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Home no haven for San
Jose
Sharks drop another season series
If you took the 3000-to-1 odds on the Sharks losing
the season series to the Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue jackets and Buffalo
Sabres, you just hit the jackpot. San Jose completed the parlay of shame on
Thursday night, dropping a 3-2 shootout loss to the Panthers at SAP Center. The
no-name Panthers overcame a last second goal by the Sharks at the end of
regulation by one-upping San Jose in the skills contest.
After
stumbling through a 7-game road trip over the course of the past two weeks, the
Sharks returned home to the friendly confines of SAP Center, only to stumble
through 65 minutes on home ice. Losses happen, but losing so many games to so
many bad teams is unsettling. The Sharks are playing uninspired hockey that
doesn't seem to be getting any better.
Florida, Columbus and Buffalo
have combined for 18 wins this season, and 6 of those coming at the expense of
San Jose. Outside of a late Patrick Marleau goal, the Sharks seemed
ill-prepared to compete against one of the league's perpetual also-rans.
The Panthers took a mere 24 seconds before jumping on the Sharks. Nick
Bjugstad tipped a Dmitry Kulikov shot from the right point past Antti Niemi to
remind the less than sellout crowd that the Sharks have some holes. Bjugstad
simply skated to the shooting lane and got a stick on Kulikov's shot, changing
the trajectory enough to cross up the Sharks goaltender.
Kulikov would
play a role in the next game, putting the Sharks on the power play after cross
checking Tommy Wingels 4:41 into the 2nd period. Logan Couture converted on the
ensuing power play by jamming home a loose puck from outside the left post. Joe
Pavelski tried jamming home a feed from Marleau, but Roberto Luongo made a pad
save from his stomach. Couture swooped in to push the puck across the goal line
after Luongo failed to collect it with his glove.
Wingels repaid
Kulikov's favor by taking a lazy holding the stick penalty with 4:04 remaining
in the period. Bjugstad was there to punish the Sharks once again, rifling home
a shot from the top of the left circle with 2:37 left in the period. Jimmy
Hayes helped impair Niemi's vision on the play, parking himself in front of the
Sharks goal.
Two weeks of molasses in the Sharks veins seemed to bog
the sharks down in the 3rd period. Trailing by a goal, the Sharks needed to
play their best hockey in the final 20 minutes of regulation, but ended up
squeaking out a goal just to get to overtime. San Jose could only muster 3
shots in the period, but one of those came off those slipped past Luongo.
Marleau had a golden opportunity to tie things up 13 minutes into the
period, but the forward was slashed as he broke in on Luongo. The former Sharks
captain was awarded a penalty shot, but his passive approach to the 1-on-1
chance just potted more frustration for San Jose.
The Sharks forward
would atone for this misses with 34 seconds left in regulation when he snapped
a one-time chance from the right dot past Luongo for his 6th tally of the
season.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic got a tick up on Rocco Grimaldi with 11
seconds left in regulation to setup a lengthy 4-on-3 power play once the game
entered the overtime phase.
The Sharks killed off the Panthers power
play, but they simply delayed the inevitable.
Couture and Jussi Jokinen traded goals in the 2nd
round of the shootout, but Brent Burns missed his chance. Bjugstad ended things
with a sweeping shot that paralyzed Niemi before it hit the back of the net.
Game Notes:
* Jason Demers played in his 300th NHL
game.
* Patrick Marleau played in his 400th consecutive NHL contest,
the longest streak in San Jose Sharks history. In addition, he currently holds
the 5th longest consecutive games played streak in the NHL.
* Joe
Thornton recorded an assist on the Marleau goal, he is now tied with Denis
Savard for 23rd place on the NHL's All-Time Assist List.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| FLA |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, FLA,
Bjugstad 5 (Kulikov, Huberdeau), 0:24. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Couture 8 (Pavelski, Marleau), 6:19, (pp). 3, FLA, Bjugstead 6 (Gudbranson,
Huberdeau), 17:23, (pp). SJ, Marleau (missed penalty shot), 13:07. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Marleau 6 (Thornton, Hertl), 19:26. |
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| Shootout - SJ: Pavelski
(miss), Couture (goal), Burns (miss). FLA: Hueberdeau (miss), Jokinen (goal),
Bjugstad (). |
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| 1st period - Desjardins,
SJ (holding), 18:07. |
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| 2nd period - Kulikov,
FLA (cross checking), 4:41; Mitchell, FLA (delay of game - puck over glass),
13:16; Wingels, SJ (holding the stick), 15:56. |
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| 3rd period - Bruan, SJ
(hooking), 0:54; Jokinen, FLA (hooking), 6:45; Burns, SJ (tripping), 10:38;
Vlasic, SJ (high sticking), 19:49. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| FLA - Luongo |
30 |
28 |
| SJ - Niemi |
28 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| FLA |
6 |
9 |
10 |
3 |
28 |
| SJ |
12 |
13 |
3 |
2 |
30 |
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| Referees:
Chmielewski, Rooney. Linesmen: Cameron, Driscoll. |
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