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Lifeless Sharks drop second
straight
Antti Raanta posts shut out in Rangers
debut
The Sharks red-hot start has finally cooled off. 48
hours after dropping a 6-3 decision to the New York Islanders, San Jose fell to
the host New York Rangers in a lopsided 4-0 decision at Madison Square Garden.
The Sharks could do little against a faster and stronger Rangers team that
toyed with San Jose all night long. Goaltender Antti Raanta faced a paltry 22
shots to earn his 4th career shutout in only his 40th career game in the NHL.
Raanta was what Martin Jones was the first two weeks of the season,
except Raanta didn't need to do much to earn his shutout. The Sharks rarely
challenged him, playing back on their heels most of the night.
Playing
in their third game in four nights, the Sharks had little to belly ache about
given that the Rangers played a day earlier, dropping a decision to the New
Jersey Devils.
Jones actually kept the game to a reasonable 4 goal
deficit. The Sharks goaltender was peppered throughout the night with quality
scoring chance after scoring chance. Much like last season, the Sharks seemed
disinterested in playing defense, and Jones paid the price.
The
Rangers turned out fast break after fast break, and had little issue getting
the puck to the Sharks net. 12 Sharks players registered a minus rating,
including Patrick Marleau, Joel Ward and Tomas Hertl, who all turned in -2
games.
Marc Staal staked the Rangers to a 1-0 lead midway through the
opening period, by ripping a shot from the top of the left circle that caught
the crossbar to beat Jones. San Jose was caught chasing the puck, allowing New
York to work the puck through the sharks zone with a series of passes before
Staal's rifle shot.
San Jose took one penalty all night, but even that
had negative consequences. Playing in his second NHL game, Dylan DeMelo got a
dose of how important it is to stay out of the penalty box. The young
defenseman was whistled for tripping Viktor Stalberg at 9:02 of the 2nd period.
The Rangers took all of 26 seconds to convert on the ensuing power play, when
Mats Zuccarelo bounced a puck off Jones' forearm for his 4th goal of the
season.
The Sharks hade a pair of power play chances earlier
in the period, but the Sharks top power play unit seemed to bungle the puck
throughout the man advantage. Joe Thornton in particular failed to control
possession at the most inopportune moments, coughing up the puck three times to
allow clearing chances for New York.
In a tell-tale moment of the
game, the Sharks had a faceoff in the Rangers zone with 11 seconds left in the
2nd period. Rather than generate a scoring chance in that limited window, the
Sharks turned it over and allowed the Rangers to march up ice and fire a shot
that rang off the cross bar.
The 3rd period was nothing but a
formality, but the Rangers used it as a chance to feast a little more. Jesper
Fast took advantage of Brenden Dillon's flat-footedness early in the period
when he pounced on a lead pass off the right wing boards and raced around
Dillon before tipping a shot past Jones.
Stalberg tacked on the
Rangers fourth goal with 3:16 to play after Justin Braun was hit with a case of
indecisiveness. Stalberg raced up ice after the Sharks turned the puck over in
the Rangers zone, then cut to his left and snapping a shot as Braun was stuck
trying to pivot and get a stick on the New York forward. All that did was allow
Stalberg to fire a shot from that slid between Jones' pads.
Game
Notes:
Melker Karlsson began skating with the San Jose Barracuda
on Monday. The Sharks forward has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury
since training camp. The game marked the 3rd year in a row that the Sharks have
played a 3-game series that spanned 4 days through New York. In each of those
series, the Sharks finished the series with a game against the Rangers.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| NYR |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, NYR,
Staal 1 (BRassard, Fast), 10:36. |
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| 2nd period - 2, NYR,
Zuccarrello 4 (Nash, Boyle), 9:28, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 3, NYR,
Fast 1 (Kreider, Yandle), 3:47. 4, NYR, Stalberg 1 (Staal), 16:44. |
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| 2nd period - Boyle, NYR
(tripping), 1:29; Staal, NYR (tripping), 3:08; DeMelo, SJ (tripping),
9:02. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
28 |
24 |
| NYR - Raanta |
22 |
22 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
9 |
4 |
9 |
22 |
| NYR |
13 |
10 |
5 |
28 |
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| Referees: Hebert,
Rooney. Linesmen: Racicot, Nowak. |
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