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Nabokov gets back to
winning
Special teams big in 3-2 win
1/22/08 - by Mike Lee
The Sharks snapped their
4-game losing streak with a slew of special teams goals, turning back the
Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 at HP Pavilion on Tuesday night. Defensemen Sandis
Ozolinsh and Christian Ehrhoff each scored goals on the power play and Joe
Pavelski bagged a short-handed tally to lead San Jose. Evgeni Nabokov stopped
28 of 30 shots, including several of the circus variety to earn his 26th win of
the season.
Brad Skille gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead just 4:49 into
the game on a put back in front of the Sharks net after Nabokov gave up a big
rebound. Brent Sopel bounced a shot off the Sharks netminder with a blast from
the right point, that landed on Skille's stick in the slot. Defenseman
Marc-Edouard Vlasic failed to get a body on Skille, who swept the rebound past
a diving Nabokov.
Ozolinsh knotted the game at 1-1 at 13:39 on a sweet
backhand shot while Tuomo Ruutu sat in the penalty box for high sticking Devin
Setoguchi. Ozolinsh took a pass near the left dot from Craig Rivet, before side
stepping Sopel as he headed toward the net. Rather than rushing the shot, the
Sharks defenseman pick his spot than lifted the puck past Patrick Lalime.
Nabokov turned aside a sure goal early in the 2nd period, while Steve
Bernier sat in the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Patrick Kane had a
wide open net, but Nabokov got his left leg pad over in time to deny the
Chicago forward.
A Martin Havlat roughing penalty evened up the ice at
4-on-4, but Matt Carle was forced to hook Robert Lang on a breakaway chance,
giving the Blackhawks a 4-on-3 advantage. Havlat missed on a nice chance in
tight after Nabokov snuffed him on the ensuing 2-man advantage.
The
Sharks would get themselves in penalty trouble moments later when Sandis
Ozolinsh was sent off for interference, but Joe Pavelski put the penalty kill
on the offensive. After a centering pass kicked outside the Sharks zone,
Pavelski outskated Patrick Kane to the puck, then beat Lalime with a backhander
on the break.
Rene Bourque would setup a Sharks power play later in
the period after cross checking Rivet and the Sharks capitalized. Ehrhoff would
score his 1st goal of the season on a blast from the point after Joe Thornton
screened Lalime by parking himself in front of the Blackhawks crease. A
frustrated Lalime would punch Thornton in the butt as the big centerman skated
to celebrate the goal.
The Sharks dodged a bullet midway through the
3rd period, when a redirect by Havlat rang off the right post.
Adam
Burish would cut the Sharks lead to 3-2 on a defensive breakdown in the
offensive zone. Jacob Dowell fed the puck up the boards as a Sharks power play
expired, then split two Shark defenders at the San Jose blueline before beating
Nabokov on the partial breakaway. The goal was the 1st in Burish's career, as
was the assist for Dowell.
With the ice tilting in Chicago's favor,
the Sharks went on the offensive, pressing in the Blackhawks zone. Patrick
Marleau leveled Seabrook with an open-ice hit that sent the Chicago defenseman
spiraling in mid air. San Jose turned a fortuitous bounce into a 2-on-1 rush
that resulted in a power play with 2:20 remaining in regulation.
The
penalty killed any chance of Chicago coming back, forcing them to burn clock
while on the penalty-kill.
Game Notes:
The victory
extended the Sharks winning streak to 9 games over the Blackhawks. Tomas Plihal
wasted no time getting back into the Sharks lineup after being recalled from
Worcester on Monday, skating on 16 shifts. Plihal was called up after Curtis
Brown was placed on the injured reserve. Joe Thornton had an assist, giving him
11 points in his last seven games
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CHI |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, CHI,
Skille 3 (Sopel), 4:49. 2, SJ, Ozolinsh 3 (Rivet, Thornton), 13:39, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Pavelski 10 (Ehrhoff), 13:14, (sh). 4, SJ, Ehrhoff 1 (Carle, Marleau), 15:58,
(pp). |
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| 3rd period - 5, CHI,
Burish 1 ( Dowell), 11:18. |
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| 1st period - Seabrook,
CHI (roughing), 10:26; Bernier, SJ (roughing), 10:26; Ruutu, CHI (high
sticking), 13:10; Hendry, CHI (delay of game - puck over glass), 18:14. |
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| 2nd period - Ozolinsh,
SJ (holding the stick), 2:08; Keith, CHI (holding), 3:42; Bernier, SJ
(unsportsmanlike conduct), 7:37; Havlat, CHI (roughing), 8:04; Carle, SJ
(hooking), 8:50; Ozolinsh, SJ (interference), 11:57; Bourque, CHI (cross
checking), 14:11; Lang, CHI (high sticking), 19:13. |
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| 3rd period - Rivet, SJ
(hooking), 7:34; Keith, CHI (roughing ), 9:15; Keith, CHI (roughing ), 9:15;
Pavelski, SJ (roughing), 9:15; |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CHI - Lalime |
23 |
20 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
30 |
28 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CHI |
10 |
12 |
8 |
30 |
| SJ |
8 |
8 |
7 |
23 |
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| Referees: Gord
Dwyer, Don Koharski. Linesmen: Thor Nelson, Tim Nowak. |
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