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Sharks wrap up Pacific
Division Nabokov stops 38 shots in win
The Sharks wrapped up the Pacific Division title
on Tuesday night in Calgary with a nail biting 2-1 win. The Flames on the other
hand, were essentially eliminated from the playoff picture with a lifeless
performance before a sellout crowd at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Rob Blake and
Jamie McGinn would provide the Sharks with all the offense they would need and
Evgeni Nabokov would turn aside 38 shots to earn his 42nd win of the season.
The Flames are still alive mathematically, but they would need to run
the table and the Colorado Avalanche would need to lose their remaining four
games. With their backs against the wall, Calgary surprisingly generated little
energy all night long.
The Sharks got the start they needed, then held on for
a solid road win to guarantee themselves one of the top two seeds in the
upcoming playoffs. San Jose holds a slim 2 point lead over Chicago, who also
won on Tuesday night. The Blackhawks have a game in hand, and would win the tie
breaker if they were able to catch San Jose .
With the focus on
locking up the division before returning home to close out the season, the
Sharks took a conservative approach to start the game. They allowed Calgary to
put 12 shots on Nabokov in the opening period, but the majority of those came
during a Douglas Murray hooking penalty.
San Jose used an Ian White
holding penalty to bag the games first goal. The Sharks special
teams play has been marginal at best of late, but they used the White
infraction to get on the board first, scoring at 10:15 of the period. Blake
cranked a shot from the blueline, slipping his shot between Logan Couture and
Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Couture was parked in front of the crease,
distracting Kiprusoff.
McGinn extended the Sharks lead to 2-0 at 5:47
of the 2nd period, killing the momentum he Flames tried to seize out of the 1st
intermission. The young forward took advantage of Mark Giordano and Cory
Sarichs complacency to a rebound off Kiprusoff that trickled out into the
slot. Logan Couture started the sequence by putting a shot on net from the
right side. McGinn bulled his way between the two Flame defenders and swept the
loose puck into a wide open net for his 10th goal of the season.
Nabokov earned his paycheck over the final 40 minutes, by stopping 26 of 27
shots. He would rob Rene Bourque 3 minutes into the 3rd period with a
deflection off a cannon shot from the left side on a 2-on-1 break. Bourque gave
the Flames a glimmer of hope a minute later on a back-door deflection after
Blake was sent off for a delay of game penalty. Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester sent
a pass through the slot from the right side, hitting Bourque who was parked on
the left post.
The goal may have come too early for the Flames, who
failed to capitalize on the momentum they built with the tally. The continued
to try and out-chance the Sharks, rather than take it to the Sharks. Giordano
killed some of that momentum when he slashed Devin Setoguchis stick out
of his hands, drawing a two minute penalty. San Jose would fail to convert on
the wpoer play, but it killed precious time off the clock.
Nabokov
stood tall over the last 5 minutes of the contest, denying the Flames, even
after they pulled Kiprusoff for the extra attacker.
An apparent icing
by the Sharks with a minute remaining was denied when Setoguchi out-skated two
Flames players to the puck. He would turn the puck over, allowing the Flames to
bring the puck up ice one last time, but the play was an indication of the
Flames lack of jump, even with their season on the line.
Game
Notes:
Blake moved into 3rd place on the all time list for power
play goals by a defenseman. Jed Ortmeyer got the evening off, to nurse an
undisclosed injury.
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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 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
CGY |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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1st period - 1, SJ,
Blake 7 (Clowe, Demers), 10:15, (pp). |
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2nd period - 2, SJ,
McGinn 10 (Couture, Vlasic), 5:47. |
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3rd period - 3, CGY,
Bourque 26 (Bouwmeester, Stajan), 4:20, (pp). |
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1st period - White, CGY
(holding), 8:17; Murray, SJ (hooking), 14:34. |
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2nd period -
Wallin, SJ (hooking), 1:48; Mitchell, SJ (hooking), 17:53. |
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3rd period -
Blake, SJ (delay of game puck over glass), 3:16; Giordano, CGY
(slashing), 9:37. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Nabokov |
39 |
38 |
CGY - Kiprusoff |
26 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
12 |
10 |
4 |
26 |
CGY |
12 |
12 |
15 |
39 |
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Referees: Dwyer,
Walkom. Linesmen: Cvik, Henderson. |
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