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Sharks quick to not
score
Kings shutout SJ on Quick's 33
saves
Bad habits were the theme of the night on Monday,
as the Sharks dropped their second game in a row to a Western Conference foe.
San Jose squandered five power play chances en route to a 2-0 shutout loss to
the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center. Jonathan Quick was the latest
world-beater in net to take advantage of the Sharks charity. Quick made 33
saves to earn the shutout against a Sharks offense that has fallen flat the
last 9 periods.
The Sharks coasted out of the gate, generating little
in terms of energy around the Kings net. Quick just sat back and let a series
of soft scoring attempts come to him. The Kings netminder was never challenged
in the first 20 minutes, but he was credited with 11 saves.
If it
wasn't bad enough that the Sharks offense has gone cold, defensive lapses
against checking lines are even starting to cost San Jose. Ethan Moreau scored
his first goal in a decade 8:37 into the game, after Justin Braun made a
terrible play, coughing up the puck deep in his own zone. Moreau snapped the
turnover on net from the left corner, surprising Antti Niemi. The puck hit
Niemi's stick, then took an odd hop between the wickets for the 1-0 Kings lead.
Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead early in the 2nd period after an odd set
of penalties. Referee Don VanMassenhoven whistled Jarret Stoll for holding Joe
Thornton's stick, but also assessed Thornton with a minor penalty for hooking
Stoll. Thornton sat in the penalty box with a flabbergasted look on his face,
which turned to disgust when the Kings scored moments later on the 4-on-4.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns fell on the play, allowing Simon Gagne
to work the puck behind the San Jose net before sliding a pass to Mike Richards
for the one-time chance that beat Niemi.
The Kings got themselves into
penalty trouble late in the period, providing the Sharks with essentially 4
consecutive minutes of power play time. San Jose just couldn't generate any
chances in tight on Quick. They insisted on long range shots without any
traffic in front of the Kings netminder, which simply didn't work.
Two
more 3rd period power play chances gave the Sharks fie total chances to get on
the scoreboard, but Quick was up to the task.
Dustin Brown appeared to score a goal with just under
14 minutes to play, but replays showed that Slava Voynov kicked a puck past
Niemi. The play was ruled a goal by VanMassenhoven, but a video review
overturned the referee's call.
San Jose out 13 shots on net in the
final period, but it would simply represent an unfulfilled effort. Patrick
Marleau and Burns finished the game with 6 shots apiece. Joe Pavelski and Jamie
McGinn added 4 shots on goal each, representing two-thirds of the Sharks
offensive chances.
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan pulled Niemi with 2
minutes to play in order to try and pot a goal, but even that approach proved
fruitless. Ryane Clowe capped the game with a meaningless scuffle with Jack
Johnson as time expired.
Clowe has been one of the forwards who is
searching for some scoring. The winger hasn't scored in 10 games and is doing
little else to generate some scoring punch for a team that has gone ice cold
the last three games.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| LA |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, LA,
Moreau 1 (unassisted), 8:37. |
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| 2nd period - 2, LA,
Richards 11 (Gagne, Mitchell), 4:16. |
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| 1st period - McLaren, SJ
(unsportsmanlike conduct), 16:06. |
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| 2nd period - Thornton,
SJ (hooking), 4:01; Stoll. LA (holding he stick) 4:01; Bench, LA (too many
men), 7:36; Thornton, SJ (holding), 12:23; Stoll. LA (holding), 15:24; Greene,
LA (interference), 17:52. |
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| 3rd period - Vandermeer,
SJ (hooking), 4:26; Hunter, LA (hooking), 5:45; Doughty, LA (tripping), 10:14;
Clowe, SJ (roughing), 20:00; Clowe, SJ (roughing), 20:00; Johnson, LA
(roughing), 20:00. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
33 |
31 |
| LA - Quick |
33 |
33 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
9 |
13 |
33 |
| LA |
16 |
9 |
8 |
33 |
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| Referees: Hebert,
VanMassenhoven. Linesmen: Mach, Racicot. |
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