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Marquee 3rd period in
Boston SJ scored 5 times to take showcase
matchup 2/10/09 - By Mike Lee
The
leagues marquee matchup between conference leadering Boston Bruins and
San Jose Sharks was decided with a flurry of 3rd period goals on Tuesday night.
When the smoke cleared, the Sharks handed Boston their worst defeat of the
season, with a 5-2 schooling. San Jose scored 4 goals in the 3rd period to
overcome a 2-1 deficit, snapping a 3-game winless streak. The win also drew the
Sharks to within 4 points of the Bruins for best record in the NHL.
San Jose tried to contain the speedy Bruins with physical play, and in turn had
5 different players score goals en route to their 37th victory of the season.
Milan Lucic gave the Bruins the lead 3:58 into the contest with a tap
in after Dennis Wideman chipped a loose puck on net. San Jose got caught in
front of their own net after the Bruins defenseman was checked off the puck in
the slot. With the puck sitting between the circles, Wideman poked the puck
forward where Marc Savard got a piece of it, before Lucic deposited it into an
empty net.
Centerman Patrice Bergeron hauled down Marc-Edouard Vlasic
in the Sharks zone to earn the only Boston penalty of the game. San Jose would
take advantage however, with a Rob Blake goal at 7:18. Blake fired a shot from
the top of the right circle, before taking two fortuitous redirects.
Blakes shot hit the shaft of Blake Wheelers stick, then redirected
off the blade of Widemans stick, before slipping past Bruins goaltender
Tim Thomas.
Boston would retake the lead with just over 5 minutes
remaining in the period on Lucics second tally of the night. The Boston
left wing dropped a pass to Petteri Nokelainen just inside the blueline then
cut to the net. Nokelainen uncorked a 30-foot shot that Evgeni Nabokov had to
make a kick save on. The rebound deflected right to Lucic, who punched home his
13th of the season.
Dan Boyle evaded a high sticking call, when he
caught Nokelainen under the left eye right before the 1st intermission. The
Bruins centerman left the game with blood under his eye, but no penalty was
called. Referee Don VanMassenhoven conferred with the desk, and both head
coaches, but play resumed 5-on-5.
San Jose would not evade the penalty
box when the 2nd period would start though. Devin Setoguchi was whistled for
interfering with Thomas just 28 seconds into the period, then Boyle was sent
off 77 seconds later. The Bruins enjoyed a brief 2-man advantage, the Sharks
weathered the storm, do mainly to their ability to clear the puck.
Savard just missed on a golden opportunity to score midway through the period,
but Nabokov stacked his pads against the left post to deny the Bruins
centerman. Thomas would equal Nabokovs save with a stop on Mike Grier.
Both teams failed to score in the middle period, but the Sharks
started to use their size to wear down the Bruins. San Jose out hit Boston
39-25, with many of those shots being doled out in the middle period. Sharks
captain Patrick Marleau led the way with 6 hits. That statistic would become
more apparent in the final 20 minutes of play.
The Sharks were
apparently just warming up.
Marleau tied the game 3:32 into the 3rd
period with his 27th goal of the season. A Christian Ehrhoff shot from the
right point, made its way to the front of the net, but it hit Widemans
shin pad. The puck deflected right to Marleau, who was cutting toward the net.
Milan Michalek gave the Sharks the lead 4 minutes
later with a pretty shot from the slot that tucked under the crossbar after
sailing over Thomas glove hand. Dan Boyle carried the puck across the
blueline taking a defenseman with him, before dropping a pass to Michalek who
had all day to pick his target.
Boston had little opportunity to match
the Sharks offensive outburst generating only 2 shots on goal through the first
15 minutes of the period.
After getting booed most of the night, Joe
Thornton would silence the sellout crowd with his 13th goal of the season at
9:48. Devin Setoguchi threw the puck at Thornton from the end boards as the big
centerman cut toward the right post. The puck hit Thornton in the left skate,
redirecting past Thomas for the 4-2 lead.
The Sharks would get caught
up in penalty trouble in the back half of the period, with Jonathan Cheechoo
taking a hooking penalty at 10:55, and Boyle getting called for holding 5
minutes later. Boston could muster no quality scoring chances on the two power
plays, sealing the Bruins fate.
Grier would tack on an empty net goal
for good measure, and the sharks 3-ame losing streak was done.
Game
Notes:
The Sharks 5 penalty kills were a key to their win,
especially considering that Boston entered the game with almost a 30% power
play conversion rate at home this season. Marcel Goc suffered a lower body
injury in the 1st period after taking a hit from Lucic. He did not return. NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman was in attendance.
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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 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
BOS |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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1st period -
1, BOS, Lucic 12 (Savard, Wideman), 3:58. 2, SJ, Blake 8 (Vlasic, Clowe), 7:18,
(pp). 3, BOS, Lucic 13 (Nokelainen), 14:54. |
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3rd period - 4, SJ,
Marleau 27 (Ehrhoff, Clowe), 3:32. 5, SJ, Michalek, 15 (Boyle, Clowe), 7:28. 6,
SJ, Thornton 13 (Setoguchi, Marleau), 9:48. 7, SJ, Grier 10 (Marleau, Plihal),
19:31, (en). |
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1st period - Bergeron,
BOS (tripping), 5:31; Michalek, SJ (hooking), 16:15. |
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2nd period - Setoguchi,
SJ (interference on goaltender), 0:28; Boyle, SJ (tripping), 1:39. |
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3rd period - Cheechoo,
SJ (hooking), 10:55; Boyle, SJ (holding), 15:36. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Nabokov |
30 |
28 |
BOS - Thomas |
30 |
26 |
BOS - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
6 |
13 |
12 |
31 |
BOS |
13 |
10 |
7 |
30 |
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Referees: Rooney,
VanMassenhoven. Linesmen: Champoux, Nansen. |
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