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Sharks lean on Nabokov for road
win Netminder stops 38 shots in 3-1
victory
Penalties and a motivated opponent were a recipe
for disaster as the Sharks kicked off a three game road trip, but hot
goaltending from Evgeni Nabokov and some timely scoring helped San Jose skate
to a 3-1 win in St Louis on Saturday. After getting called out by their owner
Dave Checketts earlier in the day, the Blues were in an ornery mood, and they
took it out on the Sharks. The Sharks also made things easier for the Blues by
offering up six power plays on the night.
St Louis would put 39 shots
on Nabokov, but the netminder turned in a solid performance, stopping all but
one of those shots.
After a half a period of chippy play, Cam Janssen
engaged Brad Staubitz in a fight tat ended in a draw, but the referees allowed
both teams to take shots at each other after several whistles.
A
Patrick Marleau hooking penalty at 16:23 setup a close call for San Jose , when
Paul Kariya put a shot off the post from in tight. The Sharks would clear the
puck then setup their own chance when Joe Thornton feathered a pass to Dany
Heatley that ended with a shot that Blues netminder Chris Mason had to turn
aside.
A bad pass by defenseman Derek Joslin ended up in the Sharks
net with just over a minute left in the period. The rookie tried clearing his
zone right up the middle of the ice, but Brad Winchester intercepted it at the
Sharks blueline. Winchester would send the puck to Jay McClement down low,
where the Blues forward would deflect a backhand chance off Nabokov for this
4th goal of the season.
A phantom hooking penalty to Keith Tkachuk
gave the Sharks a power play at 7:58 of the 2nd period and the Sharks would
strike. Dan Boyle sent a diagonal pass through the slot to Heatley, where the
Sharks sniper gathered the pass with his back to the goal. Heatley made a quick
pivot and lifted the puck over Masons left shoulder, roofing his league
leading 7th power play goal of the season.
The goal would snap the
Blues streak of 18 straight penalty kills without a goal allowed.
Jed
Ortmeyer would give the Sharks the lead just 16 seconds later. On the ensuing
faceoff, Manny Malhotra threw a shot on goal from the slot, bouncing the puck
off Mason. Ortmeyer zeroed in on the deflection, swatting it out of the air for
this 4th goal of the season.
Neither team played urgent hockey through
the first ten minutes of the 3rd period, but the Blues came closest to scoring
with a chance in front that Nabokov was forced to cover at 10:50.
A
hooking penalty to Ortmeyer at 11:31 made things interesting, as the Blues put
together a string of chances in tight, but Nabokov was solid.
Patrik Berglund swept a backhand chance toward the
Sharks net with just over two minutes left in regulation that Nabokov was
forced to turn aside.
With time running down, the Blues were guilty of
a little extra eagerness. They would be called for too many men with 1:41 left
in the contest. St Louis head coach Andy Murray still elected to pull Mason
once the Blues gained the sharks zone, but Thornton took a feed from Boyle at
center ice and whipped an empty-net power play goal to ice the game.
Game Notes:
Blues forward David Backes was injured early in the
2nd period and did not return. He appeared to be favoring his left leg.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
STL |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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1st period - 1, STL,
McClement 4 ( Winchester ), 18:56. |
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2nd period - 2, Heatley
13 (Boyle, Clowe), 8:23, (pp). 2, Ortmeyer 4 (Malhotra), 8:39. |
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3rd period - 4, SJ,
Thornton 5 (Boyle), 19:18, (pp), (en). |
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1st period - Clowe, SJ
(boarding), 2:32. McClement, STL (roughing), 5:07; Staubitz, SJ (fighting
major), 8:16; Janssen, STL (fighting major), 8:16; Thornton, SJ (cross
checking), 9:37; Marleau, SJ (hooking), 16:23; Crombeen, STL (roughing),
18:56. |
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2nd period - Winchester
, STL (cross checking), 3:33; Boyle, SJ (cross checking), 4:32; Tkachuk, STL
(hooking), 7:58. |
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3rd period -
Fistric, DAL (roughing), 2:36; Nichol, SJ (diving), 2:36, Bench, SJ (too many
men), 3:46; Modano, DAL (slashing), 17:34. |
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Overtime - Clowe, SJ
(holding), 3:46; Ortmeyer, SJ (hooking), 11:31; Bench, STL (too many men),
18:19. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Nabokov |
39 |
38 |
STL - Mason |
16 |
14 |
STL - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
6 |
8 |
3 |
17 |
STL |
15 |
13 |
11 |
39 |
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Referees: Lee,
Pollock. Linesmen: Brisebois, Seitz. |
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