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Sharks turn the tables on
Blues Fortunes reversed for both
teams 2/29/04 - by Mike Lee
The St
Louis Blues are feeling some of the frustrations the Sharks went through last
year. Granted, the Blues weren't predicted to be a front-runner for the Stanley
Cup, but few envisioned the collapse they've endured this season. The Sharks
are all too familiar with unmet expectations, but they continued to contrast
that ill-fated season with another win. The Sharks patient attack outlasted the
Blues, en route to a 1-0 win at HP Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. It was the
first time the Sharks shutout the Blues in franchise history.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
STL |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
SJ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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3rd period - S.J,
CHEECHOO (18) (MARLEAU), 00:41 |
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1st period - S.J,
EKMAN, 16:08 - Hi stick STL, WEINRICH, 18:15 - Holding |
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2nd period - S.J,
DAVISON, 10:54 - Interference |
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3rd period - STL,
MELLANBY, 04:34 - Charging S.J, SMITH, 08:22 - Tripping STL, MAYERS, 11:04 -
Cross check S.J, HARVEY, 11:04 - Fighting (maj) S.J, HARVEY, 11:04 - Hi stick
STL, MAYERS, 11:04 - Fighting (maj) |
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Shots |
Saves |
STL - Osgood |
18 |
17 |
SJ - Nabokov |
24 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
STL |
9 |
9 |
6 |
24 |
SJ |
9 |
5 |
4 |
18 |
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Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov set a franchise record
with his 8th shutout this season, the 25th of his career. Nabokov made 24
saves, but it was the defense in front of him that clamped down on the Blues in
crunch time. St Louis could only muster six shots on goal in the 3rd period
after the Sharks had scored early in the period. The Blues were coming off a
2-0 shutout in Vancouver less than 24 hours earlier, but energy didn't appear
to be an issue early on. The two teams swapped nine shots a piece in the
opening period.
Both teams started the 3rd period locked in a
scoreless tie, but Jonathan Cheechoo provided the Sharks all the offense they
would need 41 seconds into the final stanza. Steve Martins muffed a pass in the
St Louis zone that would prove costly. Martins tried feeding the puck up ice
after it took a weird hop off the left wing boards, but Patrick Marleau
intercepted the pass in the high slot. Rather than force the issue, Marleau
caught Cheechoo breaking on the off wing and slid a backhanded pass to Cheechoo
in the slot. Cheechoo then ripped a one-timer past Chris Osgood for the game's
lone goal.
The goal extended Cheechoo's scoring streak to seven games.
Osgood had escaped a scare in the opening period when Alexander
Korolyuk missed on a 1-on-1 shot from 15 feet out after side stepping a Blues
defender in the right circle. The Blues goaltender wouldn't be so lucky two
periods later. He would only face 18 shots on the evening, but his teammates
failed to provide any offensive support.
The Blues tried to pick up
the pace in the waning moments of the game but Nabokov came up big. Nabokov
made his biggest save with 3:30 to play, when he gloved a Doug Weight shot from
the slot.
Play of the Game Had
Korolyuk finished on his 1st period scoring chance he would have received the
honors for the evening, but Cheechoo's goal earned the Sharks their win.
Cheechoo's shot was placed perfectly, snapping past Osgood's glove hand. Give
credit to the HP Pavilion boards for causing the sequence to kickoff in the
fashion that it did. Weird bounce. Weird season for both teams.
The
Turning Point The goaltending play of both Nabokov and Osgood made this
game so intriguing, but it was fatigue that may have played the biggest part in
the game's outcome. Both teams were playing their third game in the last four
nights, but the Blues were playing in back-to-back contests. The energy levels
on both teams seemed to fizzle as the game wore on.
Save of the Game Nabokov's stop on the Weight
shot late in the 3rd period helped preserve the Sharks lead and sunk the dagger
into the Blues' backs. St Louis' shot production in he final period was thin
enough, but stops like that took the steam out of the road weary Blues.
Box Scores Do No Justice The injury bug looked as if it
could sting the Sharks again, when Mike Rathje and Korolyuk suffered leg
ailments during the contest. Rathje's looked to be the most severe. The Sharks
defenseman crumpled to the ice after taking a shot off his lower leg in the 1st
period and lay there face down for several seconds as play continued. Korolyuk
also suffered a leg injury and had to walk off the injury in the Sharks tunnel.
Linesman Brad Kovachik wasn't so lucky. He suffered an injury to his jaw after
taking a puck off his mug three minutes into the game.
Honorable Mention Sharks fans appear to be coming
out of their season long fog and realizing that the Sharks are leading the
Pacific Division, albeit by a mere six points. The Tank was sold out for the
second consecutive game, which is the first time that's happened this season.
Fans enjoyed themselves by booing Blues defenseman Chris Pronger every time he
touched the puck.
Quotables "Sometimes you've got to be
standing in the right place, or all your hard work doesn't matter. We earned
the opportunity we got, but it's part luck, too." - Jonathan Cheechoo
"It was a toe-to-toe game, and one mistake can cost you a game like that. The
shutout is good, but it's more important for the two points. We're in a pretty
good position to climb up (the conference standings), but as soon as you start
thinking you're up there, you find yourself down at the other end." - Evgeni
Nabokov
"We're having a hard time just getting a garbage goal. We had a
good power play there. We had maybe two or three real good chances. We hit the
post. Maybe it's a garbage goal that turns it around for us." - St Louis head
coach Mike Kitchen
Milestones Nabokov's shutout was his 8th of the
season, a new franchise record.
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