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Canadiens bulldogged by
Sharks
Niemi shuts-out Canadiens a second time this
season
The Sharks built on their exciting win over the
Pittsburgh Penguins last Thursday night, with a resounding 4-0 victory over the
Montreal Canadiens at SAP Center. Antti Niemi remained perfect against the
Canadiens this season, shutting them out for the 2nd time in as many games.
Tommy Wingels scored a pair of goals to lead the Sharks to their 41st victory
of the season.
* Things just started wrong for the Canadiens and it
was all downhill from there. James Sheppard took a tripping penalty on Rene
Bourque just 1:42 into the contest. Logan Couture intercepted a Montreal pass
in the neutral zone and fired the puck on net from the redline that Canadiens
goaltender Peter Budaj easily stopped. Budaj had the puck drop to the ice in
front of him, but he couldn't find it. He decided to stand up as the puck sat
perched between his pads, but Tommy Wingels raced in and stabbed at it, pushing
it through Budaj's skates an into the goal.
* Wingels made it 2-0 at
1:54 of the 2nd period with a deflection from the top of the crease. Matt Irwin
fired a shot from the left point, splitting Wingels skates with the shot.
Wingels deflected the shot with either his stick shaft or his left leg,
changing the trajectory enough to slip the puck just inside the right post.
* The Canadiens yanked Budaj after Wingels' 2nd goal, replacing him
with Dustin Tokarski. The Canadiens backup didn't do much better.
*
Things got chippy4:19 into the middle period when Raffi Torres lit up Lars
Eller with a hit in the right corner. Jarred Tinordu immediately went after
Torres, earning an instigator penalty which automatically comes with a 10
minutes misconduct. Torres was sent off for boarding and an additional 5 for
fighting with Tinordi.
* Matt Nieto pushed the Sharks lead to 3-0 7:43
into the 2nd period with a one-time chance from the slot. The Sharks forced a
turnover at the Canadiens blueline before Dan Boyle pushed a feed up the left
wing boards. Patrick Marleau was the recipient, who then raced to the left
corner and setup Nieto with a pretty feed from behind the end line. Tokarski
couldn't get the blocker up fast enough and Nieto had his 8th tally of the
season.
* Logan Couture made it 4-0 San Jose after he chipped a Matt
Nieto feed to the front of the net. Nieto skated up the left wing boards, then
feathered a pass over two Canadien defender sticks, hitting Couture right on
the tape. Couture lifted a backhand chance over Tokarski's left leg pad for his
18th goal of the season.
* With the score spiraling away from the
visitors, things started to get nasty. Referees Dan O'Rourke and Frederick
L'Ecuyer decided to keep things under control by dishing out 10 minute
misconduct penalties anytime the two sides started to mix it up. 78 penalty
minutes were handed out in the 3rd period alone. The two teams racked up a
combined 114 penalty minutes. Tinordi amassed 19 PIMs all by himself.
* With all the penalties overlapping, San Jose ended
up with 6 power play chances, most of which of the abridged variety. Their
offensive production 5-on-5 didn't require any additional help from the special
teams unit. The 0-for-6 on the power play surprisingly didn't drop the sharks
any farther down the NHL statistical standings. San Jose's power play ended the
evening where it started, ranked 21st in the league.
* Couture
finished the night with a game high +3, with his goal and two assists.
* Former Shark defenseman Douglas Murray made his return to SAP Center for the
first time since he was traded to Pittsburgh last March. The fan favorite
received a nice ovation from the San Jose crowd. Murray acknowledged the San
Jose faitful with a wave of the glove after cameras focused on him via the
center ice video screens.
* It was alumni night, as former Sharks
centerman Marco Sturm dropped the puck in the ceremonial opening faceoff. Sturm
retired last year after spending 14 seasons in the NHL. Sturm scored 242 goals
and added 245 assists in 938 career NHL games. Sturm played in San Jose from
1997 through 2005 when he was traded to the Boston Bruins as part of the
package that brought Joe Thornton to San Jose.
* Daniel Briere played
in his 900th NHL game.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| MON |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| SJ |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Wingels 13 (Couture), 2:26, (sh). |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Wingels 14 (Irwin, Torres), 1:54. 3, SJ, Nieto 8 (Marleau, Couture), 7:43. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Couture 18 (Nieto), 0:43. |
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| 1st period - Sheppard,
SJ (tripping), 1:42; Tinordi, MON (holding), 5:18; GIonta, MON (tripping),
6:51; Burns, SJ (tripping), 12:50; Emelin, MON (interference), 16:45. |
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| 2nd period - Tinordi,
MON (instigator), 4:19; Tinordi, MON (fighting major), 4:19; Tinordi, MON (10
min misconduct), 4:19; Torres, SJ (boarding), 4:19; Torres, SJ (fighting
major), 4:19; Shepperd, SJ (holding), 17:59. |
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| 3rd period - Moen, MON
(slashing), 3:59; Eller, MON (roughing), 12:40; Eller, MON (10 min misconduct),
12:40; Vlasic, SJ (roughing), 12:40; Vlasic, SJ (10 min misconduct), 12:40;
Marleau, SJ (holding), 12:59; Pacioretty, MON (interference), 14:18; Bench, MON
(too many men), 16:35; Gionta, MON (cross checking), 17:24; White, MON (10 min
misconduct), 17:24; Shepperd, SJ (tripping), 17:24; Shepperd, SJ (roughing),
17:24; Irwin, SJ (10 min misconduct), 17:24; Gallagher, MON (10 min
misconduct), 19: ; Hannan, SJ (10 min misconduct), 19:. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| MON - Budaj |
11 |
9 |
| MON - Tokarski |
22 |
20 |
| SJ - Niemi |
27 |
27 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| MON |
9 |
8 |
10 |
27 |
| SJ |
7 |
19 |
7 |
33 |
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| Referees: O'Rourke,
L'Ecuyer. Linesmen: Cameron, Galloway. |
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