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Setoguchi caps hattie with OT
winner
Sharks push Wings to the brink with Game 3
win
A year ago to the day, Patrick Marleau beat the
Detroit Red Wings in Game 3 of the Sharks Western Conference Semi Finals with
an overtime goal. Devin Setoguchi repeated Marleau's feat with a monster goal
in overtime to propel the Sharks to a 3-0 lead in this year's Conference
Semi-Finals. Setoguchi was a one-man wrecking crew on Wednesday night,
completing his 1st career playoff hat-trick with the game winning goal in the
extra session.
Just like last year, the Sharks overcame a 3rd period
deficit to get the game to overtime. Just like last year, Joe Thornton setup
the game winning goal with the primary assist. Just like last year, the game
would end by a 4-3 score. Most importantly, the Sharks have the Red Wings
backed into a corner by pushing them to the brink by taking the first three
games of the series…just like last year.
The Red Wings will have
a tough time reconciling the outcome of Game 3's performance. They had their
chances to put the Sharks away in the 3rd period. They had a pair of decent
chances to end it overtime, but there's something special about this year's
team. These Sharks seem like a team destined to achieve bigger and better
things.
When a team wins five out of seven playoff games in overtime,
something special is brewing.
Setoguchi was the man of the hour,
firing a 25-foot shot from the inside of the right circle just inside the left
post. Setoguchi used a screen from a Red Wings defender in the slot to cross up
Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard. The hard-luck Howard was late to kick his
right skate out, and the Sharks had another overtime win.
There would
be no hats cast on Detroit ice. No octopi either for that matter.
The
win was magnified by the fact that the Sharks lacked the jump that allowed them
to roam in the Detroit zone at will as they had in the first two games of the
series. The Red Wings controlled the first 40 minutes of play, but the Sharks
kept things close all night.
The Sharks seemed content to sit back and
let the Red Wings bring the game to them during the first 6 minutes of play.
They allowed Detroit to hold the puck in the San Jose zone and draw the games
first penalty, when Ryane Clowe was called for interference at 6:29.
Antti Niemi made a pair of nifty saves on the ensuing power play, including a
glove save on a Pavel Datsyuk chance from the right dot. Those saves helped the
Sharks get through the penalty unscathed.
Niklas Kronwall got the Joe
Louis Arena crowd fired up with a hit that leveled Dany Heatley along the right
wing boards. The Sharks winger stayed down on the ice after the hit, drawing a
whistle and a visit by Sharks trainer Ray Tufts.
Darren Helm was sent off for high sticking Scott
Nichol at 11:55 of the period. Detroit would pay for Helm's transgression when
Devin Setoguchi deposited his 2nd goal of the playoffs on the power play. Joe
Thornton slapped the puck along the goal line back toward the slot. The puck
hit Setoguchi in the chest, then dropped to his feet for the back-handed shot
past Jimmy Howard.
Kris Draper took a roughing penalty at 16:07, but
the Sharks failed to convert. Thornton just missed on a deflection as the puck
sat perched in front of a wide open net.
Ian White was called for
tripping with 1:16 remaining in the period. The penalty would bite the Sharks
when Niklas Lidstrom scored his 2nd goal of the series to tie things up. The
Red Wings defenseman punched home a rebound after Niemi made a decent save in
tight off a Henrik Zetterberg chance.
San Jose failed to get the
trailer unhitched in the 2nd period, and were guilty of chasing the puck for
the first 10 minutes of the period. Detroit would essentially lull them to
sleep, before pouncing.
Patrick Eaves made it a 2-1 Red Wings lead at
13:59 of the period, backhanding a puck past Niemi after Darren Helm lost
control of the puck on the right side following a wrap around attempt.
Brian Rafalski gave the Sharks a power play and Setoguchi struck with his 2nd
goal of the game. The Sharks winger knuckled a one-time chance from the left
side, beating Howard at 14:50.
Setoguchi was guilty of a suspect
holding infraction less than 2 minutes later. Marc-Edouard Vlasic saved the
Sharks with a block after a shot deflected off the right post, but Detroit
would answer moments later when Pavel Datsyuk chipped a shot off Niemi's
shoulder to put the Red Wings back on top.
Juri Hudler hauled down
Kyle Wellwood at 6:22 to put the Sharks on the power play. Logan Couture found
himself with the puck on he left side with a clear line of sight on the goal
after Howard deflected a dump in out to the circle, but the Sharks rookie put
his shot high.
San Jose looked lethargic for most of the period, but
would tie things with 4:08 left in regulation. Dan Boyle roofed his 1st goal of
the playoffs over Howard after Wellwood sent a 30-foot pass from the left
corner through the slot to the Sharks defenseman on the far side. Wellwood had
a defender draped all over him and his back to the goal as he made the
pin-point pass.
In the overtime, Detroit created a pair of chances
early. The second came off the stick of Tomas Holmstrom who had two whacks at
the puck from point blank range, but Niemi came up big.
Setoguchi
hauled down a Red Wing along the left wing boards to take a bad holding penalty
5:14 into the overtime. A strong penalty kill helped the Sharks escape
unscathed.
Much like the overtime penalty that San Jose had to kill
off against Los Angeles in Game 6 of the Conference Quarter Finals, it seemed
to inspire the Sharks. Setoguchi ended things 2 minutes later.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
1OT |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| DET |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Setoguchi 2 (Thornton, Pavelski), 12:57, (pp). 2, DET, Lidstrom 2 (Zetterberg,
Holmstrom), 19:38, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, DET,
Eaves 3 (Helm, Draper), 13:59. 4, SJ, Setoguchi 3 (Boyle, Thornton), 14:50,
(pp). 5, DET, Datsyuk 3 (Zetterberg, Lidstrom), 18:17, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 6, SJ,
Boyle 1 (Wellwood, Mitchell), 15:52. |
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| 1st Overtime - 7, SJ,
Setoguchi 4 (Thornton), 9:21. |
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| 1st period - Clowe, SJ
(interference), 6:29; Helm, DET (high sticking), 11:55; Draper, DET (roughing),
16:07; White, SJ (tripping), 18:44. |
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| 2nd period - Rafalski,
DET (interference), 14:16; Setoguchi, SJ (holding), 16:33. |
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| 3rd period - Hudler, DET
(hooking), 6:22. |
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| Overtime - Setoguchi, SJ
(holding), 5:14. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
41 |
38 |
| DET - Howard |
38 |
32 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
1OT |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
8 |
16 |
3 |
38 |
| DET |
12 |
14 |
8 |
7 |
41 |
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| Referees: Furlatt,
Joannette. Linesmen: Devorski, Murphy. |
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