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Vlasic and Burns get offensive
in comeback
Sharks score last second goals in
regulation and overtime to knock off St Louis
Things looked bleak for the Sharks on Saturday
night. Wrapping up their 5-game home trip against the St Louis Blues, San Jose
skated for most of the evening as if they had hit the egg-nog a little too hard
before the opening faceoff. Battling the puck all night, the Sharks were
chasing their A-game without much success, until Marc-Edouard Vlasic bailed
them out with a goal in the final minute of regulation.
Trailing 2-1
late in the game, the Sharks were forced to pull goaltender Antti Niemi in an
attempt to tie the game with an extra attacker. That strategy paid off when
Vlasic took a cross-ice pass from Joe Thornton as he sprinted from the Sharks
bench on a line-change and ripped a shot past Blues goaltender Jake Allen with
20.6 seconds left in the 3rd period.
Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau
were skating through the slot as Vlasic's shot floated toward the St Louis net.
Pavelski may have distracted Allen enough to distract the netminder.
Regardless, it was just what the doctor ordered when the Sharks needed it the
most.
"The issue was that we let the point shot get through, we got
beat on the boards and that's what disappointing,"said Blues head coach Ken
Hitchcock. "The last two games have been disappointing from a checking stand
point."
The 59 minutes leading up to Vlasic's game-tying goal was an
exercise in frustration, as the Sharks never really got things on track. They
opened the game on their heels, spending more time in their own end than in
front of Allen. San Jose mustered only two shots on goal in the opening period,
and one of those was a bit of charity from the scorekeeper as Tomas Hertl's
shot sailed wide of Allen and the Blues net.
Andrew Desjardins
actually staked the Sharks to a 1-0 lead midway through the 2nd period after
snapping a shot past Allen from the left side after whipping a shot around Alex
Pietrangelo. The puck squeezed past Allen and the left post to give the sharks
a short-lived lead.
"I felt good, I would like to have the first one
back, that's an unacceptable goal, but I thought I made some saves to give the
guys a chance," added Allen after the game.
Patrick Berglund knotted
the game at 1-1 less than 4 minutes later after Petrangelo fired a shot from
the right point that Niemi stopped but could not control. Berglund actually
skated past the shot, but he caught it perched outside the left post as he
reached back and spun to his left while lifting a backhand shot into the wide
open net.
SAP Center's public enemy number one, Steve Ott, made his
return to San Jose and rubbed a little salt into old wounds by putting the
Blues up with his 1st goal in almost a year with 2:39 left in the period. The
Sharks were pressing in the Blues zone, but Brent Burns made one too-many
passes, missing through the slot to Joe Thornton. Maxim Lapierre intercepted
Burns pass and started heading up the right side, before seeing Ott streaking
up the off wing. A diagonal pass through the neutral zone setup Ott for a
breakaway chance that he would deposit through Niemi's pads.
"We were
pushing hard starting in that second period," said Pavelski. "We got a couple
breaks, but I think we gained the momentum in the second, even though we lost
the lead there. Guys came out in the third, we kept doing it the right way and
we broke through. It just took a long time."
Vlasic's heroics late in regulation meant the Sharks
would salvage at least a point in the standings but helping his team reach
overtime. That was probably more than they deserved.
Not typically one
to press in the overtime, San Jose created an opportunity when a turnover in
the neutral zone forced Alexander Steen to trip Pavelski as the puck kicked
back towards the Blues zone. Had Pavelski not been upended, he would have had
an uncontested breakaway. Steen's infraction setup the 4-on-3 power play with
63 seconds left in the extra session.
With two defenders high and one
protecting the front of the net, the Blues were in a difficult spot as the
Sharks worked the puck from behind the net counter-clockwise around the
perimeter. Burns slid the puck to Pavelski on the right side before taking a
return feed as he sat in the high slot. The sharks defender stepped into the
puck and sent a blast that snapped past Allen's right arm for the game-winning
goal.
Those of the sellout crowd that chose to attend erupted as Burns
shot ruffled the net.
"We have to be fairly happy with the point
production and the game - the way we're playing," said Sharks head coach Todd
McLellan. "We played a good team tonight and gave up 12 shots in the last two
periods and overtime, which is a good thing for our club. Now, one more in a
tough building against a really good opponent. We'll see if we can duplicate it
and then take our break."
Game Notes:
* The Sharks
played without committing a penalty for the first time this season.
*
Melker Karlsson picked up an assist on the game-tying goal. He now has four
assists in five career NHL games. The Sharks have not lost since Karlsson
joined the team.
* Burns is tied for the NHL lead in goals by a
defenseman (10).
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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 |
OT |
T |
| STL |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Desjardins 2 (Braun, McGinn), 10:47. 2, STL, Berglund 4 (Pietrangelo, Jaskin),
14:29. 3, STL, Ott 1 (Lapierre, Cole), 17:21. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Vlasic 4 (Thornton, Karlsson), 19:39. |
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| Overtime - 5, SJ, Burns
10 (Pavelski, Couture), 4:22, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Team, STL
(too many men), 13:31. |
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| 2nd period - Lehtera.
STL (high sticking), 5:47. |
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| Overtime - Steen, STL
(tripping), 3:57. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| STL - Allen |
30 |
27 |
| SJ - Niemi |
20 |
18 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| STL |
8 |
9 |
3 |
0 |
20 |
| SJ |
2 |
17 |
9 |
2 |
30 |
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| Referees: McCauley,
Joannette. Linesmen: Grandt, Henderson. |
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