|
|
Season opens with a
bang Sharks score 6 goas in rout of
Coyotes
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan spent all of
training camp preaching about the importance of a fast start this season. If
one game is any indication, his team took the advice to heart. San Jose treated
its fans to an opening night scoring bonanza, pounding the visiting Phoenix
Coyotes 6-3 at HP Pavilion on Saturday night. Joe Pavelski and Andrew
Desjardins each scored a pair of goals to led the Sharks.
The Sharks
rolled four offensive lines and were rewarded with scoring from each. Twelve
different Sharks recorded points on a 52-shot night, one that Phoenix
goaltender Mike Smith would just as soon forget. Smith surrendered all 6 goals,
but was allowed to finish the game.
Feeding off the energy of an
opening night home crowd, the Sharks jumped out to a 4-goal lead before the
Coyotes knew what hit them.
Pavelski scored the first of his two goals
4:01 into the game on the power play after Taylor Pyatt was sent off for high
sticking Michal Handzus. Pavleski tapped home a pretty feed from Patrick
Marleau as he cut through the slot. Marleau floated a pass from the left corner
as a Coyotes defender bore down on him.
Handzus added his first goal
as a Shark four minutes later after tucking the puck inside the right post from
behind the Coyotes net. Torrey Mitchell wound the puck around the end boards
from the left side, before Handzus collected it and made it a 2-0 game.
With the puck spending most of the opening 20 minutes in the Coyotes
end, Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss saw little action. He would only face 4
shots in that opening period. The Sharks matched their shot output in the 2nd
period, but were rewarded with twice as much scoring.
Derrick Morris
put the Sharks on the power play 6:25 into the 2nd period, by boarding
Pavelski. Ryane Clowe converted on the man-advantage with a pretty backhand
shot from the high slot after collecting the puck on the left side, skating
from left to right. The shot floated over Smith's right shoulder catching the
top shelf.
Desjardins made the most of his limited time on the 4th
line by stepping in front of a Laurie Korpikoski pass at center ice, then
dancing in uncontested on Smith.
Shane Doan sent a one-time past
Greiss at 12:16 of the period after Douglas Murray was whistled for holding the
stick. Patrick Marleau had just stepped back onto the ice after taking a
roughing infraction, so Doan's goal essentially came against three defenders.
Pavelski bagged his second goal of the game, and
second on the power play, with 3:06 remaining in the period. With Rotislav
Klesla in the box for holding, Dan Boyle sent a blast in on net from the point
that Pavelski redirected from his perch in the slot.
Desjardins made
it a 6-1 game with 1:18 left in the period by bouncing a shot off Smith's skate
and into the goal. What made the goal so impressive , was that the second year
player was knocked to the ice with what should have been called a boarding
penalty. Desjardins regained his feet and control of the puck before snapping
his shot on goal from a sever angle along the left goal line.
With the
game on cruise control, penalty issues started to bite the Sharks. First Joe
Thornton was sent off for holding the stick and Oliver Ekman-Larsson converted
with a blast from the right dot.
Then Doan bagged his second of the
night on another 5-on-3 chance. The Coyotes captain cranked a shot from the
left side, hitting Greiss in the chest pad, deflecting the puck into the net.
Frustration with the evening's events began to mount late in the game
for Phoenix. The Coyotes took exception with a hit by Clowe on Doan along the
left wing boards with 4 minutes left in regulation. Several players tried to go
after Clowe, but defenseman Colin White diffused the situation.
Game Notes:
Dan Rusanowsky called his 1,500th regular season
game for the Sharks. Tommy Wingels recorded his first NHL point, when he earned
the secondary assist on Clowe's goal.
|
|
What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
PHO |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
SJ |
2 |
4 |
0 |
6 |
|
|
1st period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 1 (Marleau, Burns), 4:01, (pp). 2, SJ, Handzus 1 (Mitchell, Demers),
8:23. |
|
|
2nd period - 3, SJ,
Clowe 1 (Couture, Wingels), 7:33. 4, SJ, Desjardins 1 (unassisted), 8:33. 5,
PHO, Doan 1 (Vrbata, Yandle), 12:16, (pp). 6, SJ, Pavelski 2 (Boyle, Marleau),
16:54, (pp). 7, SJ, Desjardins 2 (Winchester), 18:42. |
|
|
3rd period - 8, PHO,
Ekman-Larsson 1 (Boedker, Langkow), 4:56, (pp). 9, PHO, Doan 2 (Yandle,
Whitney), 10:25, (pp). |
|
|
|
|
|
1st period - Pyatt, PHO
(high sticking), 3:47; Morris, PHO (holding), 6:10. |
|
|
2nd period - Couture, SJ
(hooking), 2:39; Morris, PHO (boarding), 6:25; Marleau, SJ (roughing), 10:04;
Murray, SJ (holding the stick), 11:39; Klasla, PHO (holding), 15:34. |
|
|
3rd period - Thornton,
SJ (holding the stick), 3:09; Wingels, SJ (interference), 9:00; Desjardins, SJ
(hooking), 9:41; Aucoin, PHO (holding), 12:22; Doan, PHO (roughing), 17:17;
Clowe, SJ (boarding), 17:17; Clowe, SJ (roughing), 17:17; Yandle, PHO
(tripping), 19:25. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
PHO - Smith |
52 |
46 |
SJ - Greiss |
29 |
26 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
PHO |
4 |
14 |
11 |
29 |
SJ |
19 |
19 |
14 |
52 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Referees:
StLaurent, Watson. Linesmen: Heyer, Lazarowich. |
|
|
|
|
|