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Missed chances the storyline in
Pittsburgh
Overtime failure costs Sharks
To say this season has been frustrating is about as
big an understatement as there is. Inconsistencies and missed opportunities
have been the order of the day for most of the season. That was the script on
Sunday night as the Sharks wrapped up their long 7-game road trip with an
aggravating 3-2 loss in the shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins. San Jose
squandered a lengthy power play in overtime, which was the crack the Penguins
needed to 39th loss of the season.
In fairness, the team was battling
on the tail end of a lengthy road trip and were playing 30 hours after beating
the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon, but with their season hanging in
the balance, the Sharks can't afford to lose any more games this season.
With 6 games left in the regular season, San Jose site 6 points out of
the 8th and final playoff spot. The Sharks also have two other teams sitting
between them and the 8th place Calgary Flames. Time is simply running out, and
the Sharks are getting closer to elimination.
So when Patrick
Hornqvist cut defenseman Brent Burns with a high stick 1:11 into overtime on
Sunday, the Sharks needed to pounce on the opportunity and capitalize on the
impending 3:49 of 4-on-3 power play time.
Instead, they used the same
approach to the power play, which Pittsburgh seemed more than prepared to
handle. The Penguins killed off the power play, allowing the Sharks 5 shots on
goal in the extra period, but only a Joe Thornton shot that clanked off the
left post came close to ending things on the plus side for San Jose.
Pittsburgh neutralized the Sharks power play, then ended things as quickly as
possible in the shootout by scoring on their first two shots, and letting
Marc-Andre Fleury snuff out Melker Kalrsson and Logan Couture's attempts.
It was almost a worst case scenario for the Sharks. San Jose drew no
closer to the last playoff spot with Calgary winning, and they moved ahead of
Colorado in the standings, which is essentially a race for draft picks.
Things looked as if the Penguins were going to dispatch the Sharks
early, after they jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period. Hornqvist
punched home a rebound after Alex Stalock allowed a rebound to kick out to the
slot after the Penguins forward put a shot on net from 15 feet out.
Stalock was making his 2nd consecutive start after Antti Niemi fell ill on
Sunday morning.
Chris Kunitz made it 2-0 after redirecting a Sydney
Crosby feed past Stalock for his 17th goal of the season. Kunitz was loitering
near the left corner when Crosby found him and sent a pass through the slot
from the top of the right circle. Defenseman Justin Braun was caught too high
on the play and was not able to get back to defend against Kunitz.
Ben Smith cut the Penguins lead in half 6:44 into the
2nd period, but redirecting a BRaun shot from the right point with the shaft of
his stick. Braun uncorked a blast that was too high for Smith to get a stick
blade on, to the Sharks forward extended his arms and caught a piece of the
puck halfway up the shaft of the stick, redirecting it past Fleury.
Ben Lovejoy put the Sharks on the power play at 14:53 of the period after cross
checking Chris Tierney. San Jose scored on the ensuing power play when Couture
sent a shot just under Fleury's blocker. Couture's shot came after he slipped
past the Penguins at the blueline and made a bee line for the Penguins goal.
Patrick Marleau took an entry pass from Brent Burns along the left win boards,
then flipped the puck to his right as Couture streaked on net.
Neither
team scored in the 3rd period, which setup the fateful overtime period.
Hornqvist caught Burns in the chops, drawing blood and the double
minor. Rather than utilize a more direct attack such as the one the potted
Couture's goal, the Sharks relied on their more predictable perimeter passing
approach, which simply killed clock and generated no serious scoring chances.
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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 |
| SJ |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| PIT |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, PIT,
Hornqvist 24 (Winnik, Cole), 7:08. 2, PIT, Kunitz 17 (Crosby, Pouliot), 8:04,
(pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, SJ,
Smith 7 (Braun, Goodrow), 6:44. 4, SJ, Couture 25 (Marleau, Burns), 15:38,
(pp). |
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| Shootout - PIT: Perron
(goal), Crosby (goal). SJ: Karlsson (miss), Couture (miss). |
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| 1st period - Fedun, SJ
(hooking), 7:41. |
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| 2nd period - Lapierre,
PIT (hooking), 11:06; Lovejoy, PIT (cross checking), 14:53. |
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| 3rd period - Crosby, PIT
(tripping), 7:03; Wingels, SJ (high sticking), 12:51; Spaling, PIT (holding),
16:08. |
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| Overtime - Hornqvist,
PIT (high sticking - double minor), 1:11. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Stalock |
33 |
31 |
| PIT - Fleury |
32 |
30 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
12 |
7 |
8 |
5 |
32 |
| PIT |
9 |
11 |
13 |
0 |
33 |
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| Referees: Pollock,
McCauley. Linesmen: Barton, Racicot. |
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