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Scalped Blackhawks score 3 short-handed goals in ambush
Leading up to Wednesday nights showdown with
the Chicago Blackahawks, the Sharks had not lost in regulation on home ice.
They forfeited that claim in grand fashion, by surrendering a franchise record
three short-handed goals in a 7-2 laugher at HP Pavilion. Chicago thoroughly
dominated a Sharks roster that seemed more intent on getting to Thanksgiving
dinner, than playing a hockey game. Marion Hossa made his Blackhawks debut by
scoring a pair of goals, including one of two short-handers that came on the
same Sharks power play.
The Sharks had their work cut out of
themselves early, as Chicago came out firing on all cylinders. The difference
in skating was evident from the opening faceoff, but San Jose somehow kept
things close. A turnover by Joe Pavelski in front of his own net at the 6:30
mark was the first hint that this was going to be a long night. Evgeni Nabokov
defended the ensuing Blackhawk scoring chance, but the storm was brewing.
When youre not prepared to play and youre not alert,
not sharp, those things can happen, especially when youre playing against
perhaps the top team in the National Hockey League, said Sharks head
coach Todd McLellan. You give up three shorties in one night, youre
not winning.
A Brent Seabrook holding penalty with 3:09
remaining in the 1st period gave the Sharks a chance to shift the momentum, but
it turned out to be exactly the opposite. With the power play trying to enter
the Blackhawks zone, a weak dump-in dribbled to Duncan Keith, who fired a
clearing pass to Troy Brouwer who was countering past two Sharks defenders.
Brouwer skated up the right side and ripped a shot that buzzed over
Nabokovs left shoulder for the 1-0 lead.
Brouwer would open the
2nd period with a boarding penalty that turned into a Sharks nightmare. Hossa
bagged the Hawks 2nd shortie of eh night after stepping in front of a Keny
Huskins shot attempt, chipping the puck to Jonathan Toews. With his momentum
carrying him back toward center ice, Hossa took a return feed from Toews and
was off to the races.
Patrick Sharp would convert on the same Sharks
power play, 28-seconds later, after a turnover in the San Jose zone turned into
a breakaway with some assistance from the hockey gremlins. Sharks rookie
defenseman Jason Demers had a chance to cutoff Sharp as they skated at
center-ice, but Demers tripped on the Sharks logo, allowing Sharp to skate in
on Nabokov unimpeded. The Chicago assistant captain put a backhand fake on the
Sharks netminder, before pulling the puck back to his forehand and easily
depositing his 7th goal of the season.
The penalty kill got
everything going for us when you have top guys on breakaways, said
Chicago head coach Joel Quenville. Hossa will be a shootout guy for us,
and it was a good start to his Blackhawk career.
Shoddy defense
in front of Nabokov would cost the Sharks at 10:38 of the period. Cam Barker
sent a shot in on net from the blueline, but Nabokov gave up a short rebound.
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic inexplicably turned away from Dustin Byfuglien
as the two converged on the crease, allowing the Blackhawks forward to grab the
deflection and easily deposit it around Nabokov.
Barker would take an interference penalty late in the
period, and this time the Sharks power play unit succeeded in keeping the puck
out of their own net. It would be one of the few Shark victories throughout the
evening.
Chicago would outshoot San Jose 21-6 in the period. They
would finish the game with 41 shots total.
McLellan decided that his
defense had subjected Nabokov to enough abuse, electing to start the 3rd period
with Thomas Greiss in net. That move only shifted the abuse to Greiss.
What do you do with Nabby after three short-handed goals, two of them
were basically breakaways, said McLellan. I didnt think Nabby
was the issue one bit. Going into the third period we wanted to give Thomas
some playing time and obviously he wasnt the answer either.
Seabrook would tip in a Keith shot 5:19 into the final period to make
it 5-0, but the Blackhawks werent done.
Hossa converted a minute
later after the Sharks got caught standing still in their own zone. Patrick
Kane started the scoring sequence by sending a pass to Brent Sopel on the right
side. Sopel one-timed a return feed to the bottom of the left circle to Hossa,
who deposited the puck into a wide open net. Manny Malhotra missed his
defensive assignment, leaving Hossa wide open for the tap-in.
Keith
redirected a Seabrook pass at center ice, springing John Madden at 11:38. The
former New Jersey Devils forward raced up the right side and lifted his 5th
goal of the season over Greiss right shoulder, tacking on the extra-point
for the 7-0 lead.
Barker and Sopel would take penalties 23 seconds
apart later in the period, essentially evening things up on the ice for the
first time all night. San Jose would score on the 5-on-3 when Dan Boyle slapped
a shot past Cristobal Huet from the left dot.
Joe Pavelski would tack
on a meaningless goal from the same spot as Boyles goal with 2:10 to
play. The five thousand or so fans that remained buzzed in anticipation of a
historic comeback, but it would fall five-goals short as time expired.
I think we have a lot of enthusiasm on our team right now, said
Quenville. We have had a lot of good success and momentum coming in here. There
was a lot at stake. We would love to close the gap between us and them.
Game Notes:
San Jose set franchise records from most
short-handed goals allowed in a game (3) and most short-handed goal allowed in
a period (2).
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
CHI |
1 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
SJ |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
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1st period - 1, CHI,
Brouwer 7 (Keith), 17:45, (sh). |
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2nd period - 2, CHI,
Hossa, 1 (Toews), 4:57, (sh). 3, CHI, Sharp 7 (Hjalmarsson), 5:25, (sh). 4,
CHI, Byfuglien 8 (Barker, Sharp), 10:38. |
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3rd period - 5, CHI,
Seabrook 3 (Keith, Brouwer), 5:19. 6, CHI, Hossa 2 (Sopel, Kane), 6:19. 7, CHI,
Madden 5 (Keith, Seabrook), 11:38. 8, SJ, Boyle 5 (Thornton, Heatley), 16:17,
(pp). 9, SJ, Pavelski 3 (Clowe, Huskins), 17:50. |
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1st period - Seabrook,
CHI (holding), 16:51. |
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2nd period - Brouwer,
CHI (boarding), 4:09; Clowe, SJ (elbowing), 11:43; Nichol, SJ (hooking), 15:42;
Barker, CHI (interference), 18:32. |
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3rd period -
Hjalmarsson, CHI (closing hand on puck), 1:36; Barker, CHI (hooking), 14:40;
Sopel, CHI (hooking), 15:03. |
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Shots |
Saves |
CHI - Huet |
24 |
22 |
SJ - Nabokov |
29 |
25 |
SJ - Greiss |
12 |
9 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
CHI |
8 |
21 |
12 |
41 |
SJ |
5 |
6 |
13 |
24 |
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Referees: Morton,
owal. Linesmen: Sharrers, Pancich. |
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