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Dog eat dog Thornton's 2 goals paces Sharks 3/30/08
- by Mike Lee
Having clinched the division title on Friday night
and having the 2nd seed in the Western Conference guaranteed, it would have
been easy for the Sharks to take a night off. No such luck. San Jose rolled to
a 3-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday at HP Pavilion, which also
eliminated the Coyotes from playoff contention. Joe Thornton scored 2 goals in
the 1st period and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 19 shots to earn his 45th win of the
season.
Thornton continued to wield a hot hand, pushing team lead in
goals scored to 28. The centerman wasted little time getting on the board,
scoring just 14 seconds into the game. After winning the opening faceoff,
Thornton carried the puck into the Coyotes zone, before dropping it to Ryane
Clowe on the right wing. Clowe threw the puck on net, but Phoenix goaltender
Ilya Bryzgalov made the save.
Bryzgalov failed to control the rebound
though, allowing it to kick out in front of the crease. Milan Michalek took a
stab at it, but the puck would end up back on Thornton's stick. Thornton would
lift a backhand shot past Bryzgalov and the Sharks had a lead before most of
the sellout crowd were even nestled into their seats.
Clowe earned an
assist on the play in his first game back in the Sharks lineup since injuring
his knee on October 27th in Columbus.
Coyotes captain Shane Doan tied
the game at 1-1 at 6:33 on a wild play that may have ended up waking the Sharks
up. Derek Morris started the wacky sequence with a 60-foot pass up ice to Doan,
who slipped past the Sharks defense. Doan uncorked a shot on the breakaway,
that bounced off the end board glass. Nabokov tried the gloving the deflection
outside the crease, but Doan stabbed at the puck, jarring it from Nabokov's
grip, then lifted a shot into the goal.
Thornton put the Sharks up back on top with 2:29 left
in the period after Michalek intercepted the puck at center ice. San Jose had
just killed off a Torrey Mitchell hooking penalty, and were trying to get a 5th
skater on the ice. Thornton grabbed the puck then skated right down the middle
of the rink, before blasting a shot from between the circles that beat Bryzalov
just inside the right post.
Joe Pavelski just missed on following up
his 3 assist night on Friday with a goal in the 2nd period, but Bryzgalov made
a diving save to keep the Coyotes close. Michalek also put a shot on goal with
less that 30 seconds in the period that got past Bryzgalov, but a Phoenix
defender swept it out of the crease before it floated over the goal line.
Curtis Brown gave the Sharks some breathing room 7 minutes into the
3rd period with his 4th goal of the season. Brian Campbell pumped a shot from
the right point, that Brown deflected for the 3-1 lead. The shot slid between
Bryzgalov's pads and the Sharks would have all the scoring they would need.
The Sharks continued to smother their opponents with a continuous dose
of pressure in the offensive zone. Phoenix would only put 20 shots on net, and
only had the luxury of 2 power play opportunities.
Bryzgalov's
workload would be much larger. The 32 shots he would face came in the form of
quality chances that kept the Coyotes goaltender on his heels all night.
Game Notes:
Mike Grier, Craig Rivet, Jonathan Cheechoo, Devin
Setoguchi, Matt Carle and Sandis Ozolinsh were all scratches.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
PHO |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
SJ |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
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1st period - 1, SJ,
Thornton 27 (Michalek, Clowe), 0:14. 2, PHO, Doan 28 (Morris), 6:33. 3, SJ,
Thornton 28 (Michalek), 17:31. |
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3rd period - 4, SJ,
Brown 4 (Campbell, Roenick), 7:10. |
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1st period - Mithcell,
SJ (high sticking, 8:06; Mithcell, SJ (hooking), 15:26. |
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2nd period - Perrault,
PHO (hooking), 10:53. |
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Shots |
Saves |
PHO - Bryzgalov |
32 |
29 |
SJ - Nabokov |
20 |
19 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
PHO |
8 |
5 |
7 |
20 |
SJ |
8 |
17 |
7 |
32 |
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Referees: Kimmerly,
LaRue. Linesmen: Lazarowich, Sharrers. |
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