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Lack of urgency bites
Sharks
Bryzgalov shines in shootout
shutout
The Phoenix Coyotes have every excuse to roll
over, especially on the road, but somehow the vagabond team found away to take
advantage of an uninspired Sharks roster on Monday night. Playing a grinding
style and leaning on goaltender Ilya Brygalov, the Coyotes knocked off the
Sharks 1-0 in the shootout at HP Pavilion.
San Jose 's unwillingness
to put bodies in front of Bryzgalov prevented the Sharks from getting anything
done, and Phoenix simply waited the Sharks out. The lackluster performance was
a glaring contrast to the wide open games that preceded Monday night's stinker.
"Failure to dictate play, no crisp passes," lamented defenseman Dan
Boyle. "We just weren't very good tonight. We have to give them credit, but you
have to create your chances."
For the Coyotes, it was their second
consecutive shutout.
"It was a well earned point," head coach Dave
Tippett said. "You'd like to win in regulation, but we'll take the shootout
point. Points are very valuable right now. I thought we played a hard gritty
game."
Bryzgalov was tested late in the opening period after Scott
Nichol intercepted a pass in the Coyotes zone then dished to Jed Ortmeyer for a
big slapper from the left wing boards. Bryzgalov squeezed the puck between his
pads before taking a peek behind to see if the shot found its way to the net.
San Jose dodged a bullet with 4:30 to play in the period when dan
Boyle tripped behind his own net, coughing the puck up. Vern Fidler took a feed
in the slot for a one time chance that defenseman Douglas Murray had to block
with a sliding save through the slot.
Jody Shelley and Coyotes left
wing Paul Bissonnette tried to incite some energy in an otherwise tepid opening
18 minutes by dropping the gloves early in the 2nd period. The exchange was
over too quickly to generate much fire on either bench.
Shelley would
take a tripping penalty just after his fighting major expired, getting his
stick caught in Petr Prucha's skates. San Jose escaped the ensuing Coyotes
power play, but not after Nabokov livened things up by falling over in the
crease, leaving a wide open net for Prucha, who whiffed on a wide open net.
San Jose would put some sustained pressure on Bryzgalov late in the
period, but a one-time chance by Devin Setoguchi missed the net. Dany Heatley
would also get a chance in close, but the Coyote defense blocked his 12 foot
shot.
Rob Blake missed breaking the scoreless deadlock with
11 minutes remaining in regulation by clanking a blast off the left post.
Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek gave the Sharks a gift with just
over 8 minutes left to play by swatting the puck over the glass in his
defensive zone. The Sharks would proceed to squander the opportunity by never
establishing any presence deep in the Phoenix zone.
Daniel Winnik
almost ended it in the final minute with a one-time chance after being left
alone in the slot. Shane Doan almost redirected a follow up shot moments later,
but the puck trickled just wide of the right post.
In the overtime
period, Heatley failed to grab a long lead pass, which would have setup a
breakaway. Robert Lang countered moments later with a chance from the left
wing. Jason Demers laid out Scottie Upshall on another Phoenix chance,
suppressing the Coyote forward with the big hit.
In the shootout,
Heatley put a shot off Bryzgalov's pads. Vrbata missed with the backhand
chance. Setoguchi shot the puck wide left. Peter Mueller snapped a shot inside
the right post. Boyle kept the Sharks alive by lifting a backhand shot past
Bryzgalov. Lauri Korpikoski ended it with a wrist shot that beat Nabokov to the
stick side.
"I thought we competed very hard in the game," Tippett
added. "And we were in the game. That game could have gone either way. One team
gets a break and we found a way to get points out of it and that's all that
counts right now for us."
Game Notes:
The shutout marked the
first time the Sharks had been held without a goal in the regular season since
December 18 of last year, when they were beaten 6-0 by the Detroit Red Wings
Nabokov recorded his 48th career shutout putting him alone in third place on
the all-time NHL shutout list. He surpassed Roberto Luongo and is now one
behind Chris Osgood (49).
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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 |
SO |
T |
| PHO |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| Shootout - SJ: Heatley
(miss), Setoguchi (miss), Boyle (goal). PHO: Vrbata (miss), Mueller (goal),
Korpikoski (goal). |
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| 1st period - Vrbata, PHO
(slashing), 3:54; Boyle, SJ (interference), 5:18. |
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| 2nd period -
Bissonnette, PHO (fighting major), 3:45; Shelley, SJ (fighting major), 3:45;
Shelley, SJ (tripping), 12:43; Huskins, SJ (tripping), 18:58. |
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| 3rd period -
Clowe, SJ (holding), 1:40; Aucoin, PHO (interference), 2:41; Michalek, PHO
(delay of game – puck over glass), 12:45. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| PHO - Bryzgalov |
26 |
26 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
30 |
30 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| PHO |
7 |
11 |
7 |
5 |
30 |
| SJ |
10 |
5 |
8 |
3 |
26 |
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| Referees: Meier,
Kowal. Linesmen: Murray, Wheler. |
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