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3rd period comeback sparks
win Sharks stun Canadiens with a pair of goals
late
The Sharks post-Olympic hangover was still in
affect on Thursday night, but a pair of 3rd period goals helped to snap them
out of their funk and break a two-game losing streak. The Sharks battled back
from a 3rd period deficit to a feisty Montreal Canadiens team at HP Pavilion.
San Jose scored a short-handed, power play and standard goal to take a 3-2 win
over the visiting Canadiens.
Montreal took the 1-0 lead at 10:12 of
the opening period after Patrick Marleau coughed the puck up in his own zone.
Scott Gomez intercepted Marleau's attempt at a feather pass near the left
corner. Gomez dropped the puck back to Brian Gionta for the 40 foot slap shot
that slipped just inside the left post.
Winger Benoit Pouliot almost made it 2-0 with 7
minutes to play in the period when his breakaway chance was snuffed out by
Evgeni Nabokov. Pouliot's shot bounced off Nabokov and landed on Gionta's stick
in the slot, but the Sharks netminder stopped the follow up chance by poking
away the shot.
Joe Pavelski had a breakaway of his own with just under
two minutes left before the first intermission, but Canadiens netminder Carey
Price snared the high shot with his glove hand. San Jose would outshoot the
Canadiens 15-11 in the opening period, but would trail by the lone goal.
Joe Thornton opened the 2nd period by taking a tripping penalty just 8
seconds in. With the Canadiens on the man advatage, Marleau created a
short-handed chance but his shot sailed well above the net. He would chase down
the reboudn and wind the puck around the end boards to Scott Nichol who then
dropped it back to Rob Blake on the right point. As Marleau skated back through
the slot, Blake cranked a shot from the blueline that Marleau tipped over
Price's left shoulder to knot the game at 1-1.
The goal was Marleau's
4th short-handed tally of the season, and his 39th overall, a new career high.
The momentum shifted right back to Montreal after Nabokov let a
seamingly routine shot from Scott Gomez slip right between his pads just over a
minute later.
San Jose would not be as effective with the man
advantage.
With the Sharks on a 4-on-3 power play late in the period,
price lost his stick and when defenseman Hal Gill tried to hand it back to him.
Gill realized the Sharks were collapsing on the goal, so he tossed the stick
out into the slot, drawing a penalty shot.
Sharks head coach called on defenseman Dan Boyle to
take the freebie, but his shot hit the crossbar. San Jose would fully squander
the opportunity by misfiring on the remainder of the power play. They clanked
two more shots off metal, then Price masterfully turned aside three more shots
to preserve the 2-1 lead.
Things turned ugly on a breakaway by Nichol
later in the period, when the forward was tripped from behind by Maxim
Lapierre. The Sharks forward sailed into the end boards head first. Nichol lay
face down on the ice before skating off under his own power. He headed straight
to the dressing room with a left arm or shoulder injury.
Adding irony
to insult, Manny Malhotra would be sent off for boarding with 15:15 to play in
regulation.
Canadiens defenseman Roman Hamrlik would take a
hooking penalty at 11:18 of the 3rd period, giving the Sharks their fourth
power play of the night. Dany Heatley would tie the game at 2-2 by deflecting a
Marleau shot from the top of the left circle.
San Jose would srtrike
2:33 later on a bang-bang play by Malhotra and Torrey Mitchell. With the puck
cycling in the Canadiens zone, defenseman Kent Huskins redirected the puck to
Mitchell near the left wing boards. Mitchell sent a pass through the high slot
to Malhotra for the 40 foot one-timer that beat price glove side.
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What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
MTL |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
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1st period - 1, MTL,
Gionta 18 (Gomez), 10:20. |
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2nd period - 2, SJ,
Marleau 39 (Blake, Nichol), 0:43, (sh). 3, MTL, Gomez 11 (Gionta, Markov),
2:06, (pp). SJ, Boyle (unsuccessful penalty shot), 13:31. |
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3rd period - 4, SJ,
Heatley 33 (Boyle, Marleau), 12:32, (pp). 5, SJ, Malhotra 10 (Mitchell,
Huskins), 15:05. |
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1st period - Gill, MTL
(hooking), 14:27. |
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2nd period -
Thornton, SJ (tripping), 0:08; Plekanec, MTL (high sticking), 2:36; Blake, SJ
(roughing), 2:36; Clowe, SJ (tripping), 3:26; Markov, MTL (slashing), 8:53;
Pouliot, MTL (slashing), 12:04; Nichol, SJ (slashing), 12:04; Plekanec, MTL
(clipping), 13:00; Clowe, SJ (roughing), 18:07. |
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3rd period -
Moen, MTL (roughing), 1:56; Leach, SJ (roughing), 1:56; Malhotra, SJ
(boarding), 4:45; Hamrlik, MTL (hooking), 11:18. |
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Shots |
Saves |
MTL - Price |
40 |
37 |
SJ - Nabokov |
30 |
28 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
MTL |
11 |
8 |
11 |
30 |
SJ |
15 |
14 |
11 |
40 |
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Referees: Lee,
Walsh. Linesmen: Henderson, Lazarowich. |
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