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Sharks stink up the
Tank
Door mat Sabres take 3-1 win at SAP
The Sharks returned home on Friday following a
so-so 5-game road trip. By virtue of playing on home ice, the Sharks obliged
their fans with a typical no-show performance that ended in an embarrassing 3-1
loss to the cellar-dwelling Buffalo Sabres. San Jose charged fans a gate fee,
but it wasn't an NHL caliber product that hit the ice. San Jose slept-walked
through 60 minutes of carefree hockey, like there wasn't a care in the world.
No effort, no synchronization, and no spark meant another home loss
for San Jose. SAP Center has become a safe haven for the losing. And losing is
what the Sharks do best at home. After a torrid January that looked like the
Sharks may have turned a corner, the clock struck February and Cinderella
turned back into the Sharks.
San Jose scored a goal 1:28 into the game
and they punched the clock and went home. Mark Edouard Vlasic fired a shot
through traffic in the opening moments of the contest, beating Sabres backup
goaltender Chad Johnson, and that was it.
Thanks for coming. Be sure
to tip your bluecoat on the way out, because that's all you get Sharks fans.
That backup goaltender simply say perched between the pipes and calmly
turned aside every half-hearted 80-foot shot the Sharks took. San Jose was dead
set on trying to score with deflections from the slot on shots from the
blueline. Everybody figured out that plan attack in the fist 5 minutes of the
game, including the Sabres, who flooded the high slot, blocked everything that
came into the zone and simply waited out the Sharks.
The Sabres
finally got to Sharks goaltender Martin Jones with 6 minutes to play in the 2nd
period when the Sharks goaltender failed to control a Brian Gionta shot. The
puck squeezed passed Jones and sat perched precariously in the middle of the
crease, where Johan Larsson swept in to punch the stationary puck home for this
3rd goal of the year. Brendan Dillon opened up the chance when he misplayed a
basic cross-ice pass from Paul Martin, allowing the puck to slip under his
stick and bounce right to Gionta.
San Jose played as if they expected to have a go-ahead
goal handed to them in the 3rd period. Problem is, even the third worst team in
the NHL is going to make you work for your scoring, and that's what Buffalo
did.
Zach Bogosian gave the Sabres the 2-1 lead 12:36 into the 3rd
period, aided by Tomas Hertl, who tried to block the shot with his skate, but
ended up adding to the English that got it past Jones.
San Jose was
forced to pull Jones late in the game, setting up an empty-net goal by Evander
Kane.
The insistance by San Jose to play the long shot - deflection
game meant nobody was skating to the net or making any attempt at creating
anything in front of the net. Without any effort in front of the net, there was
no reason for the on-ice officials to use their whistles. The game ended
without a single infraction called, which was a first for San Jose in their 25
year history. It was a first on a night that was full of the same old, same
old.
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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 |
| BUF |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Vlasic 8 (Nieto), 1:28. |
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| 2nd period - 2, BUF,
Larsson 3 (Gionta), 13:38. |
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| 3rd period - 3, BUF,
Bogosian 4 (Girgensons, Reinhart), 12:36. 4, BUF, Kane 17 (Bogosian), 18:43,
(en). |
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Shots |
Saves |
| BUF - Johnson |
25 |
24 |
| SJ - Jones |
21 |
19 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| BUF |
7 |
8 |
7 |
22 |
| SJ |
6 |
9 |
10 |
25 |
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| Referees:
Sutherland, O'Rourke. Linesmen: Wheler, Lazarowich. |
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