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Sharks get back on track in
Edmonton
3 goals in 1st helps overpower
Oilers
1/9/09 - By Mike Lee
The
penalty practice that Sharks head coach Todd McLellan imposed on his team after
their embarrassing loss to the Calgary Flames appeared to get the message
across. At least it did for one game. San Jose over powered the host Edmonton
Oilers on Friday night, scoring three 1st period goals, en route to a 4-1 win
at Rexall Place. Patrick Marleau scored a pair of gals and Evgeni Nabokov
stopped 25 shots to pace the Sharks.
One of the things that San Jose
failed to do in Calgary on Tuesday night, was to take advantage of the power
play opportunities. That wasn’t the case on Friday night. A Steve Staios
slashing penalty setup Devin Setogushi’s 19th goal of the season 7:54 into
the game. Setoguchi took a simple drop pass from Dan Boyle at the right point,
then ripped a long shot that beat Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson to the upper
left corner of the net.
San Jose would return the favor at the midway
point of the period, when rookie Brad Staubitz was sent off for tripping. Denis
Grebeshkov answered with a 40-foot wrist shot from the high slot, beating
Nabokov after the Sharks netminder was partially screened.
Staubitz
would make amends for his penalty three minutes later with his first NHL goal.
The Edmonton native cranked a shot from almost the same location as
Setoguchi’s goal, which was partially deflected by Oilers defenseman
Ladislav Smid’s stick. Roloson got a glove in front of the puck, but the
velocity pushed it past the leather and into the Edmonton goal.
Douglas Murray was credited with the primary assist on the goal, which was his
first point of the season
The back breaker came with 36 second left in
the period, when sharks captain converted for this 20th goal of the season. An
Oilers icing call forced a faceoff in the Oilers net and the Sharks used the
advantage to convert. After winning the faceoff, San Jose moved the puck at
will in the zone, including a feed from Setoguchi to Marleau as the Sharks
captain cut toward the slot from the right wing boards. Marleau whipped a shot
past Roloson, with Joe Thornton hovering above the crease.
Oilers head
coach Craig MacTavish pulled Roloson to start the 2nd period, moving Mathieu
Garon between the pipes.
Evgeni Nabokov was whistled for delay of game
early in the period for dislodging the net after sliding in to the right post,
but the Sharks penalty kill denied the Oilers. The Sharks special teams unit
settled things down and finished the night 5 of 6 on penalty kills.
Eric Cole contributed to the final goal by taking a tripping penalty at 16:10.
San Jose ’s power play capped the scoring with just under 3 minutes
remaining in the period, but not before Nabokov was forced to make a sliding
save on an Eathan Moreau one timer. Marleau roofed a shot from the left dot.
Joe Pavelski sent a cross-ice pass to Marleau through the slot to setup the
goal.
The 21 goals for Marleau come before the season’s
mid-point, which is a huge turnaround from his 19 goal total for the entire
2007-08 season.
Staubitz would cap his memorable night with a brief
scrap with Zach Stortini, that may land the Oilers right wing on the injured
list. Stortini took exception to Staubitz hit on Smid in the corner after the
hitting began to pick up. As the two jostled to restrain the others fists,
Stortini got his left leg caught under Staubitz’s, hyper-extending the
knee. Stortini had to be helped off the ice, in obvious pain.
San Jose
would start a parade to the penalty box, with Blake, Ryane Clowe and Ehrhoff
being sent off for separate infractions. Nabokov had his helmet popped of his
head after Lubomir Visnovsky ripped a shot that hit the Sharks netminder square
in the cage.
Edmonton almost lost another player, when Robert Nilsson
lost an edge on a forecheck and crashed into the boards, banging his head
awkwardly.
Nabokov put and exclamation point on the win by snatching a
Marc-Antoine Pouliot shot from point blank range with just under 5 minutes to
play.
Game Notes: The assist that Rob Blake recorded on
Marleau’s first goal was the 500th of his career. The scorekeeper in
Calgary took as assist away from Blake on Tuesday night, so Blake had to do it
all over again. Sheldon Souray left the game in the 2nd period with an
undisclosed injury.
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What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
| EDM |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Setoguchi 19 (Boyle, Thornton), 7:54, (pp). 2, EDM, Gregeshkov 3 (Cogliano,
Visnovsky), 11:15, (pp). 3, SJ, Staubitz 1 (Murray, Semenov), 14:16. 4, SJ,
Marleau 20 (Setoguchi, Blake), 19:24. |
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| 2nd period - 5, SJ,
Marleau 21 (Pavelski, Setoguchi), 17:05, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Staubitz,
SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:23; Staios, EDM (slashing), 7:47; Staubitz, SJ
(tripping), 9:52. |
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| 2nd period - Nabokov, SJ
(delay of game), 0:56; Cole, EDM (tripping), 16:10; Michalek, SJ (roughing),
16:17; Staios, EDM (roughing), 16:17; Semenov, SJ (fighting major), 17:48;
Strudwick, EDM (fighting major), 17:48; Strudwick, EDM (slashing), 17:48. |
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| 3rd period - Staubitz,
SJ (fighting major), 6:05; Stortini, EDM (fighting major), 6:05; Blake, SJ
(cross checking), 6:29; Clowe, SJ (hooking), 8:18; Ehrhoff, SJ (holding),
11:32; Penner, EDM (holding), 17:59. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
26 |
25 |
| EDM - Roloson |
10 |
7 |
| EDM - Garon |
21 |
20 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
15 |
6 |
31 |
| EDM |
7 |
11 |
8 |
26 |
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| Referees: Rooney,
Watson. Linesmen: Henderson, Rody. |
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