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Havlat makes things right in
OT Sniper bags a pair in 3-2 win over
Wings
It took more than the luck of the Irish for the
Sharks to pull out a 3-2 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday
night. It took a little luck o' the Havlat. Martin Havlat to be specific.
Havlat scored a pair of goals, including the game winner in overtime to propel
the Sharks to their second consecutive victory and second over Central Division
teams.
The win was sweet justice, given the atrociousness of the
officiating all night long. San Jose outworked Detroit all night long, but were
forced to win the game in overtime after Detroit tied it up in the 3rd period
on a suspect goal.
Havlat made everything right by scooping up a loose
puck in front of the Red Wings net at 3:23 of the overtime and snapped a shot
into a wide open net. Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard could only watch after
he was pinned o the ice by his own teammate, Justin Abdelkader, after the
winger checked Sharks forward Justin Braun to the ice.
It was a
good play by Havlat to scoop it up there," Howard said. "Theres not much
you can do when youve got two guys laying on you, but its part of
the game. It was a pile out in front. They were able to get the loose puck and
put it home.
Havlat's goal ended what should have been a Sharks
win all along. San Jose owned the ice from the opening face off. Joe Pavelski
staked the Sharks to a 1-0 lead 48 seconds into the game. San Jose swarmed the
Detroit net, culminating in a put back by Pavelski after his first shot bounced
off the Red Wings netminder. Pavelski attacked the net from the right side,
gathering his own rebound with a pack of bodies all around the net, then
snapped a shot over Howard's right shoulder for his 25th goal of the season.
It was the third time in the last four games that San Jose scored in
the opening minuted of the game.
Havlat made it 2-0 with 1:37 left in
the period, whipping a shot from 40-feet out, using former Sharks defenseman
Brad Stuat to screen Howard on the shot.
Hes such an
important part of our hockey club and I dont think we even realize yet
how much of an impact he can have. He worked very hard when he was hurt and we
were all anxious to get him back," Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said of
Havlat. " He has played two very good games. Theres the emotional part of
returning and we hope that he maintains that level and were confident
that he can do it.
The Red Wings salvaged a goal 23 seconds
later, when Pavel Datsyuk snapped a shot from the left corner past Antti
Niemi's. San Jose had a chance to move the puck out of their own end, but a Dan
Boyule turnover allowed the Red Wings to gain possession and work the puck to
Datsyuk for the shot.
A holding call by Torrey Mitchell put the Red
Wings on the power play at 6:51 of the 2nd period. Detroit would come closest
to scoring when an Ian White shot deflected off Tomas Holmstrom then clanked
off the right post.
The intensity picked up, with the Sharks buzzing
Howard for most of the period.
Daniel Winnik missed on a wide open net
after setting up Torrey Mitchell with a nice pass moments earlier. Winnik
played his best game as a Shark since being acquired from Colorado on February
27th.
After outplaying the Sharks for the better part of the 2nd
period, the Red Wings were finally called for a penalty when Valteri Filppula
was sent off for holding Havlat with 1:50 left in the frame.
San Jose
couldn't convert on the power play and almost coughed up the tying goal when an
errant pass turned into a Drew Miller breakaway for Detroit at the horn. Niemi
made the save, allowing the Sharks to keep their one-goal lead heading into the
2nd intermission.
The Red Wings got away with murder to tie the game at
8:12 of the 3rd period. With the puck bouncing around the Sharks blueline,
Filppula gained control of the puck as Henrik Zeterberg threw a pick on
Marc-EDouard Vlasic, allowing Filppula to skate in uncontested and snap a shot
over Niemi's shoulder to tie the game.
When asked if he thougt he was
tied up on the play, Vlasic took gave a coy response.
"If you want to
call it being tied up, we'll leave it at that," Vlassic said with a chuckle.
"The fact is we came back to win the game."
Detroit got away with
another big screen on a moving pick in the overtime that went unpunished by
referees Brian Pochmara and Dan O'Rourke. There's no use in abandoning
something that works, legal or not, if the referees aren't going to whistle you
for it.
Darren Helm laid the body on Dominic Moore later in the period
and came up lame as a result. He looked as if he hyper-extended his left knee
then limped off the ice.
I feel great, especially after winning
the game," Havlat said. "The other night we won in the shootout so we know what
the situation is. Every game for us is important.
Game
Notes:
Pavelski tied a career-high for goals in a season. It is the
third time he has hit the 25-goal mark, previously doing so in the 2008-09 and
2009-10 seasons. Joe Thornton moved into a tie with Dave Taylor for 59th place
on the NHL all-time points list with 1,069.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
DET |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
SJ |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
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1st period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 25 (Couture, Thornton), 0:48. 2, SJ, Havlat 3 (Marleau), 18:23. 3,
DET, Datsyuk 17 (Kronwall), 18:46. |
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3rd period - 4, DET,
Filppula 23 (Janik), 8:12. |
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Overtime - 5, SJ, Havlat
4 (Braun, Moore), 3:23. |
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1st period - Holmstrom,
DET (goaltender interference), 9:57; Moore, SJ (interference), 14:52 |
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2nd period - Mitchell,
SJ (holding), 6:51; Filppula, DET (holding), 18:10. |
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3rd period - Abdelkader,
DET (holding the stick), 5:09. |
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Shots |
Saves |
DET - Howard |
35 |
32 |
SJ - Niemi |
28 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
DET |
9 |
11 |
7 |
1 |
28 |
SJ |
8 |
12 |
10 |
5 |
35 |
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Referees: Poshmara,
O'Rourke. Linesmen: Heyer, Galloway. |
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