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The implosion, take
II
Sharks fumble another 3-goal lead
3/10/09 - By Mike Lee
With last Thursday’s
implosion to the Minnesota Wild ripe for avenging, the Sharks stormed to a 3-0
lead at the Xcel Energy Center . Then they imploded again. Surrendering three
goals in the 3rd period, the Sharks coughed up another big lead, but this time
they salvaged the win with a Christian Ehrhoff goal in overtime.
The
latest meltdown was tempered with the fact that San Jose buckled down in the
extra period, but it still raises questions on when the Sharks will snap out of
their current funk. The Sharks kept pace with the Detroit Red Wings, who also
won in overtime on Tuesday, for the race for the Western Conference.
Joe Thornton staked the Sharks to a lead 4:13 into the game on a fluke bounce
off the stick of defenseman Nick Schulz. Thornton threw the puck on net from
the left wing boards after Travis Moen cycled it around the end boards. Schulz
tried deflecting the shot, but instead sent a rainbow over Wild goaltender
Niklas Backstrom and into the net.
Moen would score his 1st goal as a
Shark 8 minutes later, while San Jose was killing off a Marc-Edouard Vlasic
holding penalty. Patrick Marleau setup the goal with a breakaway after blocking
a Marek Zidlicky shot at the Sharks blueline. Marleau raced up the ice and got
the shot off, but Backstrom made the save. The rebound kicked back out into the
slot where Moen trailed. The new Sharks left winger squeezed a shot through
Backstrom’s pads for the 2-0 lead.
Backstrom’s initial save
was apparently good enough to prevent Marleau from being credited with an
assist on the play.
A hooking penalty to Stephane Veilleux at 5:01 of
the 2nd period pegged the Sharks against the best penalty kill in the league.
Thornton would respond with his 2nd goal of the game 39 seconds into the
penalty. Christian Ehrhoff put a shot on Backstrom from the left dot, but the
puck deflected off the Wild goaltender. With the puck rolling out toward the
right circle Thornton scooped it up and fired the puck past Backstrom. Once
again, the scorekeeper denied any Sharks of assists on the play, and once again
the Sharks had a 3-0 lead against the Wild.
As was the case last
Thursday in San Jose , the Wild started to chip away at that lead.
Peter Olvecky got Minnesota on the board at 8:38 of the period on a put back in
from of Sharks goaltender Brian Boucher. Cal Clutterbuck put a shot on net from
in tight, and Boucher failed to control the rebound. It skittered around the
top of the crease before Olvecky gathered it and took a step to his right
before sliding it into the open net.
The Wild would put a three spot
up on the scoreboard in the 3rd period to roar back to tie the game.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard made it 3-1 just 1 minute into the 3rd period on a wrist
shot from the right side, after sliding around defenseman Alexei Semenov.
Milan Michalek would score his 18th goal of the season
midway through the period to push the Sharks lead back to two goals, but that
would be short lived. The Sharks winger grabbed a loose puck near the right
corner then headed toward the net and roofed a shot over Backstrom’s left
shoulder.
Former Sharks captain Owen Nolan would go to work on his old
team starting with his 400th career goal at 13:56 of the period. Nolan
redirected a fake shot from Zidlicky from the high slot. Zidlicky sent the puck
wide left of the net as Nolan circled back to the crease from behind the net.
Nolan became only the 81st player to reach the 400-goal mark.
He would get his 401st with 2:06 to play in regulation. Saku Koivu grabbed a
faceoff draw that was won by Marleau and circled behind the net. Koivu sent a
feed from the end boards through Brad Lukowich’s skates to Nolan in the
slot for the one-timer past Boucher.
After being banished to the press
box after his performance against Minnesota last week, Ehrhoff used the
overtime to atone for his poor play. The defenseman grabbed a deflection along
the left wing boards and raced in on net and lifted a shot over Backstrom to
prevent a second catastrophic collapse in less than 5 days.
Game
Notes:
The Sharks recalled defenseman Derek Joslin before the game
to fill the void left by Rob Blake who retured to San Jose to nurse his injured
foot, but he was a healthy scratch. The Sharks were not without a shortage of
rookies in the lineup however. Brad Staubitz, Jamie McGinn and Tomas Greiss
were all in the lineup for the Sharks, although Griess served as Boucher’s
backup.
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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 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
| MIN |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Thornton 19 (Moen, Ehrhoff), 4:13. 2, SJ, Moen 5 (unassisted), 12:32, (sh).
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Thornton 20 (unassisted), 5:40, (pp). 4, MIN, Olvecky 2 (Clutterbuck,
Bergeron), 8:38. |
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| 3rd period - 5, MIN,
Bouchard 16 (Johnsson), 1:02. 6, SJ, Michalek, 18 (Clowe, Boyle), 10:25. 7,
MIN, Nolan 19 (Zidlicky, Koivu), 13:56. 8, MIN, Nolan 20 (Koivu), 17:54. |
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| Overtime - 9, SJ,
Ehrhoff 8 (unassisted), 3:34. |
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| 1st period - Staubitz,
SJ (holding the stick), 8:11; Vlasic, SJ (holding), 11:11; Scott, MIN
(hooking), 14:15. |
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| 2nd period - Koivu, MIN
(hooking), 3:00; Veilleux, MIN (hooking), 5:01; Shelley, SJ (holding),
18:56. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Boucher |
29 |
25 |
| MIN - Backstrom |
23 |
18 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
8 |
8 |
5 |
2 |
23 |
| MIN |
3 |
15 |
10 |
1 |
29 |
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| Referees: Kowal,
Dwyer. Linesmen: Henderson, Nelson. |
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