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Roadtrip ends on a high
note Marleau scores winner in OT
It took 50 shots on goal, but the Sharks squeaked
out a 2-1 overtime win over the Nashville Predators to close out their
seven-game road trip to snap their brief losing streak. Patrick Marleau
deposited a turnover in the extra period on a long breakaway chance, to
complete a very successful 5-2-0 trip. As the longest trip of the season wore
on, things got bumpy for the Sharks, but they wrapped things up on a positive
note.
For Marleau, it was a nice finish to a pretty solid game, but it
was Huskins who continues to produce offensively. The defenseman had a pair of
assists, to give him 6 points in the last five games. The defenseman bagged a
pair of goals on the road trip to go along with four assists .
After
dropping back-to-back games against teams out of the playoff picture, San Jose
turned to an up-tempo attack on offense that had plenty of rubber flying in
Predator goaltender Pekka Rinnes direction. The Sharks blew 3rd period
leads in both of their losses on the road trip, but turned the tide on
Nashville by coming back against an early deficit.
Nashville took a
1-0 lead on a Cody Franson power play goal after Logan Couture was sent off for
high sticking. The biggest sore spot for the Sharks on the road trip has been
special teams. San Joses 15th ranked penalty kill unit failed to contain
Nashville on the Predators first chance on the man advantage. Franson would
take a cross-ice feed from Steve Sullivan, then fire a shot through a Niklas
Wallin screen to beat Antti Niemi.
The Sharks power play didnt
fare any better. The Sharks were 0-for-4 on the man advantage, which included
26 seconds of 5-on-3 time after penalties to Ryan Suter and Shane OBrien
briefly cross over. Rinne would make what may have been his biggest save of the
game with the Sharks on the two-man advantage, when Joe Pavelski cranked a
one-time chance from the left circle. Rinne would slide to his right and get
his body in front of Pavelskis would be goal.
Niemi would come
up with some nifty defense of his own, stopping Sullivan on a break away chance
at 8:30 of the 2nd period. The Sharks netminder would throw a poke check as the
veteran forward raced in on net after Suter hit him with an 80-foot pass.
All the while, San Jose threw a continuous stream of pucks at Rinne.
They would put 16 shots on the Predators in the middle period.
Only
one of those shots would get past Rinne, but it was enough to draw even with
Predators who lead the Sharks by percentage points. Devin Setoguchi would take
a Huskins pass at his own blueline then race up the right wing. The Sharks
wingers stutter step at the Predators blueline would give him a step on
Suter, allowing him to whip a shot from the bottom of the right circle. The
shot roofed over Rinnes left shoulder, rattling the water bottle perched
on the top of the net.
Niemi would deny Nashville on a 2-on-1 break with 2
minutes remaining in the period with sliding save of his own as he covered the
right post.
San Jose would pepper Rinne with 17 shots in the 3rd
period, including a sequence that saw four pucks fly toward the Nashville net
after the Predators failed to clear the puck out of their own end.
In
the overtime period, San Jose looked more motivated to end things before the
shootout. They would outshoot Nashville 5-0 in the extra session, which
included a pair of nice scoring chances for the Sharks.
Marleau would
end things with his 22nd goal of the season after Kent Huskins picked former
Shark Marcel Gocs pocket at the San Jose bluline with a poke check.
Huskins was back skating into his own zone, when he jabbed at the puck that Goc
was skating up ice. He would gain control of the loose puck then hit Marleau in
stride with a diagonal pass through the neutral zone. Marleau would carry the
puck in on Rinne rght up the gut before snapping a shot through the five-hole.
Nashville would fall to 0-5 in overtime games this season.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
NSH |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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1st period - 1, NSH,
Franson 8 (Sullivan, Legwand), 6:48, (pp |
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2nd period - 2, SJ,
Setoguchi 12 (Huskins, Marleau), 9:13. |
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Overtime - 3, Marleau 22
(Huskins, Thornton), 3:53. |
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1st period - Couture, SJ
(high sticking), 5:30; Suter, NSH (hooking), 10:47; OBrien, NSH
(tripping), 12:21. |
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2nd period -
OBrien, NSH (hooking), 5:16; Setoguchi, SJ (holding), 9:35. |
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3rd period - Sulzer, NSH
(cross checking), 6:17. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Niemi |
31 |
30 |
NSH - Rinne |
50 |
48 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
SJ |
12 |
16 |
17 |
5 |
50 |
NSH |
14 |
10 |
7 |
0 |
31 |
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Referees: O'Rourke,
Rehman. Linesmen: Galloway, Nowak. |
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