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Game On! Sharks continue dominance over Canucks
New season, new start, new opportunity. With the
start of every season comes the hope of bigger and better things over the
horizon that is the season. The Sharks kicked off their 2013-14 season with the
outcome they hope to more of, knocking off the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 at the
newly renamed SAP Center on Thursday night. The Sharks distributed the wealth,
having four different players tally goals. Antti Niemi made 21 saves to earn
his 121st career win.
* The victory was San Jose's 10th straight over
Vancouver, including regular season and playoff games.
* The big
concern after the end of last season was the Sharks inability to score 5-on-5
goals, especially in the playoffs. San Jose took a big step toward correcting
that issue by scoring 4 even-strength goals.
* On the flip side, the
Sharks whiffed on 8 power play chances, including a full two minutes of 5-on-3.
The power play unit had an interesting formation, with zero screen coverage in
front of the net. Vancouver simply sat back and filled lanes to take away
shooting chances.
* The Canucks converted on their first power play
opportunity, when Jason Garrison rifled a shot past Niemi from the slot.
* San Jose outshot the Canucks 16-7 in the opening period, but
couldn't get anything past Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo.
* The
offense had their opportunities early, bouncing a couple of shots off iron. A
power play opportunity setup by a Dale Weise holding infraction looked
promising, but a series of shots from teal sweaters all sailed wide of the
Canucks goal. The one shot that was on net hit Alex Burrows in the face shield.
* Rookie forward Tomas Hertl recorded his first NHL point on an assist
on Brent Burns goal in the 2nd period. Hertl intercepted a weak pass from
Garrison in the neutral zone, then slid it over to Burns who skated up the
right wing and slipped a shot past Luongo and the right post.
* Justin
Braun scored his first goal in 70 games, snapping a shot from the right point.
New forward Tyler Kennedy helped with a screen of Luongo on the play.
* Logan Couture setup the prettiest goal of the season (yes, we're one game in)
with 5:21 to play in regulation. Couture stripped Chris Higgins at the top of
the right circle when it appeared that Vancouver would setup an easy breakout.
The Sharks forward then whipped a 40-foot pass through the slot to Patrick
Marleau, who had Luongo dead to rights.
* Tommy Wingels finished off
the scoring by working with Andrew Desjardins on a two man breakaway.
Desjardins was carrying the puck up the left post and was slashed, but he spun
to his left and whipped a backhand pass through the slot to Wingels who had
stopped at the right pipe. The tap in was Wingels first career goal against
Vancouver.
* The save of the game came midway through the 3rd period
when Niemi stoned Ryan Kesler with a pad save on a 12 foot shot from the front
of the net.
* Tommy Wingels line on the evening: 1 goal, 1 shot, +1,
12:55 of ice time, 5 hits, 5 blocked shots.
* A un-Joe Thornton like performance in the faceoff
circle for the Sharks captain who won 3 of 11 draws (27%). San Jose turned to
Joe Pavelski , who won 13 of 23 draws (57%).
* From the personal
opinion department, not sure I'm a fan of hybrid icing. It's a subjective call,
and several could have gone either way. The rule requires on-ice officials to
be quicker about waving off icing as soon as the puck leaves the defensive
zone.
* The SAP Center was adorned with a two-dollar banner, and big
void where the old HP Pavilion fixed signage used to be affixed to the face of
the arena. A delay in signage left the Sharks home without its permanent SAP
signage.
* Defenseman Scott Hannan and Jason Demers were both a +3 on
the evening. Seven Canucks were a -2.
* Hybrid forward/defenseman
Brent Burns showed up to the arena wearing a suit and a tuuk, and carrying a
camo backpack. You can take the boy out of the country
* Tyler
Kennedy didn't show in the scoring, but his play was directly involved in at
least one goal. The Sharks newest acquisition looked solid, skating with
Couture and Marleau.
* Rookie winger Matt Nieto was limited to 15
shifts and 9:43 of ice time, not looking totally out of place. He fell victim
to the zebras, taking an interference penalty in the 2nd period. Kesler let the
kid off the hook by offsetting the penalty with a roughing penalty 12 seconds
into the Canucks power play.
* San Jose actually converted on their
taco promotion when Braun scored in the 2nd period.
* Sharks head
coach Todd McLellan celebrated his 46th birthday.
* Marc-Edouard
Vlasic almost lost his nose when Higgins skate caught him in the face in the
opening period. Vlasic returned after he had his schnoz sewed up.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
VAN |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
SJ |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
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1st period - 1, VAN,
Garrison 1 (D. Sedin, H. Sedin), 9:04, (pp). |
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2nd period - 2, SJ,
Burns 1 (Hertl, Thornton), 5:53. 3, SJ, Braun 1 (Vlasic, Couture), 18:07. |
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3rd period - 4, SJ,
Marleau 1 (Couture), 14:39. 5, SJ, Wingels 1 (Desjardins), 15:57. |
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1st period - Weise, VAN
(holding), 3:44; Burns, SJ (slashing), 8:29; Burns, SJ (cross checking), 12:48;
Edler, VAN (interference), 15:11. |
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2nd period - Kesler, VAN
(interference on goaltender), 8:23; Garrison, VAN (tripping), 8:23; Bench, VAN
(too many men), 11:59; Nieto, SJ (interference), 14:18; Kesler, VAN (roughing),
14:30. |
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3rd period - D. Sedin,
VAN (high sticking), 1:33; Braun, SJ (holding), 4:46; Sheppard, SJ (tripping),
8:03; Garrison, VAN (illegal check to head), 17:33; Pelech, SJ (holding),
19:35. |
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Shots |
Saves |
VAN - Luongo |
35 |
31 |
SJ - Niemi |
22 |
21 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
VAN |
7 |
10 |
5 |
22 |
SJ |
16 |
11 |
8 |
35 |
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Referees: Dwyer,
Lee. Linesmen: Miller, Racicot. |
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