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Buffalo forecast calls for a
flurry of goals
Defense softer than a NY
snow
If anything was going to save the Sharks on Tuesday
night is was the weather. Limping into Buffalo for the finale of a painful
7-game road trip, the Sharks needed the blizzard that blanketed Western New
York to prevent anyone from reaching the First Niagra Center. No such luck. The
snow wasn't deep enough, nor was the Sharks lineup, as San Jose coasted through
a 4-1 loss to the hapless Sabres.
Having won only 4 games entering
play on Tuesday night, the Sabres should have been easy pickings for the
Sharks, but much like their meeting earlier this season, the Sharks found a way
to had two points to a team that doesn't know how to win.
Like
Columbus did earlier in the trip, the Sabres completed a season sweep of San
Jose, and extended their home dominance over San Jose. Buffalo has lost once at
home to San Jose in 24 years. That's an unfathomable statistic given the
ineptness of the Sabres the last decade, and the relative strength of San Jose.
Buffalo just seems to be San Jose's Kryptonite.
Of course standing
around and not playing defense will also do wonders for your loss numbers.
That's pretty much what's happening on a regular basis for the Sharks these
days.
After both teams had goals waved off in the opening period,
Nicolas Deslauriers got things rolling for Buffalo with his 2nd tally of the
season 5:25 into the 2nd frame. Deslauriers punched home a loose puck form the
left side after the puck kicked off rookie defenseman Mirco Mueller's stick.
Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl were caught spectating on the play, allowing
Deslauriers to float in the danger zone before punching home his second goal
against San Jose this season.
A Drew Stafford interference penalty
setup San Jose's lone score of the night. Burns unloaded on a Joe Thornton feed
from the high slot, beating goaltender Jhonas Enroth over the right shoulder.
Enroth replaced starter Michal Neuvirth at the 1st intermission after Buffalo's
primary goaltender suffered a lower body injury.
The tie was
short-lived after Brian Gionta took advantage of Burns soft coverage on a play
up the right side. Brian Flynn carried the puck up the right wing boards before
feathering a pass to Gionta who had cut past Burns. The puck hit Gionta's tape
for split second before the former New Jersey Devils forward lifted a shot past
Troy Grosenick for this 1st goal of the season.
Gionta repaid Flynn
with an assist late in the period, flipping a puck up the right wing boards
past defenseman Matt Irwin to setup a 2-on-1 break. Once again Hertl was late
to get back as Gionta sent a pass across the slot to Flynn, who whipped the
pass past Grosenick with 11. 1seconds left in the period.
The Flynn
goal was painful as it pushed a manageable deficit to one that seemed
insurmountable given the Sharks penchant to be outscored in the 3rd period.
Patrick Marleau appeared to give the Sharks some hope
late in the final period when his partial breakaway ended with a wrist shot
that got past Enroth. The puck appeared to creep across the goal line before a
Sabres skater cleared it out of the net, but a reply decision ruled that it was
not a goal. Views of the replay made it difficult to determine, but game
officials decided it was enough to overturn the on-ice call of a goal.
Tyler Myers was sent off on the play for hooking Marleau, setting up a power
play chance that San Jose, but the nightmarish game just seemed to sway in any
direction except San Jose's.
The Sharks were forced to pull Grosenick
with 1:34 to play, but all that did was setup more stat padding by the Sabres.
Gionta added to his line by scoring an empty-netter late to ice things.
The Sharks were scheduled to fly out of Buffalo on Tuesday night, so
bad news for those that paid for Thursday night's game against the Florida
Panthers. The game will go on as planned, which will give the Panthers their
chance at sweeping the season series with San Jose.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| BUF |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
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| 2nd period - 1, BUF,
Deslauriers 2 (McCormick, Ristolainen), 5:25. 2, SJ, Burns 7 (Thornton,
Couture), 10:29, (pp). 3, BUF, Gionta 1 (Flynn, Myers), 11:54. 4, BUF, Flynn 2
(Gionta, Weber), 19:48. |
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| 3rd period - 5, BUF,
GIonta 2 (Myers, Meszaros), 19:18, (en). |
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| 1st period - Ennis, BUF
(goaltender interference), 12:29; Burish, SJ (hooking), 16:07; Mitchell, BUF
(slashing), 18:37. |
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| 2nd period - Irwin, SJ
(boarding), 2:20; Wingels, SJ (roughing), 6:20; Zadorov, BUF (boarding), 6:20;
Stafford, BUF (interference), 9:28. |
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| 3rd period - Myers, BUF
(hooking), 15:16. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Grosenick |
13 |
10 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| BUF - Neuvirth |
10 |
10 |
| BUF - Enroth |
20 |
19 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
12 |
8 |
30 |
| BUF |
3 |
7 |
4 |
14 |
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| Referees: Kozari,
Morton. Linesmen: Brisebois, Devorski. |
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