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Marleau's hot hand downs
Canucks
Mats Sundin's first goal for Vancouver
wasted
1/10/09 - By Mike Lee
Finishing off the last leg of their 3-game road trip through Western Canada,
the Sharks overcame two sluggish periods of hockey to take a 4-2 win over the
Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night in British Columbia. Patrick Marleau scored
a pair of 3rd period goals to help propel the Sharks to their 31st victory of
the season. Backup goaltender Brian Boucher stopped 24 shots to earn his 9th
win in 11 starts this season.
San Jose seemed unable to match the
Canuck speed and pursuit of the puck, but they managed to score before
Vancouver. The Canucks did overcome San Jose leads twice, but Marleau stepped
up big in the 3rd period.
The Sharks were guilty of too much watching
and too little dictating early in the contest. Newly signed centerman Mats
Sundin has been the focus of Vancouver hockey, so all eyes were on the Swede,
who just missed on a goal at the midpoint of the 1st period.
A delay
of game penalty to Canucks goaltender Curtis Sanford at 15:29 of the period was
followed by a holding the stick infraction by Daniel Sedin 10 seconds later
gave the Sharks a lengthy 5-on-3 power play. Vancouver killed off the first
penalty, but a fortuitous deflection for San Jose resulted in the game's first
goal of the evening.
Rob Blake threw a puck in front of the net, with
Milan Michalek created noise in front of Sanford. As the Blake shot skittered
through the top of the crease, the puck hit Canucks defenseman Ryan Kessler in
the skate, deflecting it past Sanford.
The Sharks lack of jump caught
up to them late in the period, when Douglas Murray was whistled for delay of
game, when he knocked the net off its moorings on a wild sequence in front of
Boucher.
Sundin sent the GM Place crowd into a frenzy by scoring his
first goal as a Canuck on the ensuing power play. A Kevin Bieksa shot hit a
player in the slot and kicked out to Sundin near the left dot. Sundin had a
wide open net and buried the puck with 8 seconds left in the period.
The pace picked up for both teams to start the 2nd period, and San Jose grabbed
the lead back 2 minutes in on a Mike Grier blast from the top of the left
circle. Sanford had a clear look at the shot, but it sailed over his left
shoulder for Grier's 9th of the season.
Sharks rookie Brad Staubitz
took an elbowing minor 38 seconds later, then exacerbated the issue by drawing
a roughing penalty after trying to goad Kevin Bieksa into a fight. The San Jose
penalty kill unit got through both minors to keep the game at 2-1.
That would last until the 14:33 mark, when Vancouver would knotted the game up
after a Sharks power play expired. Shane O'Brien jumped out of the box and took
a Henrik Sedin feed up the right wing, before sliding a pass to Daniel Sedin
for the one timer. Sedin's shot slipped past Boucher for the 2-2 tie.
Vancouver pressed the matter late in the period and
came within an eyelash from scoring on a scrum in front of the net with 9
seconds left. Kyle Wellwood kicked the puck toward the net, but Boucher dove to
this left to smother the puck. The faceoff that followed was no less
adventurous for San Jose, who narrowly escaped the period still tied.
Sundin opened the 3rd period by taking a lazy interference penalty, but the
Sharks failed to capitalize on that man advantage. Sundin would take a high
sticking penalty at 7:30 of the period, but this time San Jose cashed in.
Patrick Marleau was credited with his 22nd goal of the season, after a
Dan Boyle shot deflected off his skate. Joe Thornton had Sanford lined up with
the puck in front of the net, but the big centerman couldn't pull the trigger.
Skating away from the net, Thornton dished the puck to Dan Boyle, who pinched
in before throwing the puck into a flurry of skates.
Marleau added an
insurance goal with 2:06 to play on a miscue by the Canucks deep in their own
zone. Tomas Plihal picked Alex Edler's pocket behind the net, then chipped the
puck out to Marleau in the slot. The Sharks captain had his back to the net,
but he sent a backhand shot that clipped Sanford in the left shoulder and into
the net.
Game Notes:
The Sharks will return home to
play 7 of their next 8 games at HP Pavilion, including 4 straight before the
All Star break.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
| VAN |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Blake 7 (Thornton, Clowe), 17:37, (pp). 2, VAN, Sundin 1 (Bieksa, H. Sedin),
19:52, (pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Grier 9 (Goc, Vlasic), 2:00. 4, VAN, D. Sedin (O'Brien, H. Sedin), 14:33. |
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| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Marleau 22 (Boyle, Thornton), 9:28, (pp). 6, SJ, Marleau, 23 (Plihal),
17:54. |
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| 1st period - Blake, SJ
(boarding), 6:22; Kessler, VAN (slashing), 9:00; Cheechoo, SJ (hooking), 14:30;
Sanford, VAN (delay of game), 15:29; D. Sedin, VAN (holding the stick), 15:39;
Murray, SJ (delay of game), 18:03. |
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| 2nd period - Staubitz,
SJ (elbowing), 2:38; Staubitz, SJ (roughing), 2:38; O'Brien, VAN, holding the
stick), 12:24. |
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| 3rd period - Sundin, VAN
(interference), 0:31; Goc, SJ (slashing), 6:53; Sundin, VAN (high sticking),
7:30. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Boucher |
26 |
24 |
| VAN - Sanford |
27 |
23 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
7 |
10 |
27 |
| VAN |
13 |
11 |
2 |
26 |
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| Referees: Rooney,
Walsh. Linesmen: Sharrers, Wheler. |
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