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Lifeless Sharks pay the
price Stars take 2 points in the shootout
Home ice advantage was anything but for San Jose on
Monday night, as the Sharks fell to the division rival Dallas Stars 3-2 in the
shootout. A flat performance by the Sharks allowed the Stars to battle back to
tie the game on a power play goal in the 2nd period, then let Stars goaltender
Andrew Raycroft steal a point by stopping two of three shooters in the
shootout.
San Jose had a tough time getting out of the gate, seemingly
chasing everything on the ice through the first 5 minutes of the game. Jamie
Benn gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 6:17 of the opening period on a 20-foot shot
from the slot. Mike Ribeiro beat Marc-Edouard Vlasic to the puck along the
Sharks end boards, before centering a pass from behind the net to Benn, who sat
in the slot unattended.
Stars captain Brendan Morrow had to leave the
game early in the opening period, when a Joe Thornton clearing attempt banked
off the left wing glass and into Morrow's face.
Dallas just missed on
a chance 2 minutes into the second period when Trevor Daly fired a shot off
Niemi's chest. Adam Burish crashed in on net, pushing the deflection just wide
of the left post.
The Sharks struggled to generate a shot on Raycroft
in the 2nd period, not putting any rubber on net until the 6 minute mark.
Defenseman Derek Joslin would remedy that with a shot that not only got to the
Raycroft, but moved past him into the goal. Joslin one-timed a Thornton pass
from behind the net for his 1st career NHL score.
Ryane Clowe
continued his hot streak by scoring his 9th goal of the season less than two
minutes later. Clowe was the beneficiary of a Jason Demers shot that bounced
off a Stars defender's stick and hit him in the arm before floating past
Raycroft.
Benn Ferriero missed on a breakaway chance after Demers hit
him with a long centering pass. The Sharks forward tried to go glove side on
Raycroft, but the Stars netminder's move to the right post covered the angle to
deny Ferriero.
Niemi made a huge save on a Stars chance with 8 minutes
to play in the period, after Brad Richards sent a pass to James Neal in the
slot for a redirect that was headed to the back of the goal. Niemi made the
adjustment to deny Neal and preserve the slim lead.
A hooking penalty
to Joe Pavelski late in the period gave the Stars a chance to knot things up
and they would succeed when Ribeiro tipped a Stephane Robidas shot over Niemi's
shoulder at 17:40. The power play goal was on the 4th for the Stars on the road
this season.
Dan Boyle was forced to take a hooking penalty on Jamie
Benn midway through the 3rd period, and a lively Stars special teams unit put
several chances on net. Niemi withstood the peppering to keep the game tied.
Steve Ott's nonsense earned himself a trip to the box
for tripping at 14:41 of the period. Andrew Raycroft gloved a Patrick Marleau
blast from the right dot to keep the Sharks off the board.
Niemi made
a nice glove save during the first minute of overtime after Robidas cranked a
shot from the left circle.
In the shootout, Couture missed a backhand
chance 5-hole that probably was over the goal line, but Raycroft's pad blocked
the camera from proving the goal. Benn whipped a shot past Niemi stick side.
Pavelski would match that with the same shot past Raycroft. Richards scored
with a deek left before lifting the puck past Niemi. Raycroft would end it by
stoning Clowe.
Game Notes:
Defenseman Douglas Murray
was scratched for an undisclosed injury.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
DAL |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
SJ |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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1st period - 1, DAL,
Benn 7 (Ribeiro, Grossman), 6:17. |
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2nd period - 2, SJ,
Joslin 1 (Thornton, Marleau), 6:56. 3, SJ, Clowe 9 (Demers, Vlasic), 8:56. 4,
DAL, Ribeiro 5 (Robidas, Ott), 17:40, (pp). |
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Shootout - SJ: Couture
(miss), Pavelski (goal), Clowe (miss). DAL: Benn (goal), Richards (goal). |
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1st period - McGinn, SJ
(roughing), 14:23. |
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2nd period - Pavelski,
SJ (hooking), 17:00. |
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3rd period - Boyle, SJ
(hooking), 9:56; Ott, DAL (tripping), 14:41. |
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Shots |
Saves |
DAL - Raycroft |
33 |
31 |
SJ - Niemi |
31 |
29 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
DAL |
11 |
10 |
7 |
3 |
31 |
SJ |
8 |
10 |
13 |
2 |
33 |
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Referees: Kimmerly,
O'Halloran. Linesmen: Cameron, Schachte. |
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