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Sharks roll hapless
Leafs
Sharks get offense in gear in 4-1
win
The Sharks continued with their 7-game road trip on
Thursday with a stop in Toronto, against an opponent that has struggled this
season. San Jose followed the script by beating up on the host Maple Leafs in a
4-1 win at the Air Canada Centre. Four different Sharks tallied goals on 42
shots on net in a game that San Jose put away in the first 40 minutes of the
game.
The Maple Leafs entered the game with the 4th worst record in
the NHL, and have won only 2 of their last 10 games. After Tuesday night's
deflating loss in Winnipeg, the Sharks had to show up against the wounded Maple
Leafs. The Sharks responded with pace, setting Toronto up in the 1st period,
then applying the knockout blow in the 2nd.
Tomas Hertl opened the
game's scoring at 7:02 of the opening period, slicing down the slot and
punching home a Chris Tierney feed for his 12th goal of the season. Tierney
cycled the puck through the right corner before catching Hertl breaking for the
net. The rookie had to place the puck perfectly as both he and Hertl where
headed in opposing directions.
Trevor Smith tripped up Marc-Edouard
Vlasic 55 seconds into the 2nd period, setting up the Sharks 4th power play of
the evening. San Jose finally got some production from the special teams unit
when Logan Couture chipped a shot past Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier
for his 23rd goal of the season. Couture took a pass from Joe Thornton as he
was skating backwards out of the right corner. The Sharks forward quickly
pivoted and lifted the puck over Bernier's blocker to make it a 2-0 game.
Toronto woke up 9 minutes into the period when Jake Gardiner whipped a
shot through traffic, slipping the puck past Antti Niemi for his 3rd goal of
the season. Gardiner has 20 career goals and 3 of them have come against the
Sharks. It was the Leaf defenseman's 1st goal in 44 games. Joffrey Lupul
screened Niemi on the shot along with a pair of Sharks defenseman in the slot.
Melker Karlsson made the celebration short for Toronto, by snapping
home his 13th goal of the season from 10 feet out after Joe Thornton setup the
quick one-timer from behind the Maple Leafs net. Karlsson slid to the front of
the net from the right corner after the puck was cycled to Thornton along the
end boards. Toronto's soft defense could have done a better job to seal off the
danger zone, but captain Dion Phaneuf was late to get to Karlsson.
Thornton's second assist was his 900th career helper, which leaves him one
behind Brian Trottier for 18th place on the all-time NHL assist list.
Niemi made his best save of the game moments after Karlsson's goal when Andrew
MacWilliam had a shot from point blank.
The Sharks looked content to head to the 2nd
intermission with a 3-1 lead, but Matt Nieto had another idea. Scooping up a
loose puck in the high slot, Nieto whipped a shot from just inside the right
circle, clipping Tommy Wingels in the chest for the bank shot goal that crossed
up Bernier. Since Wingels was last to touch the puck, he was credited the goal.
It was his 15th of the season, giving San Jose plenty of cushion heading into
the final 20 minutes of play.
Toronto threw in the towel at that
point. The hosts generated a paltry 6 shots in the 3rd period, never
challenging Niemi. The Sharks had a pair of decent chances to add to their
lead, but to Bernier's credit he stood tall to close out another miserable
performance by his teammates.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
| TOR |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Hertl 12 (Tierney, Vlasic), 7:02. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Couture 23 (Burns, Thornton), 2:06, (pp). 3, TOR, Gardner 3 (Komarov, Kozun),
8:54. 4, SJ, Karlsson 13 (Thornton, Pavelski), 10:19. 5, SJ, Wingels 15 (Nieto,
Couture), 19:54. |
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| 1st period - Bozak, TOR
(hooking), 4:15; Couture, SJ (goaltender interference), 4:39; Kozun, TOR
(holding), 7:34; Smith, TOR (boarding), 13:16. |
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| 2nd period - Carrick,
TOR (tripping), 0:55; Bench, SJ (too many men), 4:48. |
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| 3rd period - Panik, TOR
(charging), 3:10; Dillon, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:23; VanReimsdyk, TOR
(unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:23. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
28 |
27 |
| TOR - Bernier |
42 |
38 |
| TOR - empty net |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
21 |
10 |
11 |
42 |
| TOR |
8 |
14 |
6 |
28 |
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| Referees: McCauley,
Morton. Linesmen: Cherrey, Miller. |
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