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More shots equates to another
win
Sharks beat Kings on strong offensive
showing
10/11/08 - By Mike Lee
Who
needs defense if you spend 75% of the time in your opponent's end of the rink.
That philosophy certainly rang true in San Jose on Saturday night, as the host
Sharks pelted Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jason Labarbera with shot after shot
in a 3-1 win at HP Pavilion. San Jose calmly brushed aside a 1st period deficit
to win their second consecutive game, paced by a onslaught of offensive
pressure.
The Sharks continued the approach that worked successfully
against Anaheim last Thursday in their season opening win. Put the puck on the
opponent's net relentlessly and good things will happen.
"We wanted
people in certain spots, and the puck did a lot of the work for us. We shot it
a lot and got it back, and it's a tough thing to defend," Sharks head coach
Todd McLellan said after the game.
Tough to defend may be the
understatement of the week.
San Jose out-shot the Kings 41-13,
matching their shot total against Anaheim. In the first two games of the
season, the Sharks have a 40-6 advantage in the shot category in the 2nd
period, which is where they've done most of their damage.
The Sharks
scored a pair of goals in the 2nd period to erase a 1-0 Kings lead.
Devin Setoguchi scored his 2nd goal in as many games to tie things up 1:12 into
the middle period. Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic threw the puck on net from
the left point, creating a chance in front when Labarbera failed to glove the
shot. Setoguchi punched home the deflection and the momentum immediately
shifted.
With the rink starting to tilt toward the Kings goal, Dan
Boyle showed off his skating skills with a nifty reverse pivot move through the
crease after circling around the Los Angeles net. Boyle got off a shot that hit
Labarbera in the blocker, but the move had the crowd buzzing.
Christian Ehrhoff just missed bagging his 2nd goal of the season when he
clanked a shot off the right post after former Shark Tom Preissing took a
slashing penalty midway through the period.
Boyle would hit the same
post later in the period on another power play after Raitis Ivanans took a
delay of game penalty for knocking his own net off the moorings during another
Sharks rush.
"A lot of the shots are coming from the blue line, and
that's what we want," said McLellan. "It allows us to play in the offensive
zone a lot more than if we were just cycling the puck."
The wave would
finally catch up to Los Angeles, but it came on a Kings power play after Joe
Thornton was sent off for hooking. Rookie centerman Tomas Plihal put the Sharks
up 2-1 with his first NHL goal, with 2:11 to play in the period. After taking a
long pass from Vlasic up the left wing. Plihal gathered the pass at the Kings
blueline then undressed defenseman Jack Johnson near the left circle, before
roofing a shot over Labarbera's shoulder.
Picking up right were they left off, Joe Pavelski made
it 3-1 with his 1st goal of the season 1:03 into the 3rd period. Capitalizing
on a Kings turnover, Pavelski raced up ice then fired a shot that hit Johnson
and deflected between Labarbera's pads.
The effort wasn't lost on
McLellan.
"After our game with Anaheim I was concerned on how our team
would play. It was the first big test of many, and to see how we would react as
a team, and how our leadership would react, they passed thus far," he said.
The only blemish on the Sharks successful night was Boyle's inability
to stay out of the box. His 1st period interference penalty led to the Kings
lone goal on the evening. While on the penalty kill, the Sharks were guilty of
over pursuit, which left Kings left wing Alexander Frolov all by himself in the
slot area. Michal Handzus took a Preissing pass near the right dot, before
sending the puck through the slot to Frolov for the 15-foot one-timer.
"They had forty some odd shots on net, but I'm going to look at the game and
I'm sure I'm able to pull 20 of those shots coming off plays where we had the
puck and we turned it over, said Kings head coach Terry Murray. "We gave it
away, we weren't able to clear the puck out of our own zone, we iced the puck
and the face off is right back in our own end and they're right back at our net
again.
Game notes
Torrey Mitchell gave the fans a thumbs-up
from the press box when he was shown on the center ice jumbotron. The Sharks
centerman will be out until December at the earliest after breaking his leg in
a training camp scrimmage last month.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, LA,
Frolov 1 (Handzus, Preissing), 6:34, (PP). |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Setoguchi 2 (Vlasic, Thornton), 1:12. 3, SJ, Plihal 1 (Vlasic, Boyle), 17:49,
(sh). |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Pavelski 1 (Cheechoo, Michalek), 1:03. |
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| 1st period - Stoll, LA
(holding), 2:17; Boyle, SJ (interference), 4:40; Moulson, LA (holding the
stick), 17:33. |
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| 2nd period - Preissing,
LA (slashing), 9:24; Ivanans, LA (delay of game), 15:39; Thornton, SJ
(hooking), 16:23; Boyle, SJ (interference), 18:47. |
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| 3rd period - Stoll, LA
(slashing), 3:21; Boyle, SJ (holding), 9:37; Johnson, LA (high sticking),
17:48. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| LA - Labarbera |
41 |
38 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
13 |
12 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| LA |
5 |
4 |
4 |
13 |
| SJ |
14 |
17 |
10 |
41 |
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| Referees: Watson,
Meier. Linesmen: Racicot, Sharrers. |
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