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Havlat steals Game
1
SJ takes opener with 3-2 win in 2nd
overtime
Most NHL teams will tell you that splitting the
first two games of a playoff series on the road is key to overcoming your
higher seeded opponent. The Sharks flat out stole Game 1 of their Western
Conference Quarter Final series with the St Louis Blues on Thursday night. It
took a pair of overtime periods, but San Jose managed to pull out a stunning
3-2 win at Scottrade Center in St Louis. Martin Havlat scored a pair of goals,
including the game winner.
Havlat bookended the game's scoring by
bagging the first and last goals of the contest. His game winner came at 3:34
of that 2nd overtime, when he one-timed a lateral feed from Ryane Clowe past
Jaroslav Halak. Clowe and Logan Couture worked on the forecheck to keep the
puck in the Blues zone after St Louis owned the puck possession for most of
both overtime periods.
Havlat opened the game's scoring with his 1st
of the playoff season after a tight checking opening period.
David
Perron incurred the game's first infraction, earning a 2 minute trip to the
penalty box for slashing Brent Burns at 4:23 of the 2nd period. San Jose made
St Louis pay for the undisciplined penalty, when Havlat redirected a Dan Boyle
shot 99 seconds into the penalty. Boyle walked up the slot and fired a shot to
Halak's stick side. With Joe Thornton parked in front of the Blues net, Havlat
slid in from outside the left post and used his stick blade to redirect the
knee-high shot for his 20th career playoff goal.
The tally was the
first for San Jose at Scottrade Center this season. They were shut out in two
regular season trips to St Louis.
Referee Kelly Sutherland even things
up with a ticky-tack interference call on Jason Demers at 9:40, but the Sharks
29th ranked penalty kill held the fort. Patrick Marleau used his speed to
offset a big chunk of the penalty by skating the puck up ice on a partial
breakaway, then patiently passing it back to his defense.
David Backes
was sent off for interference at 14:33, putting San Jose back on the power
play. The opportunity almost turned disastrous, when Alex Steen carried the
puck up ice and rang a shot off the crossbar.
Sutherland once again
felt the need to even up the opportunities on the man advantage by calling T.J.
Galiardi for interference shortly after Backes' penalty expired.
Knowing the Blues would come out firing to start the 3rd period, San Jose sat
back on their heels and allowed the Blues to tie the game 54 seconds in. Patrik
Berglund deflected a Kevin Shattenkirk shot past Antti Niemi from the doorstep.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic was covering Berglund behind the net, but the two got
tangled up, tripping up the Sharks defenseman. With his defender stumbling
behind him, Berglund slid out to the front of the Sharks goal crease just as
Shattenkirk's shot arrived.
Havlat put his team in a hole at 6:31 of
the period when he was called for tripping Halak behind the Blues net. St Louis
grabbed the lead when Berglund took a pass from Andy McDonald while trailing on
a rush, then picked a corner, beating Niemi with a point blank shot.
Former Sharks defenseman Kent Huskins put the sharks on the power play at 8:23
after hooking Torrey Mitchell. San Jose did little with the power play,
squandering a legitimate chance at tying the game.
Mitchell found
himself with the puck on the Blues doorstep with 9 minutes to play, but he
opted to dish the puck to Galiardi who whiffed on a shot attempt.
Andrew Desjardins resuscitated the Sharks with his 2nd career playoff goal with
5:16 remaining in regulation. Tommy Wingels worked the puck up the left wing
boards after fighting through a check by Roman Polak, then slid a pass back
into the slot where Desjardins was following.
That goal allowed San Jose to extend the game after
being dominated in the period.
In the 1st overtime, Joe Pavelski setup
Brent Burns with a golden opportunity to end it on a pass in the slot. Burns
fired a 20-foot shot that Halak impeded to keep things going.
The
Sharks had to lean on Niemi, who made 14 saves in the first extra session. He
stayed square to the shooters most of the night, not putting himself in awkward
positions. Niemi finished the game with 40 saves.
San Jose was forced
to burn its timeout at 9:17 of the overtime after St Louis pinned the sharks in
their own end with an aggressive forecheck.
The 1st overtime period
ended with a pair of chances on each end of the ice. Galiardi whiffed on a wide
open net as Halak got turned around in his crease, then T.J. Oshie countered up
ice and pumped a shot that Niemi stopped with a blocker save.
The
Sharks seemed reenergized to start the 2nd overtime, not allowing the Blues to
man-handle them as they did the prior frame. The 4th line of Wingels,
Desjardins and Winnik got things rolling with a strong forecheck in the Blues
zone, which was followed up by Couture, Clowe and Havlat. The Blues let down
their guard for an instant and Havlat ended things.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
1OT |
2OT |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| STL |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Havlat 1 (Boyle, Clowe), 6:02, (pp). |
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| 3rd period - 2, STL,
Berglund (Shattenkirk, Steen), 0:54. 3, STL, Berglund 2 (McDonald, Russell),
7:28, (pp). 4, SJ, Desjardins 1 (Wingels, Boyle), 14:44. |
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| 2nd Overtime - 5, SJ,
Havlat 2 (Clowe, Couture), 3:34. |
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| 2nd period - Perron, STL
(slashing), 4:23; Demers, SJ (interference), 9:40; Backes, STL (interference),
14:33; Galiardi, SJ (interference), 16:54. |
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| 3rd period - Mitchell,
SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 4:23; Berglund, STL (roughing), 4:23; Havlat, SJ
(tripping), 6:31; Huskins, STL (hooking), 8:23. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
42 |
40 |
| STL - Halak |
34 |
31 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
1OT |
2OT |
T |
| SJ |
4 |
9 |
10 |
8 |
3 |
34 |
| STL |
7 |
13 |
8 |
14 |
0 |
42 |
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| Referees:
Sutherland, Pollack. Linesmen: Nowak, Racicot. |
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