |
8 |
6 |
25 |
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Referees:
VanMassenhoven, Hasenfratz. Linesmen: Cvik, Miller. |
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