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Wild expose Sharks 3rd period
woes
SJ blows 3-1 lead and lose in the
shootout
The Sharks had the chance to close out the opening
month of the season on a high note. Leading 3-1 in the 3rd period, familiar bad
habits made an appearance and before they could blink, San Jose was losing to
the host Minnesota Wild 4-3 in the shootout. Kyle Brodziak pounced on the
Sharks soft 3rd period defense by scoring a pair of goals, then Mikko Koivu and
Jason Pominville beat Antti Niemi in the shootout to win their 6th game of the
season.
The 3rd period sleep walking continues to be a problem area
for the Sharks who surrendered a 3rd period lead for the 5th time this season.
Not a number you worry about at the end of the season, but this was only San
Jose's 12th game of the year. Hold on to those leads and San Jose is cruising
at the top of the Western Conference standings. They find themselves in the 4th
spot, having played the most games of any team in the West.
The Sharks
had a pair of would be goals waved off in the game, including a Logan Couture
tally in the 1st period that was waved off after incidental contact with
goaltender Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper. They had what would have been a
sudden death winner in overtime when Brent Burns power a goal past Kuemper, but
referee Kyle Rehman ruled that Burns tapped Kuemper before the goal crossed the
goal line. Both calls were 50-50, but went in Minnesota's favor.
Mirco
Mueller kicked off the game's scoring with his first career NHL goal 16:06 into
the 1st period. Mueller whipped the puck on net from the left corner, then Zack
Parise deflected the puck toward his own net. Kuemper was playing the original
trajectory off Mueller's stick, failing to adjust to his teammates miscue.
Stephane Veilleux was sent off for charging 3 minutes into the 2nd
period setting up a Tommy Wingels power play goal. Wingels scooped up a loose
puck near the bottom of the left circle before snapping a wrist shot that beat
Kuemper near side for his 5th goal of the season.
Minnesota would cut
the Sharks lead in half after throwing 19 shots on goal in the middle frame.
Koivu slipped past James Sheppard as he cut to the net from the right point,
one-timing a pass out of the right corner from Jason Zucker.
Joe
Thornton pushed the Sharks lead back to a pair of goals 1:#7 into the 3rd
period and it looked as if they would cruise to their 3rd straight win, but the
Wild had other ideas.
Both Burns and Mueller allowed Brodziak to slip
past them as Tomas Vanek setup a pass from the slot. That pass split both
defensemen, hitting Brodziak on the doorstep for the cake walk goal.
Mueller and Burns were on the ice 5 minutes later when Vanek and Brodziak
teamed up a gain to tie the game. Mueller's inexperience was evident on the
play as he was indecisive in who to defend, and Burns was late to get back.
Brodziak tapped home a Vanek pass through the slot as both raced in on net.
Burns had the chance to atone for his poor defense in
the extra period, but his contact with Kuemper was enough to disallow any
heroics.
San Jose got off to a quick start in the shootout when
Couture beat Kuemper through the 5-hole, but Koivu answered in the 2nd round
and Joe Pavelski's misfire had things deadlocked heading in the final round.
Pominville snapped a shot past Niemi to put Minnesota up, then Patrick Marleau
and his lethargic approach allowed Kuemper to easily snuff out the shot and the
Sharks.
Game Notes:
* Not only did the Sharks get
outshot 46-28 in the game, but they were also man-handled in the faceoff
circle, losing 66% of draws on the night. Pavelski lost 10 of 16, Marleau
dropped 13 of 18, and Chris Tierney allowed the Wild to win 8 of 10.
*
Koivu led all skaters with 9 shots on goal. Former Sharks prospect Charlie
Coyle and Jared Spurgeon had 6 shots each. Marleau led San Jose with 5 shots.
* Ryan Suter led all skaters with 33:49 of ice time. Marc-Edouard
Vlasic logged 26:57 to lead San Jose.
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Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| MIN |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Mueller 1 (Nieto, Sheppard), 16:06. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Wingels 5 (Pavelski, Burns), 4:20, (pp). 3, MIN, Koivu 2 (Zucker, Suter),
8:40. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Thornton 3 (Pavelski), 1:37. 5, MIN, Brodziak 1 (Vanek, Fontaine), 5:13. 6,
MIN, Brodziak 2 (Vanek, Prosser), 10:32. |
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| Shootout - MIN: Parise
(miss), Koivu (goal), Pomminville (goal). SJ: Couture (goal), Pavelski (miss),
Marleau (miss). |
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| 1st period - Burish, SJ
(holding), 8:24; Suter, MIN (interference), 12:18. |
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| 2nd period - Veilleux,
MIN (charging), 3:15. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
46 |
43 |
| MIN - Kuemper |
28 |
25 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
28 |
| MIN |
15 |
19 |
8 |
4 |
46 |
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| Referees: Meier,
Rehman. Linesmen: Mach, Pancich. |
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