|
|
Sloppy win almost ends
streak
Isles rally late but fail to topple
Sharks
1/3/09 - By Mike Lee
The
Sharks returned home on Saturday night and turned a would-be blowout into a
nail biter against the visiting New York Islanders. The Sharks staked
themselves to a 4-1 lead, then allowed the Islanders to claw back to a one goal
deficit with a minute to play. An empty-net goal would preserve a 5-3 San Jose
win, but the Sharks would have preferred to take the sure win, as opposed to
the wild finish variety.
The win did preserve San Jose 's streak of 21
games at HP Pavilion without a regulation loss. More importantly, the Sharks
got lots of offense from their 3rd line, with Mike Grier scoring two goals and
Jonathan Cheechoo adding 3 assists in the victory.
The Islanders
battled back from a 4-1 deficit in Phoenix on Friday night, scoring 3 goals in
the 3rd period. They would fall 5-4 to the Coyotes, but would also show a
penchant for late comebacks.
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan didn't
mince words after the game.
"Our focus is going to be the lapses that
got [the Islanders] back into the game," said McLellan. "It's unacceptable that
we're up 4-1 with three minutes left in the game and on the power play, and
give them a short-handed goal. We have a lot of learning to do as a hockey
club, learning how to win. That's one situation. We have an empty net with ten
seconds left in the game, we've got the puck at the hash marks, and we try to
pass it. That's unacceptable. We have to learn how to win. And, it's been
creeping into our game a little bit, something we have to work on."
It
was hard to tell who the losing coach was following the game. Islanders head
coach Scott Gordon was a bit more upbeat.
"There is no shame in losing
to that team," Gordon said. "They're big, they're strong, they're fast, they
control the puck, they protect the puck, and they are very hard to get the puck
from."
Ryane Clowe kicked off the goal fest with a rocket from the
slot, midway through the opening period. Milan Michalek setup the goal with a
feed from the right side. Clowe pumped the one timer past Islanders goaltender
Joey MacDonald.
Things got testy two minutes later when Islanders
defenseman Mark Streit threw an elbow that caught Sharks defenseman Christian
Ehrhoff in the chops. Ehrhoff took exception to the wayward limb and responded
with a punch to the back of Streit's head. Doug Weight jumped into the mix by
cross checking Ehrhoff, then dropping the gloves.
San Jose would go on
the power play, but Devin Setoguchi tripped up Brendan Witt in the Islanders
zone to nullify the advantage.
Mike Grier made it 2-0 with 21 seconds remaining in
the period on a wrap around attempt that deflected off the skate of Islanders
left wing Blake Comeau. MacDonald appeared to make the save along the left
post, but the puck skittered across the crease before being helped in by
Comeau.
Grier's goal was almost answer moments later, when Sean
Bergenheim took a breakaway attempt all the way to the net with 1.3 left in the
period, but Sharks netminder Evgeni Nabokov stoned the Islanders left winger.
Both teams traded minors early in the 2nd period, but the Sharks used
the open ice to capitalize. Dan Boyle took a Jonathan Cheechoo feed near the
top of the right circle, before skating in and roofing a shot past MacDonald
for the 3-0 San Jose lead. Boyle used a big screen from Joe Thornton in front
of the net to net his 12th goal of the season.
Richard Park cut the
Sharks lead to two goals with his 10th of the season at 16:04 of the period.
Park raced in on net from the left wing and chipped a shot that hit Nabokov's
stick and launched into the air. Park reached back after skating past the left
post and swatted the puck into net.
. Nabokov preserved the Sharks
cushion with just over a minute left in the period, by diving to his right and
stopping a shot from Weight with his paddle.
Grier made it 4-1 at
12:22 of the 3rd period on a beautiful cross-ice feed from Cheechoo. Rob Blake
dropped the puck to Cheechoo just inside the Islanders blueline, before the
Sharks forward faked a shot that slid a 40-foot pass through the slot to Grier
on the off wing.
A high sticking penalty to Witt with just under 5
minutes to play turned out wrong for the Sharks, when Tim Jackman blew past
Christian Ehrhoff and snapped a shot past Nabokov to make it 4-2.
New
York scored an improbable goal when Thomas Pock threw the puck on net from the
left point that hit Joe Paveski in the glove, then appeared to be redirected by
an Islanders stick.
"It's a tough task," said Gordon. "That's a model
that we would like to follow on what they built here, and the quality of the
team they are."
The Islanders would pull MacDonald for the extra
skater, but the Sharks would seal the game with an empty netter by Patrick
Marleau with 9 seconds left in regulation.
"Every night's an
opportunity," added a perturbed McLellan. "We talked about it earlier in the
year. The schedule was kind to us. We played a lot at home; now, we've got to
go and make up those games. A trip to Canada isn't easy, but maybe that's what
we need right now. Going into Calgary, they're going to be a very hungry team.
They're going to want to show us what they're about; they've been a very
successful team lately. You follow that up with a trip to Edmonton and
Vancouver, and not a single night's easy. If we put together a so-so effort, we
won't come away with what we want to do."
Game Notes:
Douglas
Murray and Jody Shelley missed the game with injuries. Alexei Semenov replaced
Shelley on the Sharks 4th line, playing forward. He also assumed the role of
enforcer for a game, dropping the gloves with Tim Jackman 6 minutes into the
game. Derek Joslin made his NHL debut for San Jose .
 |
|
| 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 |
| NYI |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Clowe 16 (Michalek, Ehrhoff), 11:20. 2, SJ, Grier 6 (Goc, Cheechoo),
19:39. |
|
|
| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Boyle 12 (Cheechoo, Thornton), 7:51. 4, NYI, Park 10 (Streit, Hunter),
16:04. |
|
|
| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Grier 7 (Cheechoo, Blake), 12:22. 6, NYI, Jackman 2 (Park), 16:50, (sh). 7,
NYI, Pock 1 (Hunter, Park), 18:57. 8, SJ, Marleau 19 (Thornton, Plihal), 19:50,
(en). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Jackman,
NYI (fighting major), 6:10; Semenov, SJ (fighting major), 6:10; Streit, NYI
(elbowing), 13:26; Weight, NYI (cross checking), 13:26; Weight, NYI (fighting
major), 13:26; Ehrhoff, SJ (roughing), 13:26; Ehrhoff, SJ (fighting major),
13:26; Setoguchi, SJ (tripping), 13:50. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Comrie, NYI
(cross checking), 5:55; Ehrhoff, SJ (hooking), 7:12. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Jackman,
NYI (roughing), 7:12; Joslin, SJ (roughing), 7:12; Comrie, NYI (tripping),
7:53; Witt, NYI (high sticking), 15:11. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| NYI - MacDonald |
46 |
42 |
| NYI - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
24 |
21 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NYI |
4 |
12 |
8 |
24 |
| SJ |
16 |
19 |
12 |
47 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Leggo,
VanMassenhoven. Linesmen: Racicot, Henderson. |
|
|
|
|
|
