|
|
Clowe goes wild in win over
Minnesota
Sharks put 49 shots on goal in 3-1
victory
11/4/08 - By Mike Lee
It
took 40 minutes to kick things into gear, but the Sharks continued to roll at
home where they defeated the visiting Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Ryane Clowe scored a goal and added an assist to go along with a 3rd period
fight that gave the Sharks their first Gordie Howe hat trick in two seasons.
Clowe took control in that period to propel the Sharks who extended their lead
in the Western Conference.
To no one’s surprise the Wild tried to
slow down the game from the onset, but the Sharks still managed to put the puck
on net.
“It was a sloppy effort on our part for 40 minutes,”
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said after the game.
Even after
out-shooting the wild 14-8 in the opening period, the Sharks had to play catch
up after Minnesota got on the scoreboard first. Krystofer Kolanos converted on
a Kim Johnsson deflection in tight, after beating Marc-Edouard Vlasic to the
puck as it pin-balled to the top of the crease. The Wild centerman made the
most of his call up from the minors on Tuesday morning by sweeping the loose
puck over Evgeni Nabokov, who tried to defend his goal by diving to the ice.
"Well, I thought early in the game our response was poor," McLellan
said. "We had to address that between the second and third periods. After that
we buckled down and played the way we should have. But it was a sloppy effort
on our behalf for forty minutes. I'm proud of the way the team responded in the
third but we can't leave games hanging like that."
Vlasic’s night
got worse after he wasted a San Jose power play by taking an ill-timed tripping
penalty midway through the period. The malaise even seemed to affect one of the
Sharks more energetic lines.
“Normally Pav’s line is flying
all over the ice,” McLellan added. “I thought they were dragging a
bit tonight.”
Mike Grier tied the game at 17:21 by deflecting a
Clowe one-time chance from the slot off his skate. Tomas Plihal setup the goal
with a nice pass from behind the Wild net after skating along the end boards
from right to left. Grier was locked up in front of the crease as the Clowe
shot changed direction to slip past Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom.
The Sharks got the short end of the stick midway through the 2nd period after
defenseman Dan Boyle was slew-footed by Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck. Boyle
crashed awkwardly into the boards, then went down with what appeared to be a
leg injury. Clowe went after Clutterbuck and subsequently earned a roughing
minor. While on the penalty kill, Jonathan Cheechoo was tripped up in his own
zone, creating a prime scoring chance, but referee Mike Leggo decided that it
wasn’t a penalty after raising his hand with what appeared to be a call.
The Sharks almost converted in the final minute of play after
defenseman Christian Ehrhoff pinched on a rush. Ehrhoff’s shot just
glanced off of Backstrom, preserving the deadlock entering the 2nd
intermission.
Jamie McGinn gave the Sharks the lead 3:11 into the
3rd period with a put back from the high slot. McGinn first fired a shot from
the right dot that bounced off a Wild player over to the off wing, where Jeremy
Roenick tried pushing the puck past Backstrom. Roenick’s shot attempt then
deflected back to McGinn, who buried it for his 2nd career goal.
"They
had a lot of shots on net," said Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire. They had a
lot of good chances. I just wanted our guys to stay in the game, which they
did. What changed the dynamic of the game was the second goal. It hit one
player's leg and then Backstrom made the save and then hit another one of their
players and it went in the net."
Clowe would push the Sharks lead to
3-1 just two minutes later after punching home his own rebound. Skating up the
left wing, Clowe cranked a shot from 35 feet that Backstrom failed to control,
allowing it to kick back out to the Sharks winger. He wouldn’t miss on his
second chance, slipping his follow up shot inside the left post.
Clowe
would add to his big night by engaging Wild rookie Erik Reitz with fisticuffs
midway through the period to earn the Gordie Howe hat trick.
Andrew
Brunette would take a holding the stick penalty 4 seconds after Reitz and Clowe
were sent off, then Johnsson took a slashing penalty with 31 seconds remaining
on Brunette’s penalty to give the Sharks a short 5-on-3. San Jose would
fail to capitalize on the two-man advantage, but it was a back breaker for the
Wild, who had less than 10 minutes to make up a 2-goal deficit.
Rather
than sit back with the lead, the Sharks turned up the offensive heat. They
would put 22 shots on goal in the period and fell one goal shy of their team
record of 50 shots in a game.
“When you’re getting shots, it
helps with your confidence,” Grier said. “With the talent and skill
in this room the pucks will eventually go in.”
"They have a lot of
great players who made a lot of great plays," added Lemaire. "I thought we had
some chances, but when you are playing against a top team, you cant make
mistakes."
Games Notes:
Five Sharks were named to the
NHL All Star ballot on Tuesday. Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle, Rob
Blake and Evgeni Nabokov were announced as ballot candidates for the game,
which will be played on January 25th in Montreal.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| MIN |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, MIN,
Kolanos 1 (Johnsson, Pouliot), 4:49. 2, SJ, Grier 2 (Clowe, Plihal),
17:21. |
|
|
|
|
|
| 3rd period - 3, SJ,
McGinn 2 (Roenick, Marleau), 3:11. 4, SJ, Clowe 6 (Grier, Boyle), 5:25. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Nabokov, SJ
(tripping), 5:01; Koivu, MIN (hooking), 10:57; Vlasic, SJ (tripping),
11:39. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Pouliot,
MIN (hooking), 3:19; Clowe, SJ (roughing), 12:14. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Reitz, MIN
(fighting major), 9:20; Clowe, SJ (fighting major), 9:20; Brunette, MIN
(holding the stick), 9:24; Johnsson, MIN (slashing), 10:54; Belanger, MIN
(cross checking), 16:36; Kolonos, MIN (cross checking), 19:58. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| MIN - Backstrom |
49 |
46 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
24 |
23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| MIN |
8 |
11 |
5 |
24 |
| SJ |
14 |
13 |
22 |
49 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Leggo,
McCreary. Linesmen: Sericolo, Schachte. |
|
|
|
|
|
