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Marleau extends goal scoring
lead in win Sharks dispatch Dogs with 3-1 win in
Arizona
Turning in a workmanlike performance on the road,
the Sharks knocked off a divisional foe for the second straight night, taking a
3-1 decision over the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona. Patrick Marleau
extended his NHL goal scoring lead with a pair of tallies, and linemate Dany
Heatley converted his 27th of the season to help pace the Sharks. Goaltender
Evgeni Nabokov made 32 saves, to earn his 26th win of the season.
The
only downside to San Joses night was the excessive number of power plays
that were surrendered to the opposition. The Sharks were forced to kill seven
Coyote power play chances, including a partial 5-on-3 chance.
That issue was diffused to some degree by the two
goals Marleau scored in the opening period. San Jose s first tally came
courtesy of the lively Jobing.com boards midway through the period, and some
questionable play by Coyotes netminder Jason Labarbera. <
With the
Sharks on the penalty kill following a hooking penalty to Jody Shelley,
defenseman Rob Blake fired the puck the length of the ice to clear his own
zone. Labarbera skated behind his net to play the puck, but he fell to the ice
just as the puck was chipped off the boards to the front of the goal. Hustling
down the ice, Marleau beat Labarbera to the puck, depositing his 30th of the
season, short handed.
Marleau made it 2-0 less than seven minutes
later on the power play. Dan Boyle sent a shot in on net from the blueline that
Labarbera stopped, but a juicy rebound landed right on Marleaus stick for
the put back from 5-feet out.
The Sharks once again spent more time in
the box than the opposition in the 2nd period. Jay Leach was sent off for cross
checking at 8:22. Joe Thornton was also penalized for boarding with five
minutes to play in the period, but those two penalties were split by Sano
Joses third goal of the game.
Heatley bagged his 27th of the
season at 12:49 of the period on a second effort in front of Labarbera. The
Sharks gained control of the puck after Marleau created a turnover behind the
Coyotes net. Heatley took a feed from Thornton and tried stuffing a wrap-around
shot off the right post. Labarbera stopped the initial shot, but the rebound
trickled back out to Heatley for the put back.
Devin Setoguchi almost made it 4-0 breakaway with 5:30
to play before the 2nd intermission, but Labarbera came up big in front of his
own net. B Radim Vrbata missed on a golden opportunity to cut into the
Sharks lead with Thornton in the penalty box. The Coyotes winger found himself
uncontested with the puck just outside the left post, but is shot attempt
sailed wide of Nabokov.
Rob Blake put the Sharks in a precarious
position when he took an elbowing penalty before Thornton s penalty
expired, giving the Coyotes a 2-man advantage. That advantage would be short
lived after Evgeni Nabokov stoned Scottie Upshall from point blank range.
After the Sharks netminder had cleanly gloved the scoring chance,
Upshall tried took a stab at Nabokovs glove with this stick. That
generated an immediate response from three Sharks in the vicinity, including
Marleau. Upshall took one too many liberties, firing a punch at Marleau,
earning a trip to the box, which evened things up on the ice. Upshalls
lack of self control essentially killed the Coyotes chance to score before the
period ended.
The three-goal deficit entering the 3rd period proved
too much to overcome for Phoenix . They would score on Vrbatas 14th goal
of the season with 8 minutes to play, but would get no closer.
Vrbata
ended Nabokovs shutout bid by tipping a Sami Lepsito shot from the left
dot after the Coyotes did a nice job of cycling the puck in the corner for a
good 20 seconds.
Game Notes:
Marleau set a franchise
record with his first goal, as the fastest Sharks to reach to the 30 goal mark
in a season. The win was Nabokovs 275th career victory, pushing him to
30th on the all-time list.
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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 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
PHO |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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1st period - 1, SJ,
Marleau 30 (unassisted), 11:24, (sh). 2, SJ, Marleau 31 (Heatley, Boyle),
18:06, (pp). |
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2nd period - 3, SJ,
Heatley 27 (Thornton, Marleau), 12:49. |
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3rd period - 4, PHO,
Vrbata 14 (Lepisto, Prucha), 11:50. |
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1st period - Bench, SJ
(too many men), 0:50; Boyle, SJ (hooking), 7:18; Shelley, SJ (hooking), 11:14;
Vandermeer, PHO (cross checking), 17:40. |
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2nd period - Michalek,
PHO (cross checking), 5:54; Leach, SJ (cross checking), 8:22; Thornton, SJ
(boarding), 15:00; Blake, SJ (elbowing), 16:35; Upshall, PHO (roughing), 16:48;
Boyle, SJ (high sticking), 18:16; Doan, PHO (tripping), 18:16. |
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3rd period -
Thornton , SJ (tripping), 4:23; Doan, PHO (hooking), 9:00. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Nabokov |
33 |
32 |
PHO - Labarbera |
32 |
29 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
12 |
12 |
8 |
32 |
PHO |
13 |
13 |
7 |
33 |
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Referees: L'Ecuyer,
Sutherland. Linesmen: Cherrey, Lazarowich. |
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