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Rookie showcase tilts toward
San Jose
Couture outplays Hall as Sharks win
2-1
Don't let the standings fool you. The Edmonton
Oilers sit in last place in the Western Conference, but after going 6-3-1 in
their last ten games entering Tuesday night's match-up with the Sharks, it
would have been foolish to look past them. Stocked with up and coming prospects
including Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, the Oilers are poised to breakout as a
franchise. After falling behind on Tuesday night the Oilers put up a spirited
fight before falling 2-1 at HP Pavilion.
The Sharks played a surgical
game, carving away at the Oilers in the 2nd period and put a pair of goals on
the board. More importantly, it resulted in San Jose's third consecutive
regulation victory, the first time they've achieved that this season. They had
a three game win streak in early November, but that started with a 2-1 shootout
victory over the New York Islanders.
"You can't get three until you
get two and we have to look forward to number four," said Sharks head coach
Todd McLellan. "I think this matches our season high as far as an output goes
and we challenged our players to match that and we have one more chance here
before the break to try and extend it and we are looking forward to that
challenge." Tuesday night kicked off a brief three-game homestand against
Western Conference teams. A back and forth opening period felt more like a
sparring match than a title fight. Both teams did a lot of skating, but little
attacking.
The highlight of the period was a power play that turned
into a lengthy stay in the Oilers zone. After Zack Stortini was sent off for
goaltender interference, the Sharks setup camp in the offensive zone for a
majority of the power play and beyond. If not for Oilers goaltender Nikolai
Khabibulin covering a shot in the crease, the visit by the Sharks offense may
have gone on for a while.
Both teams would only muster 5 shots on goal
apiece, but a scoring chance by Eberle with 1:25 remaining in the period came
closest to ending up in the scoring column. Eberle found himself in the slot
after a nice cycle by the Oilers, and got a top shelf shot off that Sharks
goaltender ANtero Niittymaki was forced to defend with a waving glove save.
Sa Jose would pick up the pace in the middle period, out-shooting the
Oilers 17-9 in the period.
The Sharks got in on rookie showcase night
when Benn Ferriero missed on a golden chance 4 minutes into the 2nd period on a
feed from Dany Heatley. The Sharks forward had a one-time chance that he sent
just wide of Khabibulin. The veterans showed they could also miss. Joe Thornton
would follow up on Ferriero's close call with a chance in front of Khabibulin
that went unfulfilled.
The game's turning point came at the 8:07 mark
when Scott Nichol took a hooking penalty. That came 48 seconds after Niklas
Wallin was sent off for interference, giving the Oilers a 5-on-3 power play
chance. Playing down two men, Logan Couture stepped in front of a Oilers pass
and raced up ice forcing Tyler Hall to take a holding penalty to prevent a
breakaway goal.
"Logan provided that spark in the second, got us
going, after that everybody else fell in line," said McLellan.
San
Jose would get a brief power play themselves, but Khabibulin kept the game tied
by stoning both Dan Heatley and Patrick Marleau on a bang-bang pair of chances
from the right side
. "We had four turnovers on our 5-on-3. And that
tells you that we're trying to do something that's not there," said Oilers head
coach Tom Renney. "In a 5-on-3 you set up for the payoff skill and that's the
shot. And we didn't do that with any kind of authority at all. That sort of led
to our demise, if you will, and subsequent to that we got into a bit of a track
meet in the second period. And not managing the puck properly they were able to
get the two-nothing lead."
With all the national focus on this year's
Calder race directed at Hall and Eberle, it's been Couture who has been
delivering. He would extend his rookie goal scoring lead with a pretty touch
shot at 13:15 of the period after Ryane Clowe raced to the right post and send
a pass across the slot. Couture picked Linus Omark's pocket at center ice to
start the sequence, then beat Ladislav Smid to Clowe's pass for the chip shot
over Khabibulin's right pad.
A Ryan Whitney holding the stick penalty would setup a
San Jose power play goal with under 4 minutes to play in the period. Dan Boyle
sent a shot in from the blueline that was partially tipped by Oiler forward
Ryan Jones. The deflection changed the height of the shot, lifting it over
Khabibulin's kick-save attempt with the left pad.
Niittymaki was
forced to step up in the 3rd period as a motivated Oilers team turned up the
heat. Edmonton would out-shoot San Jose 13-8 in the period, mostly with shots
in the last 4 minutes of the contest.
Edmonton would call a timeout
with 2:10 to play and pull Khabibulin for the extra attacker. That decision
would cost Niittymaki the shutout. Dustin Penner would tip a Whitney shot from
the right point 11 seconds after the timeout to cut the Sharks lead to a single
goal.
Boyle's goal would hold up as the game-winner after Niittymaki
turned aside an Eberle wrister shot with a minute to play. Edmonton would come
no closer as the Sharks did a better job of clearing the puck.
Game
Notes:
With his second period power play goal, Dan Boyle becomes
the franchise leader in power play goals among defensemen (17), surpassing Brad
Stuart old mark.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| EDM |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Couture 18 (Clowe), 13:15. 2, SJ, Boyle 4 (Marleau, Thornton), 16:43, (pp).
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| 3rd period - 3, EDM,
Penner 11 (Whitney, Hall), 18:01. |
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| 1st period - Stortini,
SJ (goaltender interference), 3:18. |
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| 2nd period - Gilbert,
EDM (holding), 0:26; Wallin, SJ (interference), 7:19; Nichol, SJ (hooking),
8:07; Hall, EDM (holding), 9:25: Whitney, EDM (holding the stick), 14:48. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| EDM - Khabibulin |
30 |
28 |
| SJ - Niittymaki |
27 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| EDM |
5 |
9 |
13 |
27 |
| SJ |
5 |
17 |
8 |
30 |
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| Referees: Dwyer,
LaRue. Linesmen: Cameron, Lazarowich. |
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