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Marleau paces Game 2
win
Sharks captan records a hat
trick
4/10/04 - by Mike Lee
When the
Sharks knocked off the St Louis Blues in the first round of the 2001 NHL
Playoffs, they employed a pesky, in your face style of play that got under the
Blues skin. That approach paid dividends for the heavily outmatched Sharks, and
would result in one of the biggest upsets in NHL history. The tables have
turned this season, but the Blues attempt at aggravating their opponent
backfired on them Saturday at HP Pavilion. The big difference is the 2001
Sharks tried to get the Blues to react by goading them into bad penalties. The
2004 Blues are simply playing undisciplined hockey, which bit them in the form
of s 3-1 loss to the Sharks in Game 2 of their Western Conference
matchup.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| STL |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - S.J,
P. MARLEAU (1) (B. STUART, T. PREISSING), 17:29 |
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| 2nd period - S.J,
P. MARLEAU (2) (V. DAMPHOUSSE, N. DIMITRAKOS), 03:52 |
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| 3rd period - S.J,
P. MARLEAU (3) (V. DAMPHOUSSE), 00:48 STL, D. WEIGHT (1) , 17:51 |
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| 1st period - STL,
C. PRONGER, 02:47 - Hi stick S.J, N. EKMAN, 03:59 - Interference - Obstruction
STL, C. PRONGER, 06:56 - Hi stick STL, C. PRONGER, 06:56 - Hi stick STL, C.
PRONGER, 11:15 - Unsportsmanlike conduct STL, STL, 11:52 - Unsportsmanlike
conduct- Coach S.J, S.J, 11:52 - Unsportsmanlike conduct- Coach STL, STL, 11:52
- Unsportsmanlike conduct- Coach STL, M. BARON, 11:52 - Unsportsmanlike conduct
S.J, N. DIMITRAKOS, 11:52 - Unsportsmanlike conduct STL, M. SILLINGER, 16:55 -
Roughing STL, K. TKACHUK, 18:11 - Interference S.J, P. MARLEAU, 18:32 -
Interference - Obstruction |
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| 2nd period - STL,
P. RHEAUME, 02:24 - Hooking S.J, J. MARSHALL, 05:48 - Interference STL, K.
TKACHUK, 07:36 - Slashing STL, B. SALVADOR, 09:10 - Broken stick STL, K.
TKACHUK, 16:39 - Interference - Goaltender S.J, A. KOROLYUK, 18:51 - Tripping
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| 3rd period - S.J,
S. THORNTON, 01:57 - Hi stick S.J, S. HANNAN, 06:24 - Hi stick S.J, J.
MARSHALL, 15:17 - Cross check STL, D. WEIGHT, 15:42 - Hi stick S.J, M. RATHJE,
16:21 - Roughing STL, M. SILLINGER, 16:21 - Roughing STL, K. TKACHUK, 16:21 -
Roughing STL, C. PRONGER, 16:21 - Unsportsmanlike conduct S.J, M. RATHJE, 16:21
- Roughing STL, C. PRONGER, 16:21 - Roughing |
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Shots |
Saves |
| STL - Osgood |
16 |
13 |
| STL - Divis |
8 |
8 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
26 |
25 |
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2 |
3 |
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| STL |
6 |
13 |
7 |
26 |
| SJ |
8 |
7 |
9 |
24 |
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While Chris Pronger was ingle handedly burying his own
team with bad penalties, Patrick Marleau was burying the Blues with goals.
Marleau recorded his first career playoff hat trick, providing San Jose with
all the offense they would need.
Pronger would work the polar opposite
of the "hot to win hockey games" spectrum by racking up four minor penalties
and a double minor. The Blues defenseman would gift wrap the first four Shark
power plays to San Jose in the 1ster period alone.
The Sharks, who
relied heavily on Marleau early on in the season, leaned on their young captain
for scoring. He would reward San Jose with three key scores.
His first
two came on power play chances that looked as if they were the same identical
play. Marleau would convert with just over two and a half minutes to play in
the 1st period by snapping a wrist shot from the right circle under St Louis
goaltender Chris Osgood's pads.
The Sharks captain would score from
the exact same spot four minutes into the 2nd period. Only this time, the shot
cleanly beat Osgood through the five-hole.
With the Sharks seemingly
on a perpetual power play, they would ironically cap their own scoring with a
short handed goal by Marleau 48 seconds into the 3d period. Vincent Damphousse
setup the goal with a nifty centering pass that allowed Marleau to spring past
two Blues defensemen before backhanding a shot past Osgood, for a 3-0 Sharks
lead.
Doug Weight would convert on a short handed attempt himself with
just under three minutes to play in regulation.
San Jose extends their
lead to 2-0 in the best of seven series.
Play
of the Game
The most telling play of the game was a non-play. In
fact it was more of a walk away play. After Dallas Drake punched defenseman
Scott Hannan in the back of the head while the two jockey for the puck behind
the Blues net, Hannan simply skated away rather than get goaded into a bad
penalty himself. The Sharks wrote the book on irritating opponents as a means
to advance in playoff series'. The Blues look content to pile on the penalty
minutes.
The Turning Point
Marleau's first goal got the
Sharks rolling and force the Blues to play catch up all night long. Even with
offensive threat's like Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight, St Louis never figured
out a way to get eh offensive ball rolling against San Jose.
Save of the Game
Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov
made an incredible series of saves on the Sharks doorstep after the Blues tried
firing a flurry of shots on net from deep within the Sharks zone. Nabokov
managed to stop three point blank scoring chances.
Box Scores Do No
Justice
Kyle McLaren showcased one of the Sharks marketing clips for
next year, when he lowered the boom on Blues forward Peter Cajanek with a hip
check that sent Cajanek into next Thursday. Cajanek was carrying the puck up
the left wing boards when McLaren appeared out of nowhere, then crumpling to
the ice after absorbing the hit.
Honorable
Mention
Even with all the gifts the Blues hand delivered to San
Jose, the Sharks only converted on 2 of 13 power play opportunities.
Quotables
"We could have overreacted to a lot of things that were
going on, but we didn't. If we retaliate, then we're playing it right back into
their hands. ... I'm getting used to new linemates, but if I'm working hard and
trying things that will make the team win, it doesn't really matter." - Patrick
Marleau
"It takes a lot of character to survive that environment. I'm
proud to say that we do have a disciplined team. ... We're getting what we
need: good, strong goaltending; great penalty killing; and timely power-play
goals." - Sharks head coach Ron Wilson
"The first game, they let the
marginal stuff go. All of the sudden, when they switch and call everything,
it's difficult. It's tough to switch gears midstream like that, and it's up to
us to adapt, but it's a little late." - Chris Pronger
"Obviously you
don't want to take retaliation penalties, but I'm going to hit every time I
can. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to be hard to play against, and if
they call penalties, they call it." - Keith Tkachuk
Milestones
Alyn McCauley was a scratch.
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