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SJ caps comeback in
shootout
Cheechoo bags winner
2/21/07 - by Mike Lee
Averting a free-fall, the
Sharks rallied from a 2-0 deficit in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night,
rallying to tie in the 3rd period, then winning in the shoot-out on
Jonathan
Cheechoo's backhand shot that sailed over goaltender Brent Johnson's
right
shoulder. The win was the Sharks 10th consecutive over the Capitals,
evening
their 8-game road-trip to 3-3 after dropping their last three games in a
row.
San Jose tried establishing control of the Washington zone
early on, with an up tempo 1st period. The approach earned the Sharks an
A for
effort, but the breaks would go to the Capitals.
Washington
withstood
the Sharks pressure and converted on a seemingly harmless shot from
Shaone
Morrisonn at the midway mark. Morrisonn sent a blast on goal from 35-feet
out,
but Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov either didn't see the shot or he
misjudged
the angle on net. The puck sailed past Nabokov to the goaltender's right,
catching the inside of the left post for a 1-0 Capitals lead.
Brian
Sutherby tacked on another goal 49 seconds later after a wild scrum in
front of
the net left Nabokov sprawled outside the crease and the puck in the net.
Rather than panic, the Sharks
regrouped late in the period to salvage a goal on a bang-bang play at
17:02.
Mike Grier carried the puck up the right wing, before sending a pass
across the
slot to Patrick Rissmiller on the left post. Rissmiller stabbed at the
puck,
lifting it over Johnson, cutting the Washington lead to 2-1.
The
Sharks defense held Washington to 4 shots on goal in the period, but half
of
those shots found the back of San Jose's net.
The offensive
pressure
picked up in the middle period, but San Jose couldn't get anything past
Johnson. San Jose out-shot Washington 12-10 in the period.
The
Capitals didn't do themselves any favors by committing two key penalties
to
start the 3rd period. 30 seconds after Jeff Schultz's interference
penalty
ended, Eric Fehr was sent off for hooking. The Sharks wouldn't let the
second
Capitals gift go to waste. After Joe Pavelski and Jonathan Cheechoo
traded
shots off Johnson, defenseman Matt Carle pinched in from the point and
punched
in Cheechoo's deflection to knot the game at 2-2.
Neither team would score again in regulation, but
Washington almost settled things after the Sharks sent Kyle McLaren to
the box
for slashing with just over 5-minutes to play in the period. Nabokov
stoned
Alexander Ovechkin during the ensuing power play.
Nabokov also
stopped
Alexander Semin in the overtime period, on a partial breakaway after the
Sharks
allowed the Russian forward to slip past Milan Michalek during the
4-on-4.
In the shootout, Washington elected to shoot first and quickly
converted on a Matt Pettinger shot that beat Nabokov just to the Sharks
goaltender's right. Ryane Clowe shot first for San Jose and quickly let a
weak
attempt sail wide of the net.
Nabokov then made the save of the
game
by denying Ovechkin with a poke-check on the Capitals second shot attempt
in
the shoot-out. Joe Pavelski calmly rocketed a shot past Johnson to even
things
up at 1-1. Semin then opened the door for the Sharks when his attempt was
snuffed by Nabokov just outside the right post.
Cheechoo then
ended
things with a discombobulated attempt that fooled Johnson, who guessed
left as
the Sharks forward cut in the opposite direction. The shot floated into
the
net, giving the Sharks only their 2nd shootout win since it was
implemented
last season.
Notes: Sharks Captain Patrick
Marleau missed his second game of the season after coming down with a
case of
food poisoning. Curtis Brown, Joe Pavelski and Steve Bernier all returned
to
the lineup. Bernier was making his first appearance for the Sharks since
being
demoted to Worcester on January 2nd.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| WAS |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, WAS,
Morrisonn 2 (Bradley, Gordon), 9:52. 2, WAS, Sutherby 5 (Brashear,
Heward),
10:41. 3, SJ, Rissmiller 5 (Grier, Bell), 17:02. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Carle 7 (Cheechoo, Pavelski), 5:49, (pp). |
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| Shootout - WAS -
Pettinger. SJ - Pavelski, Cheechoo |
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| 1st period - McLaren, SJ
(interference), 3:19; Beech, WAS (triping), 19:20. |
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| 2nd period - Cheechoo,
SJ (delay of game - puck over glass), 15:15. |
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| 3rd period - Schultz,
WAS (interference), 2:24; Fehr, WAS (hooking), 5:08; McLaren, SJ
(slashing),
14:31. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
26 |
24 |
| WAS - Johnson |
35 |
33 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
7 |
12 |
15 |
1 |
35 |
| WAS |
4 |
10 |
7 |
5 |
26 |
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| Referees: Kerry Fraser, Don
Koharski. Linesmen: Brad Kovachik, Andy McElman. |
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