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Sharks stink but still
win
Dan Boyle saves SJ with late goal
Playing struggling teams should be a prime
opportunity to rack up points in the standings. The Nashville Predators
haven’t exactly been lighting up the league early this season, so Tuesday
night’s affair with the Sharks at HP Pavilion should have been as easy as
shooting fish in a barrel to come up with a point or two. Problem is, the
Sharks turned in one of the most uninspired performances of the year. San Jose
managed to squeeze out a win on a last minute goal by Defenseman Dan Boyle, but
the Sharks those may have been the most undeserved points of the season.
Call it a let down after their inspiring play against the Pittsburgh
Penguins on Saturday night, or playing down to an opponent. In either case, it
wasn’t the kind of perforce the coaching staff was looking for.
Backup goaltender Thomas Greiss probably would have preferred more offensive
support early on, but his play was sufficient to earn his second win of the
season.
"I'm not sure it was the game we wanted to see," said Sharks
head coach Todd McLellan. " I guess what we have to make clear is we won a game
tonight. We found a way to come from behind in the third period. Those are
positives, and we got a pretty good start from our goaltender that hasn't
played for a while. And then after that I don't think we played very well
individually or collectively. We made far too many turnovers, the odd-number
rushes that we gave up in the first and second periods were way too many, and
as a result anytime we got the puck we gave it back to them and ended up
chasing them all night. So very little offense, a lot of frustration probably
on our team, so obviously we have a little bit of work to do."
Patrick
Marleau and Joe Pavelski teamed up to the put the Sharks up 1-0 midway through
the opening period. Marleau drove to the net, carrying the puck outside the
right post, before spotting Pavelski cutting down the slot, and sliding a pass
back to his linemate. Pavelski one-timed a shot that roofed over Predators
goaltender Dan Ellis.
Greiss made things a bit more adventurous
moments later, after he lost his stick during a rush by the Predators. Steve
Sullivan started the wild sequence with a partial break that ended with him in
the net, but thankfully for San Jose , without the puck.
Nashville
continued to push the play, but Greiss was able to make a nice glove save with
2 minutes remaining in the period. Greiss wouldn’t be so lucky after the
next faceoff. Martin Erat put a shot on goal from the right side that deflected
off Greiss, popping straight up into the air.
The puck floated past
Greiss, landing behind him in the crease. Nashville center Michael Santorelli
dashed into the crease with Manny Malhotra pursuing, but the Predator got a
stick on the puck, knocking into the Sharks goal to knot the game at 1-1.
Jamie McGinn put the Sharks back on top at 2:33 of the 2nd period.
Brad Staubitz put a shot on goal from the left side that kicked out to McGinn,
who was breaking in on the off wing. McGinn gathered the deflection and lifted
a shot that sailed over Eliis’ glove hand for his 3rd goal of the season.
A Derek Joslin cross checking penalty put the
Predators on the power play at 6:32 of the period. The Sharks made things even
more interesting when Scott Nichol was injured on the penalty kill and McGinn
broke his stick all with the puck deep in the Sharks zone. With the sharks
defending the goal opposite their bench, they couldn’t get either play off
the ice. Nichol stuck with things and managed to clear the puck, diverting the
dicey situation.
Former Sharks forward Marcel Goc made his return to
HP Pavilion and bit his former team with his 1st goal of the season at with 5
minutes remaining in the period. Not known for his scoring prowess when he wore
teal, Goc put a head fake on rookie defenseman Jason Demers at the left dot
before snapping a shot just inside the right post.
San Jose ’s
flat play would get flatter in the 3rd period and that would bite them in the
form of a simple play. Patric Hornqvist would throw a puck on net from the left
point, and screens from two Shark defenders would allow the puck to weave past
Greiss to put the Predators on top.
"Going on the road and coming home
that first game, what's different between the first game and the second game?"
pondered McLellan. "You're home and you're prepared. Ultimately its respect for
your opponent, which I believe we have, a lot of respect for that team they're
very well coached and they work extremely hard. But its doing it right all the
time. You can't pick and choose when you would like to have proper execution
when you'd like to do it the right way and not take shortcuts. I don't think
tonight we were 100% in that area."
The goal would generate a little
life in the Sharks. Devin Setoguchi would tie the game 4 minutes later with a
blast from the top of the left circle. The goal was notable, because it was
Setoguchi’s first game back since suffering an injury on October 24th.
Nashville defenseman Cody Franson would be whistled for holding
Nichol’s stick at 13:50, giving the Sharks their first power play of the
game. Nashville would deny San Jose from converting, which also seemed to
re-energize them.
That energy would almost spell doom for the Sharks.
Nashville held the puck in the Sharks zone and just missed on a golden chance
when David Legwand found himself all alone in front of the Sharks net. The
former first round draft pick would whiff on a pass through the slot, helping
to preserve the tie.
With the game headed to overtime, the Sharks got
one of those moments of divine intervention with a minute left in regulation.
Dan Boyle took a simple feed from Ryane Clowe after crossing the Nashville
blueline, then sent a shot from the bottom of the right circle that Ellis
appeared to have clearly in his sights. With the netminder on his knees, the
puck somehow managed to slip through Ellis’s pads, trickling across the
goal line for the game winner.
"Their just a really good, deep team,"
said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz. "To this point, they are the most
talented team we have played. Their first two lines would be the number one
line in the league. They have good character guys. We know a couple of them,
Nichol and Ortmeyer. Their aspirations are the Stanley Cup."
Game
Notes:
Setoguchi wasn’t the only Sharks making his way back to
the lineup. Ryan Vesce, who was also injured against the Atlanta Thrashers at
the end of October, made his way back to the ice.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NSH |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 2 (Marleau, Heatley), 10:01. 2, NSH, Santorelli 2 (Erat, Thuresson),
18:20. |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
McGinn 3 (Staubitz, Vlasic), 2:33. 4, NSH, Goc 1 (Tootoo, Franson), 14:49. |
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| 3rd period - 5, NSH,
Hornqvist 4 (Hamhuis), 9:29. 6, SJ, Setoguchi 8 (Boyle), 13:26. 7, SJ, Boyle 4
(unassisted), 19:00. |
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| 2nd period - Joslin, SJ
(cross checking), 6:32. |
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| 3rd period -
Clowe, SJ (tripping), 3:13; Franson, NSH (holding the stick), 13:50. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| NSH - Ellis |
29 |
25 |
| SJ - Greiss |
26 |
23 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NSH |
11 |
4 |
11 |
26 |
| SJ |
8 |
7 |
14 |
29 |
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| Referees: Martell,
Leggo. Linesmen: Cameron, Lazarowich. |
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