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Meltdown in
Buffalo
Sharks blow 4-1 lead in 3rd period and fall
to Sabres
There are meltdowns, and then there was Tuesday
night's game in Buffalo, as the Sharks kicked off a 4-game road trip through
the Eastern Conference. San Jose held a 4-1 lead with 11 minutes to play at
KeyBank Center, then the wheels fell off. Make that the wheels, doors, motor
and seats. Throw in the steering wheel for good measure, because there wasn't a
soul in a Sharks jersey steering this train wreck. Buffalo stormed back with
three goals over a 3:27 span, then scored the game winner in overtime to stun
the Sharks 5-4.
San Jose played a 50 minute game, then crumbled.
Ironically, an overturned goal turned out to be bigger than the Sharks expected
later in the game.
Timo Meier appeared to score in the 1st period, but
referee Kelly Sutherland lost sight of the puck waived the goal off, claiming
he had intended to blow his whistle before the puck crossed the goal line. It
was a case of a referee not moving his feet to retain sight of the puck and it
cost the Sharks.
Matt Moulson staked the Sabres to a 1-0 lead moments
later on a power play chance at 7:24 of the period. San Jose shook off their
misfortune and put a pair of pucks past Sabres goaltender Anders Nilsson before
the first intermission.
Joel Ward tipped a Brent Burns shot from the
left point while parked in front of Nilsson. Ward was facing Burns and had his
stick blade parallel to the shot. He made enough contact to slip it past
Nilsson for the 1-1 tie.
Logan Couture scored his 19th goal of the
season 2:37 before the first break by following up on a Mikkel Boedker shot
that Nilsson lost track of. Boedker raced up the right wing and ripped a shot
from the right dot, hitting Nilsson in the crest. The puck fell to Nilsson's
knees. Couture swooped in an stabbed at the puck, pushing it past Nilsson for
the 2-1 lead.
Melker Karlsson made it a 3- lead 11:23 into the 2nd
period on a one-time chance from the slot. Micheal Haley made the play by
winning the puck behind the Sabres net and working it along the end boards,
before sliding a pass out to the front of the net, where Karlsson sliced in for
the shot that beat Nilsson for his 7th goal of the season.
The Sabres
didn't seem to have any fight left in them to start the rd period, and when Joe
Pavelski deposited a power play chance at 6:07 of the period, everyone in the
building expected 14 minutes of shutdown hockey to run out the clock.
Burns changed all of that when he took a hooking penalty at 8:21. The Sabres
had nothing left to do in the game except try and pad some personal stats. Ryan
O'Reilly added to his season totals by depositing the puck past Martin Jones at
9:03, aided by the fact that Martin Jones didn't have a stick.
Right
before O'Reilly scored, Karlsson tried to throw Jones his stick as it sat
perched in the high slot. By virtue of throwing the twig, Karlsson earned
another penalty for his attempt to re-arm his teammate.
The Sabres
quickly took advantage of the Sharks putrid penalty killing and quickly scored
a second goal when Evander Kane beat Tomas Hertl behind the net and wrapped a
shot around the right post that was deflected up and past Jones.
The Sharks challenged the play, citing offside on the
Sabres, but video replay was deemed inconclusive. It was another review that
worked against the Sharks.
Within the blink of an eye, the Sabres were
back in the game, and they seized the momentum a minute later when Kyle Okposo
tied the contest off the rush. Pavelski's half-hearted attempt to get back left
defenseman Justin Braun to try and defend Okposo and and O'Reilly as
arc-Edouard Vlasic picked up Sam Reinhart with the puck on the right side.
Reinhart made the dish to Okposo on the far side, and Braun couldn't get over
to prevent the shot that deflected off the defenseman and past Jones.
Kane ended the game a minute into the overtime period on another rush. Couture
was caught too deep in the Sabres zone on a giveaway, which allowed Jack Eichel
and Kane to storm up the ice with only Vlasic back to try and stop them. Eichel
carried the puck up the right wing, then flipped it to Kane on the left wing
for the tap in.
Game Notes:
* With the loss, the
Sharks returned to their losing ways in Buffalo. After winning in Western New
York last season, they had snapped a long losing streak, only to start a new
streak on Tuesday night.
* Tomas Hertl continues to try and nurse his
way back to his normal playing pace, but his -3 in the game was evidence that
he's still no 100%.
* Joe Pavelski and Timo Meier recorded 6 shots
each in the game. Kane topped them both with 7 shots, and added a pair of
goals.
* The Sharks finally turn their fortunes around in the faceoff
circle, but that proved to be meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
| BUF |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
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| 1st period - 1, BUF,
Moulson 11 (Gionta, Ennis), 7:24, (pp). 2, SJ, Ward 6 (Burns, Martin), 14:03.
3, SJ, Couture 19 (Boedker, Vlasic), 17:13. |
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| 2nd period - 4, SJ,
Karlsson 7 (Sorensen, Haley), 11:23. |
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| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Pavelski 18 (Burns, Marleau), 6:07, (pp). 6, BUF, O'Reilly 11 (Eichel,
Ristolainen), 9:03, (pp). 7, BUF, Kane 15 (Franson, Gionta), 11:36. 8, BUF,
Okposo 17 (Reinhart, O'Reilly), 12:31. |
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| Overtime - 9, BUF, Kane
16 (Eichel), 1:05. |
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| 1st period - Thornton,
SJ (holding), 5:44. |
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| 2nd period - Kulikov,
BUF (holding), 2:32; Fedun, BUF (holding), 14:53. |
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| 3rd period - Bailey,
BUF, high sticking), 4:42; Burns, SJ (hooking), 8:21; Karlsson, SJ (throwing
stick), 9:03. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
36 |
31 |
| BUF - Nilsson |
40 |
36 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
17 |
14 |
9 |
0 |
40 |
| BUF |
10 |
8 |
17 |
1 |
36 |
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| Referees:
Sutherland, Joanette. Linesmen: Kovachik, Shewchyk. |
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