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Bad habits mounting as playoffs
approach
Sharks drop second straight
stinker
After 20 years, you'd think the Sharks would
understand that entering the playoffs with momentum improves your overall
chances to surviving each 7 game series. Even armed with the knowledge, the
Sharks laid their second consecutive egg and lost to the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 on
the front end of their home-and-home series with the division rivals. By
winning, the Coyotes also secured a playoff spot.
The game was headed
downhill before the puck fell on the opening faceoff. Forward Devin Setoguchi
injured himself in the pre-game warm-up and was scratched right before the
start of the game.
San Jose had an opportunity to clinch the 2nd seed
in the Western Conference by virtue of the fact that the Detroit Red Wings lost
earlier in the day to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sharks will get one more shot
at locking up home ice-through the first two rounds of the playoffs by beating
Phoenix Saturday night in San Jose.
The Sharks got themselves into
penalty trouble early in the game, putting the Coyotes on the power play twice
in the first 4 minutes of the game. The much maligned penalty-killing unit held
serve on both chances, thanks in part to better puck coverage down low.
Kyle Wellwood setup a pretty scoring chance after hauling up ice on a
2-on-1 break with Torrey Mithcell. Wellwood flipped a pass over defenseman
Michael Rozsival's stick, but Mitchell's one-time chance hit Coyotes goaltender
Ilya Bryzgalow in the crest.
Andrew Ebbett broke the deadlock with
4:02 left in the period by kicking the puck past Antti Niemi after Kyle Turris
forced a turnover in the Sharks zone. Turris sent a 25-foot pass from the right
wing boards to Ebbett on the off-post. Ebbett stuck his left skate out and
redirected the puck into the Sharks net, but the goal was allowed even after a
video review.
Joe Pavelski, Wellwood and Mitchell would turn up the
heat in the final minute of the period, putting a series of shot on Bryzgalov,
but the Coyotes netminder withstood the attack. Pavelski had an opening on the
left side of the net, but his shot didn't get high enough to clear Bryzgalov's
right pad.
San Jose tied the game on Ian White's 3rd goal of the
season at 4:31 of the 2nd period. The defenseman drew the puck across the high
slot, waiting for Pavelski to create some traffic in front of the net. He would
whip a 60-foot wrist-shot that found twine to tie the game.
The
Coyotes took advantage of the Sharks bad luck to reclaim the lead 4 minutes
later, after Jamal Mayer bounced a shot off the post. Phoenix grabbed the puck,
moved up ice and converted, when former Shark centerman Ray Whitney beat rookie
defenseman Andrew Desjardins to the puck. Rather than moving to a centering
pass from Shane Doa out of the right corner, Desjardins sat perched at the top
of the Sharks crease. Whitney raced in from the slot, winning the race to the
puck and depositing his 17th goal of the season.
Joe Thornton clanked
another shot off the post less than three minutes later, and just like that,
the Coyotes were racing up ice on a 3-on-1. That rush ended with Radim Vrbata
scoring his 19th of the year to put the Coyotes up 3-1.
Douglas Murray was sent off for holding 8 minutes into
the 3rd period, setting up the final stake in the Shark's coffin. Doan
converted on the ensuing power play with a redirect from the slot that beat
Niemi via the 5-hole.
Thornton would score his 21st goal of the season
a minute later to give him 1000 career points. The centerman swatted a
deflection out of the air, after Douglas Murray sent a shot in on net from the
high slot. There was little celebration following Thornton's milestone, as the
Sharks still found themselves trailing by a pair of goals.
A Keith
Yandle interference penalty gave the Sharks an opportunity to cut into the
Phoenix lead, but the league's 2nd ranked power play unit sputtered.
Off-setting minors to Mitchell and Martin Hanzel setup a 4-on-4 situation with
4:29 to play and the Sharks struck with the added space. Dany Heatley sent a
Howitzer shot from the high slot after taking a pass from Patrick Marleau. The
Sharks forward was facing away from the Coyotes net, so he was forced to pivot
before winding p and blasting a shot that slipped inside the right post.
San Jose finally decided to try and kick things in gear with about
three minutes remaining in regulation, but Bryzgalov survived to send the
Sharks to their second straight regulation loss.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| PHO |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, PHO,
Ebbett 2 (Turris), 15:58. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
White 3 (Wallin, Mitchell), 4:31.3, PHO, Whitney 17 (Doan, Belanger), 8:57. 4,
PHO, Vrbata 19 (Belanger), 11:31. |
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| 3rd period - 5, PHO,
Doan 20 (Vrbata, Korpikoski), 8:22, (pp). 6, SJ, Thornton 21 (Murray, Boyle),
9:27. 7, SJ, Heatley 26 (Marleau, Demers), 16:21. |
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| 1st period - Mitchell,
SJ (holding), 0:42; Desjardins, SJ (high sticking), 3:41. |
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| 2nd period - Nichol, SJ
(interference), 2:35; Turris, PHO (interference), 2:51; Courture, SJ
(interference), 9:10; Korpikoski, PHO (holding), 15:12. |
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| 3rd period - Murray, SJ
(holding), 8:02; Yandle, PHO (interference), 13:12; Mitchell, SJ (slashing),
15:31; Hanzel, PHO (cross checking), 15:31. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
26 |
22 |
| PHO - Bryzgalov |
27 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
8 |
8 |
11 |
27 |
| PHO |
10 |
14 |
2 |
26 |
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| Referees: O'Rourke,
Morton. Linesmen: Nansen, Sharrers. |
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