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Last second treat is
sweet PP goal in final minutes caps
win 10/31/06 - by Mike Lee
Special
teams play has been the saving grace for the Sharks this season. That fact was
no more evident than during the last minute of a five-game road-trip which
concluded in Florida on Tuesday night. Christian Ehrhoff converted on the
extra-man advantage with 36 ticks left in regulation to help San Jose knock off
the host Florida Panthers 2-1.
Ehrhoff fired a shot in from the point
which caught former Sharks defenseman Ville Peltonen in the ankle. The puck
changed direction and velocity, sailing over Panthers goaltender Alex Auld's
shoulder for the game winner.
"I'll take it," said Ehrhoff, who has
four goals this season. "I'm pretty happy. We needed that one and we got it."
Martin Gelinas setup the 5-on-4 advantage by committing an ill-timed
hooking penalty with less than a minute to play.
"Big apologies to all
the players here," Gelinas said. "We work so hard for 89 minutes, I take a
penalty and they score. That's a tough way to lose."
The Sharks
overcame a sluggish start to end their second longest road trip of the season
with a 3-2 record. The power play is a big reason for the winning record. San
Jose converted on 5 of 16 power play chances during the three wins.
"We were kind of flat the first two periods, I don't know why," Thornton said.
"Then we were starting the power play with the fresh ice in the third period
and we were kind of excited."
It what looked to be a repeat of their
losses in Detroit and Nashville, the Sharks seemed flat to open the game. Olli
Jokinen would stake the Panthers to a 1-0 lead six minutes into the 2nd period,
when he rifled a pass from Nathan Horton past Vesa Toskala.
Joe Thornton would tie the game at 1-1 at 1:31 of the
3rd period on a 40-foot wrist shot that beat a screened Auld. Thornton carried
the puck into the Panthers zone with Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo on
each wing. The reigning league MVP cut back across the high slot as his
teammates continued to press toward the Florida net, before putting the puck on
net. The three Panthers defenders that dropped down into the slot to cover
Cheechoo and Michalek worked against their own goaltender, because of all the
traffic they created in front of the net.
"I thought we played a very
good game against a very good hockey club," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said.
"To lose it that way it's difficult, but we've got to bounce back."
The victory extended San Jose's unbeaten streak against the Panthers to 8 games
(7-0-1)
"We take a lot of pride in our special teams," San Jose coach
Ron Wilson said. "I wasn't sure we would get a power-play goal, but we were
finishing hard. It's nice that we finally got a puck through to the net.
Notes:
Defenseman Rob Davison returned to the Bay Area on Monday
to be with his wife, who is due to give birth to the couples first child.
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think of this game? Post your comments on the
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
FLA |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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2nd period -
1, FLA, Jokinen 5 (Horton, Pletonen), 6:06. |
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3rd period - 2, SJ,
Thornton 2 (Carle), 1:31. 3, FLA, Ehrhoff 4 (Carle, Cheechoo), 19:24, (pp).
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1st period - Bench, FLA
(too many men), 5:51; Ehrhoff, SJ (tripping), 7:17. |
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2nd period - Michalek,
SJ (holding the stick), 6:39; Kwiatkowski, FLA (hooking), 11:30; Clowe, SJ
(fighting, major), 14:51; Montador, FLA (fighting, major), 14:51; Van Ryn, FLA
(hooking), 19:25. |
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3rd period - Olesz, FLA
(interference), 7:07; Gelinas, FLA (hooking), 19:18. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Toskala |
25 |
24 |
FLA - Auld |
28 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
10 |
4 |
14 |
28 |
FLA |
12 |
5 |
8 |
25 |
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Referees: Dave Jackson, Greg
Kimmerly. Linesmen: Jean Morin, Tony Sericolo. |
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