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Monster trip kicks off with a
thud 5-on-3 chances kill Sharks
The road trip from hell is officially underway, but
the Sharks offense may have missed the plane to St Louis. Kicking off their
14-day, 9-game trip with a stop in the Gateway to the West, San Jose got into
penalty trouble, fell behind, and couldn't mount any form of offensive pressure
in a 3-0 loss to the Blues at Scottrade Center. It didn't help squaring off
against arguably the league's hottest team, but San Jose stumbled to a
lethargic start to their all important road trip.
St Louis hadn't lost
in regulation in 15 games entering Sunday night's battle of Western Conference
leaders. They extended that streak by capitalizing on mistakes by both the
Sharks and on-ice officials. The Blues scored a pair of goals on separate
5-on-3 chances, then added an empty net goal late in the game to keep pace with
the Central Division leading Detroit Red Wings.
San Jose came out flat
from the start, doing little to challenge Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak. The
Sharks could only muster 5 shots on goal through the first 10 minutes of the
game, then penalty issues set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Dan Boyle led the penalty parade with a hooking penalty that looked more like
an excuse for referee Tom Kowel to get involved in the game. St Louis didn't
score on the power play, but Kowel and Francois St Laurent obliged the Blues
with a questionable interference call on Brent Burns right before Boyle's
penalty expired.
Andrew Desjardins made matters worse by flipping a
puck over the glass a minute into Burns penalty.
Alex Pietrangelo
welcomed the Sharks to the Midwest by pumping a shot past Antti Niemi from
between the circles as San Jose's three penalty killers were hemmed in. The
Sharks netminder was partially screened by Andy McDonald.
The Sharks
just got plain rooked on the next Blues goal. Ryane Clowe was sent off for a
tripping penalty, but Brad Winchester was simultaneously assessed a two minute
minor for elbowing, even though he never touched a Blues skater.
The Blues converted on the full two minute 5-on-3 when
David Perron bounced a puck off Niemi's back from outside the left post. Niemi
was partially interfered with by Douglas Murray, who was flailing at the puck
as he fell on top of his own goaltender.
That was all she wrote. San
Jose had three power play chances in the 3rd period, but were only able to
manage 7 shots cumulatively in the period.
Pietrangelo scored an
empty-net goal to cap a three point night.
A typically stoic
Marc-Edouard Vlasic earned a 10 minute misconduct after the empty netter, after
voicing his displeasure with the officiating.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
STL |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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1st period - 1, STL,
Pietrangelo 9 (Oshie, McDonald), 15:03, (pp). |
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2nd period - 2, STL,
Perron 10 (Pietrangelo), 17:16, (pp). |
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3rd period - 3, STL,
Pietrangelo 10 (unassisted), 19:54, (en). |
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1st period - Boyle, SJ
(hooking), 11:28; Burns, SJ (interference), 13:20; Desjardins, SJ (delay of
game - puck over glass), 14:28. |
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2nd period - Colaiacovo,
STL (interference), 2:22; Clowe, SJ (tripping), 15:43; Winchester, SJ
(elbowing), 15:43. |
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3rd period - Reaves, STL
(elbowing), 2:38; Oshie, STL (hooking), 9:15; Oshie, STL (tripping), 12:22;
Vlasic, SJ (tripping), 17:43; Vlasic, SJ (10 min misconduct), 19:54. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Niemi |
27 |
25 |
SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
STL - Halak |
25 |
25 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
SJ |
7 |
11 |
7 |
25 |
STL |
10 |
10 |
8 |
28 |
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Referees: Kowal,
StLaurent. Linesmen: Champoux, Mach. |
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