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Panthers turn the tables on
Sharks Florida overcomes 2-goal deficit and wins in
OT
After three straight games of comeback hockey, the
Sharks flipped things upside down and blew an early two goal lead to lose to
the Florida Panthers at HP Pavilion in a matinee game on Saturday. San Jose had
set an NHL record for 3rd period comeback wins on Thursday, but Saturdays
affair was a complete antithesis. Florida tied the game with a goal in the 3rd
period, then took the 3-2 win in overtime.
Bryan Allen put a shot past
Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss from the left dot, leveraging a Shawn Matthias
screen to win it. The Panthers stayed focused all afternoon, even though they
sat 10 points out of a playoff spot entering Saturdays action.
From his reaction, it looked as if Greiss never even saw the
shot, which slipped just inside the left post. San Jose finally broke the
pattern of giving up the games first goal, when Ryane Clowe converted his 16th
tally of the season 5:32 into the game. The Sharks forward grabbed a faceoff
win along the right wing boards before cutting back across the slot and
snapping a shot hat beat Florida goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Clowe used a slew of
bodies in front of the Panthers net to screen Vokoun.
Patrick Marleau
continued to add to his career high numbers in scoring by bagging his 41st goal
of the season with 2:15 to play in the period after Panthers defenseman Dmitry
Kulikov was sent off for holding. Marleau sent a one-timer from the outside of
the rigt circle, after Joe Pavelski set him up with a pass from the slot.
Florida regrouped to start the 2nd period, when Keith
Ballard scored from outside the right post. With the Panthers pressing in deep,
Radek Dvorak stick-handled in tight before sliding a pass to Ballard on the
right side. Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss was forced to cover the left side
of the net to defend against Dvoraks pressure, which left the entire
right side wide open for Ballard.
Even though the Panthers scored, the
alarms failed to sound on the Sharks bench. The energy seemed to be zapped out
of the San Jose lineup from top to bottom. San Jose dodged a bullet late in the
period when David Booth ripped a shot that clanked off the right post. The puck
then hit Greiss in the back and deflected toward the goal. Greiss was able to
reach back and grab the deflection before it crossed the line, preserving the
Sharks slim lead.
San Jose essentially lost Manny Malhotra for the
duration of the 3rd period after he responded to a boarding call to Florida
defenseman David Garrison 22 seconds after the period opening faceoff. Joe
Pavelski kissed the left wing glass after Garrison planted him with a hit from
behind, then Malhotra engaged Garrison. Malhotra would earn the game misconduct
for instigating the fight, which in addition to his fighting major, meant he
would spend 17 minutes in the box.
The Sharks would kill a hooking
penalty to Niklas Wallin, but the combination of Malhotras infraction
just seemed to discombobulate the Sharks. They would pay at 5:01 when Mathias
fought off a check in the slot and put a blind back-hand shot through
Greiss pads to tie the game at 2-2.
The Sharks did get 4 shots
on net in the extra session, but they failed to put any additional heat on
Vokoun once the shots were uncorked. That allowed the Panthers netminder to
lock in on everything San Jose sent his way.
Game
Notes:
Defenseman Douglas Murray was out of the lineup, nursing a
foot injury that he sustained on Thursday night.
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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 |
OT |
T |
FLA |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
SJ |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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1st period - 1, SJ,
Clowe 16 (Marleau), 5:32. 2, SJ, Marleau 41 (Pavelski, Clowe), 17:45,
(pp). |
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2nd period - 3, FLA ,
Ballard 5 (Dvorak, Campbell), 1:02. |
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3rd period - 4, FLA ,
Mathias 6 (Allen, Dvorak), 5:01. |
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Overtime - 5, FLA ,
Allen 4 (Matthias), 2:46. |
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1st period - Tarnasy ,
FLA (fighting major), 5:36; Staubitz , FLA (fighting major), 5:36; Kulikov ,
FLA (holding), 16:47. |
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2nd period -
Ballard , FLA (tipping), 3:08; Pavelski, SJ (interference), 5:18; Blake, SJ
(interference), 8:47. |
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3rd period -
Garrison , FLA (boarding), 0:22; Garrison , FLA (fighting major), 0:22;
Malhotra, SJ (instigator), 0:22; Malhotra, SJ (fighting major), 0:22; Malhotra,
SJ (game misconduct), 0:22; Wallin, SJ (hooking), 2:13. |
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Shots |
Saves |
FLA - Vokoun |
39 |
37 |
SJ - Greiss |
28 |
25 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
FLA |
6 |
12 |
8 |
2 |
28 |
SJ |
9 |
14 |
12 |
4 |
39 |
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Referees: Morton,
Peel. Linesmen: Sericolo, Cvik. |
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