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Offense misses trip to
H-Town
Sharks stumble in Detroit
10/25/06 - by Mike Lee
After embarrassing the
Detroit Red Wings last week in San Jose, the Sharks failed to drive a stake
through the perennial power house in Hockeytown on Wednesday night. The Sharks
sputtering offense held a slim 1-0 lead for two periods before succumbing to a
pair of Red Wing goals in a 2-1 loss, spoiling another strong performance by
Evgeni Nabokov.
Nabokov stopped 37 shots, including 27 through the
first two periods, but little mistakes would do in San Jose after turning aside
the well rested Red Wings. Detroit hadn't played since last Saturday night and
carried a three game losing streak into the contest.
Rather than
adding to Detroit's slow start, the Sharks played flat throughout the night,
allowing the Red Wings to get up off the mat and claw back into the contest.
"We didn't work. Our forwards looked like they were auditioning for
the Ice Capades," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "A bunch of guys looked like
they were just waiting for a power play. "
The Sharks continued their
special teams dominance of the Red Wings late in the 1st period, which was a
carryover from the 5-1 win last Thursday night. Milan Michalek setup Steve
Bernier with a brilliant pass from behind the Red Wings net as defenseman Danny
Markov converged on him after the puck was wound around the end boards by Kyle
McLaren. Bernier was lurking outside the left post, one-timing Michalek's pass
past Dominik Hasek.
Henrik Zetterberg just missed on a backhand chance
with seconds remaining in the period, evidence of the pressure that the Red
Wings applied early on. After the thumping they took in San Jose last week,
Detroit wanted to step up the intensity after allowing five power play goals to
the Sharks in San Jose last week.
Sensing a lull in his team's own
intensity, Sharks head coach Ron Wilson called a time-out midway through the
2nd period. The Red Wings were beginning to establish themselves in the
offensive zone, tilting the ice in their favor. Wilson's move proved prudent,
resulting in three good scoring chances right off the bat.
Detroit then tried to establish themselves with
physical play, drawing the ire of Josh Gorges, who took exception to Pavel
Datsyuk's attempt to jam a dead puck past Nabokov.
"If we would have
maybe matched their intensity," Sharks captian Patrick Marleau said. "There
would have been a different outcome."
Kyle McLaren countered with a
crushing hip check that sent Red Wings defenseman Brett Lebda to the dressing
room. Lebda tried carrying the puck up the left wing boards on a break, but
McLaren closed a 15-foot gap in the blink of an eye with his patented move.
Detroit tied things up just 38 seconds in to the 3rd period on a power
play. Milan Michalek was whistled for a lazy tripping penalty late in the 2nd,
and the Wings cashed in on the carry over. Mathieu Schneider beat Nabokov with
a shot through traffic that caught the top left corner of the goal. Nabokov was
screened by Tomas Holmstrom and did not appear to see the puck and it floated
end-over-end from the right point.
Robert Lang gave Detroit the lead
at 11:02 after redirecting a shot by Schneider. The goal was the first 5-on-5
score this season between the two teams, who had combined for 8 special teams
tallies in two games. San Jose had scored 11 power play goals against Detroit
in the last four games.
"When you start to press, it's not easy,"
Detroit head coach Mike Babcock said. "It was nice to see the guys have some
success."
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| DET |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Bernier 3 (Michalek, McLaren), 17:10, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 2, DET,
Schneider 4 (Lidstrom, Datsyuk), 0:38, (pp). 3, DET, Lang 3 (Schneider, Lebda),
11:02. |
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| 1st period - Franzenm
DET (interference), 15:21. |
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| 2nd period - Holmstrom,
DET (holding), 15:40; Michalek, SJ (interference), 17:00; Michalek, SJ
(tripping), 19:22. |
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| 3rd period - Kopecky,
DET (boarding), 3:41; Draper, DET (hooking), 8:04. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
39 |
37 |
| DET - Hasek |
23 |
22 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
4 |
10 |
9 |
23 |
| DET |
14 |
13 |
12 |
39 |
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| Referees: Eric Furlatt, Dan
Marouelli. Linesmen: Greg Devorski, Mark Pare. |
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