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Hertl's heroics lead the Sharks
to 5th straight win
Sharks beat former netminder
Antti Niemi
It wasn't pretty, but the Sharks figured out how to
extend their winning streak to 5 games on Saturday night at SAP Center. They
also did it against the top team in the Western Conference. San Jose let a pair
of 3rd period leads slip through their fingers against the Dallas Stars, but a
Tomas Hertl goal 1:12 into overtime gave the Sharks an exciting 4-3 win before
a rare home sellout crowd.
Hertl slipped a shot past old friend Antti
Niemi from the bottom of the right circle after Marc-Edouard Vlasic left the
puck for the Sharks forward after cycling out from behind the Stars net. Hertl
followed his defensive partner out of the right corner before taking the puck
and circling back toward Niemi. A quick shot caught the Sharks former netminder
by surprise, sailing past him on the near side.
It was a homecoming of
sorts for the Sharks this week. Former head coach Todd McLellan made his first
trip back to San Jose on Thursday. Niemi was making his first appearance in San
Jose since signing a free agent contract with the Stars last summer. The
goaltender had a rough night, giving up 4 goals in his first trip back to San
Jose since GM Doug Wilson decided to change course in net.
The Stars
opened the games scoring on an Ales Hemsky goal 11:15 into the opening period.
Matias Janmark beat Logan Couture to a loose puck, chipping it to the slot from
the right wing boards. Hemsky was in the right place at the right time,
scooping up the deflection and put a nifty move on Martin Jones at the top of
the Sharks crease before sliding the puck under Jones' left pad.
San
Jose tied the game 3:54 into the 2nd period, after Vlasic pumped a shot past
Niemi form the slot. The Sharks opened up the shooting lane for Vlasic by
sliding a pair of passes form the right side. The last came from Joe Thornton,
who saw Vlasic breaking toward the net. Rather than shooting, Thornton gave up
the puck for the improved scoring chance created by Vlasic's momentum toward
the net.
An Alex Goligoski interference penalty set up the next Sharks
goal, with one of two power play chances for San Jose during the game. San Jose
relied on the 2nd power play unit to get the job done, led by Chris Tierney.
The Sharks forward deposited a rebound from the right dot after Tommy Wingels
bounced a shot off Niemi.
The Stars opened the 3rd period with more
energy than the Sharks could handle. Tyler Seguin pumped home a shot from the
between the circles 33 seconds into the period after the Stars were able to
keep the puck just inside the Sharks blueline. Seguin grabbed the puck at the
left point then skated toward the slot before roofing a shot form 25 feet out.
Jamie Benn helped out the Sharks with a tripping penalty 6 minutes
later, setting Vlasic's 2nd goal of the evening. Vlasic uncorked a shot from
the top of the left circle, sending it across crease, catching the upper right
corner of the net as Niemi tried sliding to his left with an outstretched glove
hand. The glove was late and the Sharks had a 3-2 lead.
Stars head coach Lindy Ruff challenged the goal,
claiming the Sharks were offside on the entry. The challenge was ridiculous,
given the fact that the Sharks maintained possession in the Stars zone for a
good 60 seconds before Vlasic took his shot. The goal stood, but it begs the
debate on what's material to a score and what can be used to negate a score.
The review took longer than time elapsed for the next goal. Jason
Spezza took a cross-ice feed from Jamie Benn after the Stars gained the zone
following the subsequent faceoff. Spezza received the puck and did a 270 degree
spin to his right before whipping a shot from the right dot past Jones. It was
a shot that the Sharks goaltender had to stop, but didn't.
Neither
team could generate the go-ahead goal in regulation, which led to Hertl's
overtime heroics. The Stars would only send a single shot in Jones direction in
the extra period, while the Sharks were able to generate three. Hertl's was the
one that mattered and with that, the Sharks have a 5th straight victory.
1-4-2
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| DAL |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, DAL,
Hemsky 4 (Janmark, Roussel), 11:15. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Vlasic 6 (Thornton, Hertl), 3:54. 3, SJ, Tierney 5 (Wingels, Nieto), 11:07,
(pp). |
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| 3rd period - 4, DAL,
Seguin 25 (Benn), 0:33. 5, SJ, Vlasic 7 (Demelo, Donskoi), 7:51, (pp). 6, DAL,
Spezza 15 (Benn, Seguin), 8:03. |
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| Overtime - 7, SJ, Hertl
7 (Vlasic, Couture), 1:12. |
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| 1st period - Donskoi, SJ
(goaltender interference), 16:41. |
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| 2nd period - Goligoski,
DAL (interference), 9:13. |
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| 3rd period - Bench, SJ
(too many men), 1:49; Benn, DAL (tripping), 6:25. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| DAL - Niemi |
39 |
35 |
| SJ - Jones |
35 |
32 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| DAL |
13 |
8 |
13 |
1 |
35 |
| SJ |
16 |
14 |
6 |
3 |
39 |
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| Referees: Leggo,
Pollock. Linesmen: Mach, Rody. |
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