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Sharks overcome bad call to
beat Flames
Overtime goal erroneously
overturned
Any sport that requires officials will invariably
have instances of bad officiating. Bad calls can result in injustices that
aren't always fair. Then there are times when a bad situation rights itself and
all is right in the world. The Sharks overcame one of those situations on
Tuesday night to defeat the visiting Calgary Flames 2-1 in the shootout at HP
Pavilion.
San Jose should have won the game in overtime, after Justin
Braun put a shot past former Sharks netminder Miikka Kiprusoff. Braun pumped a
shot from the top of the right circle with just over a minute left in the extra
frame, but officials Rob Martell and Mike Leggo ruled that Tommy Wingels
interfered with Kiprusoff.
The issue was, Wingles never touched
Kiprusoff. Replays clearly showed that Flames center Olli Jokinen pushes his
own netminder after stopping in front of his net. Jokinen was covering Wingels,
who also stopped outside the crease.
There was no video review,
because the scenario Is not reviewable. Contrary to logic, the league allows
its on-ice officials to make judgments based on what they see and that's that.
Luckily for San Jose, goaltender Antti Niemi overcame Martell and
Leggo's gaff by outlasting the Flames. Niemi stopped 27 shots, including three
in the overtime period. One of those was a breakaway chance by recently
acquired winger Mike Cammalleri.
Niemi's best work came in the
shootout, where he stopped Jerome Iginla and Cammalleri. Michal Handzus and
Brent Burns converted for San Jose to lock up the two points for the Sharks.
Handzus snapped a shot over Kiprusoff's right shoulder, and Burns put a
backhand shot past the Flames goaltender on the opposite side.
"In the
last two, three years I've been in the shootout," said Handzus. "Obviously, you
want to be the guy who wins it, get the point."
Chris Butler snapped a
scoreless deadlock midway through the game on a shot from the left point. The
Flames forced a turnover in the Sharks zone, working the puck in the right
corner before kicking it out to the defenseman up high. Niemi was late to react
to the waist high shot that tucked just under the crossbar.
Torrey
Mitchell tied the game with nine minutes and change left in regulation with his
5th goal of the season. Mitchell was the benefactor of his own setup work from
behind the Flames net. Parked along the end boards, Mitchell hit Handzus with a
pass in the slot for a shot attempt that bounced off Kiprusoff. With the Flames
defense collapsing on Handzus, he slid the puck back to Miitchell, who was left
unattended along the right post. Mitchell lifted the backhand chance into a
wide open net.
The goal was Mitchell's second in a week, providing
another offensive threat for San Jose. Mitchell had been mired in a season long
slump, but a benching in Columbus seems to have lit a fire.
"It's
pretty evident for all of us, you don't have to be a hockey expert, that he got
the message," Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said of Mitchell. "He's skating
harder; he's much more involved in the play. We talk about leaving a mark on a
game. It's not always a goal or an assist, but you can actually have an impact
on the outcome, from a positive viewpoint. And, Mitchell, since that day, has
had that most nights."
Iginla summed up the game minus all of the
debate related to eh blown call.
"We always want to beat them for
sure," said the Flames captain. "They always seem to be good intense games -
good, physical games and tonight was no different."
Game Notes:
Burns recorded his 200th career point with the secondary assist
on Mitchell's goal.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| CGY |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
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| 2nd period - 1, CGY,
Butler 2 (Iginla, Backlubd), 12:07. |
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| 3rd period - 2, SJ,
Mitchell 5 (Handzus, Burns), 10:44. |
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| Shootout - SJ; Marleau
(miss), Handzus (goal), Burns (goal). CGY: Iginla (miss), Cammalleri
(miss). |
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| 1st period - Glencross,
CGY (tripping), 9:30. |
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| 2nd period - Brodie, CGY
(boarding), 15:30. |
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| Overtime - Cammalleri,
CGY (roughing), 5:00; Vlasic, SJ (roughing), 5:00. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CGY - Kiprusoff |
31 |
30 |
| SJ - Niemi |
28 |
27 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| CGY |
6 |
11 |
8 |
3 |
28 |
| SJ |
4 |
10 |
14 |
3 |
31 |
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| Referees: Martell,
Leggo. Linesmen: Cvik, Gibbs. |
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