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Still no
answers for Wings
Another
late lapse costs Sharks
10/18/07 - by
Mike Lee
So much for second
chances. On the night the Sharks had a chance to redo
their home opener and to avenge a playoff letdown,
they flubbed both with a 4-2 loss to the visiting
Detroit Red Wings at HP Pavilion. Four different Red
Wings scored, including two in the 3rd period to break
a 2-2 tie, extending the Sharks winless streak at home
this season. Henrik Zetterberg led the Wings with a
goal and an assist, and Brian Raflski added 3 assists.
The Sharks got on the board early, scoring on the
power play just 3:20 into the 1st period on a power
play. Niklas Kronvall was sent to the box for hooking
and put out the league's 5th best penalty kill on the
ice to suppress the Sharks. Red Wings goaltender
Chris Osgood tried cutting off the angle on a
Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot from the top of the right
circle. The shot ricocheted off the end boards to
Grier who was parked at the bottom of the opposite
circle for the easy goal. Vlasic's shot got to Grier
so quickly that Osgood had no chance of getting back
to cover the other side of the net.
Both teams missed out on goals later in the period.
Joe Thornton had Osgood caught out of position and
fired a shot that defenseman Andreas Lilja blocked
with his shin pad. SanJose escaped the period with
the lead, but just barely after Valtteri Filpulla
swatted at a rebound that trickled through Evgeni
Nabokov's pads, but the puck tapped the post then sat
in the crease until Vlasic swept it away.
Detroit would answer early in the 2nd period when
Kronvall gloved a weak clearing attempt by Marcel Goc
at the blueline, then fired a shot past Nabokov. The
defenseman atoned for his two 1st period penalties
with the shot that slipped under Nabokov's glove hand.
Steve Bernier just missed on a tap in attempt lass
than a minute later, and Craig Rivet found himself on
a breakaway, but he lost control of the puck as he
skated in on Osgood.
Henrik Zetterberg gave the Red Wings the 2-1 lead on a
power play at 10:29 of the period on a shot from the
high slot, after Christian Ehrhoff was sent off for
holding. Nabokov had a tough time defending the play
with Tomas Holmstrom parked on the doorstep, creating
a great screen.
The Sharks came close to responding right away but
both Mike Grier and Christian Ehrhoff bounced shots
off the crossbar. San Jose hit three posts and a
crossbar in the home opener on Saturday night, so
between the two games, the Sharks were inches from
scoring an additional 6 goals in their 1st two home
games.
Jonathan Cheechoo would answer with his 2nd goal of
the season by redirecting a Matt Carle shot from the
high slot with 4:29 remaining in the period. The
Sharks kept the pressure on Detroit with a strong fore
check, which kept the puck in the Red Wings zone.
Carle side stepped a Red Wings defender, before
uncorking his shot, which hit Cheechoo in the stick
before finding its way to the top left corner of the
net.
The Sharks got sloppy later in the penalty when Kyle
McLaren drew an interference penalty after he went
after Zetterberg. Ehrhoff would draw an undeserved
cross checking penalty on the ensuing Detroit power
play, giving the Red Wings 27 seconds of 5-on-3 time.
Erin Downey and McLaren dropped the mitts at 3:47 of
the 3rd to light a little fire under their respective
benches.
San Jose missed out on a would be goal after referee
Stephane Auger lost sight of the puck as Thornton
swatted it into the Red Wings net. The goal was
disallowed, which turned out to be a huge break for
Detroit. They would capitalize moments later.
Another halfhearted play by Goc would end up in the
back of the Sharks net. Rookie Matt Ellis would fire
a blind backhand shot from the left wing boards that
slipped past Nabokov to give the lead back to Detroit
at 3-2. Ellis fought off a check from Goc, then score
his 1st NHL goal from a tight angle.
The Sharks then handed the Red Wings the game on a
silver platter by sending two men to the penalty box
less than 30 seconds apart. Pavel Datsyuk would
convert on the ensuing 5-on-3, by tapping in a
Zetterberg pass that zipped through the slot.
Game Notes:
Dallas Drake left the game in the 1st period after
Kyle McLaren floored him with a hard check against the
end boards.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| DET |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Grier (Vlasic, McLaren), 3:20, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 2,
DET, Kronvall (unassisted), 4:37. 3, DET, Zetterberg
(Rafalski, Osgood), 9:29, (pp). 4, SJ, Cheechoo 2
(Carle, Clowe), 15:31. |
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| 3rd period - 5,
DET, Ellis 1 (Rafalski), 7:34. 6, DET, Datsyuk 2
(Zetterberg, Raflaski), 10:40, (pp). |
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| 1st period -
Kronvall, DET (hooking), 1:27; Ellis, DET (holding),
11:26; Kronvall, DET(hooking), 14:03. |
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| 2nd period -
Ehrhoff, SJ (holding), 8:10; Draper, DET (roughing),
12:02; Michalek, SJ (slashing), 12:02; McLaren, SJ
(interference), 17:12; Ehrhoff, SJ (cross checking),
18:45. |
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| 3rd period -
Downey, DET (fighting major), 3:47; McLaren, sJ
(fighting major), 3:47; Lilja, DET (hooking), 4:44;
Maltby, DET (slashing), 7:50; Rissmiller, SJ
(roughing), 7:50; Grier, SJ (slashing), 9:44;
Chelios, DET (elbowing), 19:52. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| DET - Osgood |
25 |
23 |
| SJ - Nabokov | 27 | 23 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| DET |
3 |
12 |
12 |
27 |
| SJ |
8 |
11 |
6 |
25 |
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| Referees:
Stephane Auger, Ian Walsh.
Linesmen: Brian Mach, Mark Wheler.
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