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Sharks ambush Predators in Game
5 SJ unloads after controversial Game 4
loss
After their demoralizing triple overtime loss to
the Nashville Predators in Game 4, the Sharks jumped all over their opponent
and rolled to a 5-1 win in Game 5 at SAP Center. San Jose was relentless all
night, piling on the Predators with an up-tempo game that caught Nashville
flat-footed all night. Joe Pavleski led San Jose with a pair of goals, and
Martin Jones made 24 saves to earn his 7th victory of the playoffs. San Jose
now sits a win away from the Conference Finals.
The Sharks jumped on
the Predators in the 1st period, scoring the game's first goal 10:47 into the
game when Patrick Marleau snapped a one-time feed from Joonas Donskoi past
Pekka Rinne. Donskoi intercepted a clearing attempt while skating behind the
Nashville net. The rookie forward spotted Marleau cutting down the slot before
feathering a pass to the Sharks former captain. The goal was Marleau's 63rd
career playoff goal.
Mike Fisher continued to haunt the Sharks by
tying the game 5 minutes later with a tap in from the right side after a James
Neal attempt skipped behind the Nashville forward. Fisher was trailing out of
the right corner and happened to be in the right place at the right time as the
puck deflected to an undefended spot for the easy deposit.
Joe
Pavelski answered less than 2 minutes later by ripping a one-timer from the
slot after Joe Thornton made a feed off the right wing boards. Thornton had two
defenders converging on him as he a pass with laser precision to his linemate.
Pavelski unloaded on the puck, sailing it to the upper right corner of the net
for his 7th goal of the playoffs.
That opening frame was just what the
doctor ordered for San Jose, who needed to reaffirm that all the energy they
spent in Game 4 wasn't a wasted effort.
Logan Couture added to the
Sharks lead just 35 seconds into the 2nd period when Donskoi sprung his
linemate with a lead pass that caught the Nashville defense. Couture raced in
on Rinne and deeked right, before sliding the puck between the Predator
goaltender's pads for his 5th goal of the playoffs.
Brendan Dillon
took the game's first penalty midway through the period, but the Sharks kept
the puck away from Martin Jones, killing the penalty with a nice forecheck.
Roman Josi was sent off for tripping Couture, and the Sharks pounced.
Pavelski used all of 9 seconds of the power play to convert by rifling a shot
from the bottom of the right circle. Once again, the Sharks shot high and it
paid dividends. Pavelski's quick release caught Rinne as the puck caught the
upper left corner of the net for the 4-1 lead. The goal was a back breaker for
Nashville, coming with 38 seconds left in the period.
Ryan Johansen
tried to bait Paul Martin into dropping the gloves, but the Sharks defenseman
was smart enough to decline with a 3 goal lead. Johansen persisted and earned
himself an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to put the Sharks back on the power
play.
On the ensuing faceoff, Joel Ward clipped Paul Gaustad with a
high stick that drew blood. Ward earned a double minor for the infraction.
Things didn't start well for San Jose when Couture was
checked into the boards in front of his own bench, but the door opened as the
centerman made contact with the framing around the door opening. He limped
directly to the dressing room for a brief spell, but would return before Ward's
penalty expired. Not only did he return, but he blocked a shot on the penalty
kill to keep the Sharks goal buffer intact.
That 3-goal lead allowed
the Sharks to stretch the ice and keep the control of the puck with long passes
that didn't require the urgency of needing to score. That helped them frustrate
the Predators, who started to show that frustration with a chippy response.
Ryan Johansen took things too far for a team trying to claw back into
the game, when he tried to bait Paul Martin into a fight. The veteran Sharks
defenseman wasn't having any of it, which resulted in an unsportsmanlike
conduct penalty with 4 minutes to play. That sparked a bunch of nonsense after
the whistle, which resulted in penalties to Thornton and Barrett Jackman.
Johansen and Mike Ribeiro started shooting their mouths off, which resulted in
early showers for the two Predators.
The net net of all that nonsense
was a Sharks power play that resulted in the end of Rinne's night. Predators
head coach Peter Laviolettte chose not to subject his goaltender to any more
abuse, so he replaced him with former Sharks farmhand Carter Hutton.
The Predators killed the ensuing penalty, but Melker Karlsson banged home a
Chris Tierney feed from the slot at 19:10 to add salt into the wound.
Game Notes:
* Joe Pavelski and Roman Josi led thei respective
teams in shots with 6 each.
* The one negative for San Jose was that
the trend of losing in the faceoff circle continued, as Nashville took 32 of 59
draws (54%).
* Dainius Zubrus made his playoff debut for the Sharks,
spelling Tommy Wingels. Zubrus skated a team low 17 shifts but recorded a team
high 6 hits. The big forward also recorded a blocked shot in his limited stint.
* Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm had a tough night, earning a -3
on the night.
* Predators head coach Peter Laviolette was rather terse
in the post-game press conference, answering questions with one word responses
before storming out of the press room as quickly as he could.
* In
addition to the ZUbrus change, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer also moved
Patrick Marleau to the second line with Joonas Donskoi and Logan Couture. The
move pade dividends as the line accounted for two goals.
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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 |
NSH |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
SJ |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
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1st period - 1 SJ,
Marleau 3 (Donskoi), 10:47. 2, NSH, Fisher 5 (Neal, Wilson), 15:40. 3, SJ,
Pavelski 7 (Thornton, Vlasic), 17:21. |
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2nd period - 4, SJ,
Couture 5 (Donskoi, Braun), 0:35. 5, SJ, Pavelski 8 (Marleau, Thornton), 19:22,
(pp). |
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3rd period - 6, SJ,
Karlsson 2 (Tierney, Braun), 19:10. |
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2nd period - Dillon, SJ
(interference), 10:31; Josi, NSH (tripping), 19:13; Johansen, NSH
(unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:47; Ward, SJ (high sticking - double minor),
19:57. |
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3rd period - Johansen,
NSH (roughing), 16:01; Johansen, NSH (10 min misconduct), 16:01; Ribeiro, NSH
(10 min misconduct), 16:01; Thornton, SJ (slashing), 16:01; Bitetto, NSH
(tripping), 16:59. |
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Shots |
Saves |
NSH - Rinne |
27 |
23 |
NSH - Hutton |
2 |
1 |
SJ - Jones |
25 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
NSH |
11 |
5 |
9 |
25 |
SJ |
13 |
7 |
9 |
29 |
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Referees: Charron,
McCauley. Linesmen: Devorski, Nansen. |
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