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Sharks crumble against
Blackhawks
Chicago scores 4 goals in 3rd to blow out
Sharks
On the heels of the now public cat fight between
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson and Joe Thornton, the Sharks put up a
valiant fight for 40 minutes against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, then
rolled over after a defensive gaff by rookie defenseman Mirco Mueller. The
Blackhawks broke a 2-2 tie in the 3rd period with 4 unanswered goals to blowout
San Jose 6-2 at SAP Center.
The fortunes of both teams were on full
display as the Blackhawks continue to march toward another playoff run, while
the Sharks stumble through the tail end of the season. Thornton's teammates
could have used the dust up between their GM and former captain to rally behind
either and fight on in their quest to catch the 8th seed in the West, but
instead, they rolled over curled up in a corner when faced with a little
adversity.
San Jose smothered the Blackhawks early in the game,
controlling the puck for much of the opening 5 minutes. A holding the stick
penalty to Brian Bickell helped matters, but the Sharks power play couldn't get
the puck past Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford.
Chicago bit the
Sharks on only their 3rd shot of the period at 6:03 of the period when Antoine
Vermette found Patrick Sharp racing up the gut. Sharp blew past defenseman
Justin Braun then put a shot on Antti Niemi from in tight. Niemi made the
initial save, but the rebound kicked out to Sharp, who lifted a shot over the
fallen goaltender with Braun watching from the top of the crease.
The
Sharks took the initiative later in the period. Malker Karlsson tied the game
with 3:11 left in the period, lifting a rebound chance past Crawford after Matt
Irwin bounced a shot off the Blackhawks netminder. The goal was Karlsson's 12th
of the season, but importantly, it rewarded the Sharks for a nice effort in the
period. San Jose was by far the better team through the first 20 minutes of
play.
Joe Thornton got a little feisty at the end of the period when
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews tried to take liberties with Joe Pavelski.
Thornton jumped into a scrum as could be heard jawing at Toews.
Brendan Dillon simplified things for Chicago 7:35 into the 2nd period by taking
an interference penalty that setup a power play goal 75 seconds later. Duncan
Keith one-timed a shot that eluded a screened Antti Niemi for the 2-1
Blackhawks lead.
Chicago captain Jonathan Toews was sent off for
tripping to put the Sharks on their 3rd power play of the afternoon. Joe
Thornton made some noise that didn't involve vocal instructions to his general
manager, by snapping a shot that hit Brent Seabrook and deflected past Crawford
to tie the game.
San Jose fell victim to a rookie mistake early in the
3rd period when 1st year defenseman Mirco Mueller fell at his own blueline as
Brandon Saad raced up the gut. Saad used the open space to race in on Niemi and
lift a shot that beat the Sharks netminder stick side.
San Jose should have been given 4 minutes to tie the
game on the man advantage when John Scott took a stick to the face, opeing up a
cut under hi left eye, but no penalty was called.
Chicago used the
reprieve to tack on another goal. Bickell was the benefactor of a nice setup by
Brad Richards from the left corner. Bickell floated to the slot while 4 Shark
defenders watched Richards carry the puck around the end boards, then collected
Richards' pass and fired a shot past Niemi from in close.
San Jose
continued to trip over themselves, albeit figuratively when Thornton was sent
off for hooking them Barclay Goodrow made a trip to the box as Thornton's
penalty was expiring. Sharks tacked on his 2nd goal of the game during
Goodrow's penalty, putting a puck past Niemi for his 12th of the season.
Sharks bench boss decided to try and rally his team from a 3-goal
deficit late by pulling Niemi. The head scratching move resulted in Chicago's
6th goal of the game, when Hossa tapped home an empty net goal at 17:44. The
move was either an incredible leap of faith or punishment for someone on the
bench.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CHI |
1 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, CHI,
Sharp 11 (Vermette, Seabrook), 6:03. 2, SJ, Karlsson 12 (Irwin, Thornton),
16:49. |
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| 2nd period - 3, CHI,
Keith 8 (Hossa, Saad), 8:45, (pp). 4, Thornton 14 (Couture, Burns), 12:16,
(pp). |
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| 3rd period - 5, CHI,
Saad 21 (Teravainen, Crawfrod), 1:21. 6, CHI, Bickell 12 (Hossa, Rozsival),
4:56. 7, CHI, Sharp 12 (Seabrook, Vermette), 15:10, (pp). 8, CHI, Hossa 19
(Hjalmarsson, Toews), 17:44, (en). |
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| 1st period - Bickell,
CHI (holding the stick), 3:46; Karlsson, SJ (holding the stick), 10:32. |
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| 2nd period - Vermette,
CHI (interference), 1:08; Dillon, SJ (interference), 7:35; Toews, CHI
(tripping), 11:27. |
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| 3rd period - Thornton,
SJ (hooking), 11:25; Goodrow, SJ (tripping), 13:27; Bench, CHI (too many men),
19:42. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| CHI - Crawford |
35 |
33 |
| SJ - Niemi |
29 |
24 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| CHI |
9 |
4 |
17 |
30 |
| SJ |
14 |
12 |
9 |
35 |
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| Referees: Furlatt,
Meier. Linesmen: MacPherson, McElman. |
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