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Heartbreaking
Another uninspired home loss
2/14/08 -
by Mike Lee
With the longest road trip of the season looming,
the Sharks squared off with one of the Western Conference cellar dwellers on
Thursday night. There would be no love for the home fans on this night however.
The visiting Edmonton Oilers jumped out to a 2-goal lead in the 2nd period, and
never looked back as the Sharks succumbed to a 3-2 loss at HP Pavilion. San
Jose shifted away from the up tempo style that led to an overtime loss to
Calgary on Tuesday, playing a more disinterested game.
The loss was
especially disheartening, because the division leading Dallas Stars also lost
on Thursday night. With Anaheim idle, the Sharks could have jumped back into
2nd place in the division, while pulling to within 3 points of the division
lead.
The Sharks set the table for the Oilers early in the 1st period,
when Sandis Ozolinsh and Milan Michalek took simultaneous interference
penalties. Edmonton enjoyed a 5-on-3 advantage for a full 2 minutes, but
couldn't muster any serious scoring chances on the power play.
The
Oilers returned the favor 10 minutes later when Kyle Brodziak and Ladislav Smid
drew penalties 19 seconds apart. San Jose was equally ineffective on the 2 man
advantage, wasting a golden opportunity to jump on Edmonton. San Jose only
mustered a single shot on goal, with a power play that handled the situation
too casually.
The Sharks would enjoy 4 more power play opportunities
in the period, but the anemic special teams unit could not put together any
semblance of a threat. The period would end with Jody Shelly earning a double
minor for roughing after he skated to the defense of teammate Steve Bernier,
who was getting mugged in front of the Oilers bench by Fernando Pisani and
Ethan Moreau.
Ales Hemsky would make the Sharks pay for Shelley's
infraction with a deflection on the power play that carried over into the 2nd
period. Sam Gagner tried backhanding a shot on net from the bottom of the left
circle, but the puck sailed wide left. Hemsky was parked just outside the left
post and chipped the Gagner feed past Evgeni Nabokov for the 1-0 Oiler lead.
The Sharks lack of intensity cost them mid-way through the period when
Brodziak punched in a deflection in front of the net. San Jose's defense got
caught flat-footed as Zach Stortini slid a backhand pass across the slot that
caught Brodziak in the skates. The Oilers forward gathered the puck, then
chipped home his 9th of the season for the 2-0 Oilers lead.
The Sharks would finally respond with a goal at 16:43
of the middle period. Joe Pavelski would punch home a deflection from the slot
after Marc-Edouard Vlasic put a shot off Oilers goaltender Mathieu Garon.
Michalek created the chance by winning a battle along the end boards with a
strong forecheck.
Edmonton opened the 3rd period with more jump than
the Sharks, and were rewarded with a Fernando Pisani goal 3:33 in. Ethan Moreau
blocked a shot in the high slot, deflecting the puck out in to the neutral
zone. Pisani scooped it up and raced in on Nabokov uncontested.
Ozolinsh didn't help the sharks cause when he drew a holding penalty at the 7
minute mark, but Craig Rivet and Mike Grier hooked up for a short-handed goal
to cut Edmonton's lead to 3-2. Rivet chipped the puck over the Oilers defense
as Grier slipped past them at the blueline. Grier then beat Garon with a shot
to the 5-hole.
Unlike San Jose's prevent fiasco on Tuesday night, the
Oilers applied a constant forecheck that kept the Sharks from generating any
offense.
Sharks head coach Ron Wilson would pull Nabokov with a minute
remaining, then Edmonton would make things interesting when Staios would get
called for hooking with 39 seconds left in regulation. Jarrod Stoll would pick
up an additional hooking penalty with 9 seconds left, but the 6-on-3 couldn't
get the puck on net.
Game Notes:
Patrick Marleau
missed his second consecutive game. Marleau continues to nurse a groin injury.
The Sharks power play went 0-for-8.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| EDM |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
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| 2nd period - 1, EDM,
Hemsky 15 (Gagner, Penner), 1:31, (pp). 2, EDM, Brodziak 9 (Stortini,
Glencross), 9:33. 3, SJ, Pavelski 12 (Vlasic, Michalek), 16:43. |
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| 3rd period - 4, EDM,
Pisani 6 (Moreau), 3:34. 5, SJ, Grier 7 (Rivet), 8:34, (sh). |
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| 1st period - Stoll, EDM
(slashing), 0:09; Ozolinsh, SJ (interfernece), 4:47; Michalek, SJ
(interference), 4:47; Bodziak, EDM (hooking), 11:18; Smid, EDM (delay of game -
puck over glass),11:37; Hemsky, EDM (unsportsmanlike conduct), 15:55; Reasoner,
EDM (slashing), 18:42; Moreau, EDM (roughing), 19:41; Shelley, SJ (roughing),
19:41; Shelley, SJ (roughing), 19:41. |
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| 2nd period - Staios, EDM
(unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:52; Goc, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct),
14:52. |
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| 3rd period - Ozolinsh,
SJ (holding), 7:09; Moreau, EDM (delay of game - puck over glass), 13:11;
Staios, EDM (hooking), 19:21; Stoll, EDM (hooking), |
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Shots |
Saves |
| EDM - Garon |
30 |
28 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
18 |
15 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| EDM |
6 |
6 |
6 |
18 |
| SJ |
8 |
14 |
8 |
30 |
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| Referees: Koharski,
Kozari. Linesmen: Kovachik, Murphy. |
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