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Sharks continue to slip on the
road
2nd straight loss against doormat
"This is a fragile team right now." "We're working
hard, but sometimes the puck doesn't go your way." "We ran into a hot
goaltender." "We're a bit fatigued, playing three games in four nights." You've
heard them all before. In fact, you hear them every year. It's that time of the
season when the Sharks just can't seem to focus on the task at hand. It's that
stretch of the season when it doesn't matter who they're playing, they're going
to lose. After dropping a 4-1 decision in Calgary on Thursday night, the Sharks
have rattled off three straight regulation losses, the last two against the two
worst teams in the Western Conference.
* Much like the evening before
(and the game before that), the Sharks did nothing offensively, and made big
enough mistakes to allow the opposition to score. San Jose turned to Alex
Stalock to try and give starter Antti Niemi a breather after starting in
Edmonton on Wednesday night. The usually steady Stalock turned out to be more a
hindrance than savior.
* The Sharks coasted through the 1st period,
lacking any energy or intensity. The Flames took advantage of shoddy defense
midway through the 1st period. Mikael Backlund raced around defenseman Matt
Irwin on the right side, sliding a shot that Stalock stopped but the puck sat
perched at the top of the crease where Lee Stempniak punched it home. Dan Boyle
trailed in coverage on Stempniak, allowing the Flames forward to reach the puck
first.
* Mark Giordano capitalized on a rookie mistake by Stalock 3:38
into the 2nd period to push the Flames lead to a pair of goals. Backlund
carried the puck in the Sharks zone on the right wing before firing the puck
wide right of the net. For some reason, Stalock tracked the puck by turning to
his left, doing a 360 degree turn in his crease. The puck bounced off the end
boards, right to Giordano who flung it at the net. By the time Stalock was done
with his pirouette in the crease, he was late to pick up Giordano's shot, which
caught the Sharks goaltender in the arm before deflecting into the goal.
* San Jose finally snapped their goal drought, when rookie Eriah Hayes
scored his 1st NHL goal at 36 seconds into the 3rd period. The goal snapped a
160 minute and 36 second span in which the Sharks failed to score.
Unfortunately for Hayes, the goal proved to be meaningless. The rookie took a
feed from Patrick Marleau in the slot and lifted a shot over goaltender Karri
Ramo's left shoulder.
* Any thought of a comeback was wiped away 13
minutes into the period when Sean Monahan deposited another end board rebound.
Joe Colborne fired the puck from the left side this time, bouncing a rebound to
Monahan at the right dot. Stalock was simply late to get over to cover the
right side of the net, but again allowed a shot to hit him in the upper
extremity and bounce into his goal.
* Sharks head coach Todd McLellan was forced to pull
Stalock with 2 minutes to play, but that turned into a comedy of errors when
defenseman Brad Stuart dropped his stick on a back check, allowing Jiri Hudler
to grab the walk and walk the puck into the empty net for the Flames final
goal.
* After signing his $18 million dollar contract, Patrick Marleau
has looked more like a farm hand than an elite NHL player. The former Sharks
captain was a -3 against the Flames. He was a -2 in Edmonton. Martin Havlat
personally showed why he was a scratch for 7 games after being reactivated from
his injury. Havlat was a -2.
* Statistically speaking, the Sharks were
out-shot (30-28), out hit (19-18), committed more giveaways (6-5), had fewer
blocked shots (13-12), and lost more draws that the Flames (45% faceoff
efficiency).
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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 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| CGY |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, CGY,
Stempniak 8 (Backlund, Wideman), 9:41. |
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| 2nd period - 2, CGY,
Giordano 9 (Backlund, Hudler), 3:38. |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
Hayes 1 (Marleau, Wingels), 0:36. 4, CGY, Monahan 15 (Colborne, Smid), 13:00.
5, CGY, Hudler 14 (Wideman), 18:14, (en). |
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| 1st period - Pavelski,
SJ (holding), 10:53. |
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| 2nd period - Brodie, CGY
(cross checking), 5:59; Wingels, SJ (goaltender interference), 14:35. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Stalock |
29 |
26 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| CGY - Ramo |
28 |
27 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
8 |
13 |
7 |
28 |
| CGY |
12 |
8 |
10 |
30 |
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| Referees: Martell,
St Laurent. Linesmen: Gibbs, Sharrers. |
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