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Gritty comeback in
Nashville
Sharks overcome three deficits to take 2nd
road win
If the Sharks hope to go deep into the upcoming
Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’re going to need some gritty performances to
get the job done. Chalk up Saturday night’s 4-3 win in Nashville as a
prime example of how grit on the road can lead to reward. The Sharks overcame
three deficits against a determined Nashville Predator lineup to take two
points from their hosts at the Sommet Center . Dany Heatley scored a power play
goal with 8 minutes to play, capping the hard nosed comeback.
Unlike
Thursday night’s win in St Louis , the opposition would strike first and
early. J.P. Dumont staked the Predators to the 1-0 lead just 99 seconds into
the contest. Martin Erat tried jamming a shot past Sharks goaltender Evgeni
Nabokov from the doorstep, but a poke check kicked the puck out into the slot.
Dumont gathered the puck with his skate, then swept home his 10th goal of the
season.
Jody Shelley would take a stab at waking up his
teammates by dropping the gloves with Wade Belak in a lengthy bout. The wakeup
call would work. San Jose would tie the game off the ensuing faceoff, when Brad
Staubitz chipped home his 3rd goal of the season. After Joe Pavelski won the
faceoff, Torrey Mitchell skated down the puck, sliding a pass Keny Huskins on
the left point. Huskins put a long shot on goal that Predators goaltender Pekka
Rinne knocked down. Rinne tried to pounce on the rebound, but Staubitz beat him
to it with a stab of his stick.
Nashville would go back on top in the
2nd period after Staubitz was sent off for boarding with a hit on Jordan
Tootoo. Dumont would score his second goal of the game with a second left on
Staubitz’s penalty, one timing a Cal O’Reilly feed. Dumont setup in
the slot, then pumped home O’Reilly’s feed from the left wing boards.
The Sharks would shoot themselves in the foot midway through the 2nd
period, on what appeared to be a go-ahead goal. Three Sharks found themselves
on an odd-man rush and ended the break with a shot that found its way past
Rinne, but defenseman Jay Leach would take a roughing penalty in the Sharks
zone, nullifying the goal.
Shelley and Belak would drop the gloves for
the second time at the same time, the Sharks found themselves back on the
penalty kill because of the Leach infraction.
The Predators would go
back on the power play, but Nabokov prevented any further damage with what was
arguably the save of the game. Shea Webber threw a puck on net during the power
play, hitting Jason Arnott just outside the right post. Arnott, redirected the
puck to Patric Hornqvist on the off post, but Hornqvist deftly sent the puck
right back to Arnott after Nabokov cut off the left side of the net. Arnott had
Nabokov beat, but the Sharks netminder stabbed at the shot with his left leg,
denying the sure goal.
San Jose went on the power play after Joel Ward took a
hooking penalty at 13:49. Heatley would convert with a 40-foot shot from the
high slot that slipped inside the left post. Rinne was partially screened by
Patrick Marleau who was cutting across the slot.
Ward would atone for
his mistake just over two minutes later. Both Dan Boyle and Kent Huskins
pinched in from their defensive positions with the puck cycling in the
Nashville zone. Joe Thornton tried gathering pass near the right dot, but the
puck kicked out to the neutral zone. Ward had a jump on three Shark players and
out-skated them to the puck before beating Nabokov with the breakaway goal.
With the second intermission looming, the Sharks turned the whole game
around with their third game-tying goal of the game. Patrick Marleau tried
putting a shot on goal from the right side with just under 30 seconds left in
the period. The shot deflected off the end boards, floating outside the left
post. Flying in from the left wing, Heatley swatted at the loose puck, putting
a shot on a diving Rinne. The Predators netminder made the save on
Heatley’s shot, but the puck kicked out to the top of the crease where
defenseman Rob Blake poked it home with 23.5 seconds left.
That goal
was huge, because without it, the Sharks would start the third period trailing.
Rather than working to get the equalizer, San Jose could focus on scoring the
go-ahead goal.
They would get that goal after Dan Hamhuis was set off
for boarding at 11:32 of the final period. Once again Marleau and Heatley were
involved in the scoring. After taking a pass from Thornton behind the Predators
net, Marleau skated toward the crease from the right side. Heatley parked
himself on the top of the crease, and redirected a Marleau pass as two
defenders left him to try and cut off the threat from behind the net.
The Predators would pull Rinne for the extra attacker, and just like that
things got busy in front of Nabokov. The netminder was up to the task, denying
Ward and Arnott with point blank chances to seal the Sharks 38th win of the
season.
Game Notes:
Boyle returned to the lineup for
the first time since January 19th. Boyle missed six games with an undisclosed
upper body injury.
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What did you
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| NSH |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, NSH,
Dumont 10 (Erat, O’Reilly), 1:39. 2, SJ, Staubitz 3 (Huskins, Mitchell),
2:12. |
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| 2nd period - 3, NSH,
Dumont 11 (O;Reilly, Suter), 8:47, (pp). 4, SJ, Heatley 31 (Setoguchi,
Thornton), 14:57, (pp). 5, NSH, Ward 11 (O’Reilly), 17:35. 6, SJ, Blake 5
(Heatley, Marleau), 19:36. |
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| 3rd period - 7, SJ,
Heatley 32 (Marleau, Thornton), 11:57, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Shelley, SJ
(fighting major), 2:04; Belak, NSH (fighting major), 2:04; Sulzer, NSH (delay
of game – puck over glass), 4:32; Arnott, NSH (hooking), 6:52; Heatley, SJ
(goaltender interference), 12:08. |
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| 2nd period - Staubitz,
SJ (boarding), 6:48; Leach, SJ (roughing), 9:25; Shelley, SJ (fighting major),
9:25; Belak, NSH (fighting major), 9:25; Nichol, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct),
12:34; Suter, NSH (slashing), 12:34; Ward, NSH (hooking), 13:49. |
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| 3rd period -
Hamhuis, NSH (boarding), 11:32. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Nabokov |
38 |
35 |
| NSH - Rinne |
29 |
25 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
11 |
7 |
29 |
| NSH |
12 |
10 |
16 |
38 |
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| Referees: Watson,
McCauley. Linesmen: McElman, Schachte. |
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