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Coyotes heel to
Sharks
San Jose keeps playoff hopes alive with 3-1
win
The Sharks continued to do what they need to if
they want any chance at sneaking back into the playoff race. Kicking off their
home-and-home series with the Arizona Coyotes, the Sharks struck early, hitting
the Coyotes with a couple of knockout punches in the 1st period, then
suppressed the Coyotes for most of the evening en route to a 3-1 win at SAP
Center.
San Jose slips to within 3 points of the 8th and final playoff
spot in the Western Conference with the win, keeping their playoff hopes alive.
Every one of the Sharks remaining 4 games is must win if San Jose has any
hockey plans beyond their regular season finale in Los Angeles on April 11th.
The Sharks looked like a desperate team in the opening 20 minutes. San
Jose looked like they were trying to maul the Coyotes in the 1st frame,
out-shooting Arizona 16-3. 2 of those 16 shots found the back of the net.
Logan Couture wasted little time, scoring his 27th goal of the season
58 seconds into the game. Couture had to adjust to an errant pass from Tomas
Hertl, who sent the puck to his linemate's skate rather than his stick blade.
Couture received the puck with the outside of his left skate, controlling it to
his stick for a quick shot that beat Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue with a
shot from the right side that just tucked it inside the left post.
BJ
Crombeen was called for hooking at 2:57 of the period, which setup a second
tally for the Sharks, albeit the tally was not credited as a power play goal.
Joe Pavelski took a Patrick Marleau pass just outside the right post and roofed
it past Domingue for his 37th goal of the season. The goal came an instant
after Crombeen's penalty expired, therefore it was credited as an even strength
goal even though the winger wasn't in his own defensive zone to help defend on
the play.
The Coyotes slipped a puck past Niemi 2 minutes later, but
it was waved off after David Moss gloved the puck and slid it over the goal
line after crashing into Niemi. Moss' decision to put his hand on the puck was
a peculiar one, given that it had the direction and velocity to get across the
line on its own.
Arizona cut into San Jose's lead just 2:34 into the
2nd period when Mark Arcobello threw the puck to the front of the net in an
attempt to setup Tobias Rieder. The puck never got there as Sharks defenseman
Brent Burns tried to intercept the pass, but ended up tapping into his own net
instead.
Matt Nieto battled the puck all night, but his perseverance
paid off in the 3rd period. Chris Tierney started a nice scoring chance by
forcing things in front of the net at 14:10 of the period. Nieto jumped into
the feeding frenzy, bouncing a shot off Domingue's pad from the top of the
crease with two Coyote defenders draped all over him. The rebound landed back
on Nieto's stick for the put back that the Sharks forward feathered over the
Coyote goaltender's left pad.
The assist that Tierney earned on the
goal was his 12th helper since being recalled on February 4th. The forward has
recorded 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 39 games this season.
With the 2-goal deficit, Coyotes head coach Dave
Tippett was forced to pull Domingue with 2 minutes left in the period. That
move did nothing to the outcome of the game.
Niemi finished the
evening with 20 saves and was solid for the majority of the evening, showing no
effects of the illness that sidelined him for 3 games.
The Sharks
jumped on a plane headed for Arizona, immediately following the game. The two
teams will pick back up on Saturday night for the back end game of their quick
series.
Game Notes:
* Defenseman Karl Stollery made his
Sharks debut after being recalled from Worcester on Thursday. Stollery was
acquired from the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline for Freddie
Hamilton. Stollery skated on 23 shifts, with 2 shots, 4 hits, and 2 blocked
shots.
* Defenseman Scott Hannan was a scratch after taking a puck to
the face in San Jose's win on Wednesday night. Hannan was sporting cuts above
and below his left eye.
* Hannan was also nominated by the San Jose
chapter of the Hockey Writers Association for the Masterton Trophy, which is
awarded each season to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies
the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.
* Mike Brown made his return to the Sharks lineup after missing the
last 47 games while recovering form a broken leg.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| ARI |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| SJ |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Couture 27 (Hertl, Marleau), 0:58. 2, SJ, Pavelski 37 (Marleau, Couture), 5:00.
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| 2nd period - 3, ARI,
Arcobello 16 (unassisted), 2:34. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Nieto 9 (), 14:10. |
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| 1st period - Crombeem,
PHO (hooking), 2:57; Nieto, SJ (high sticking), 16:08. |
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| 2nd period - Moore, PHO
(fighting major) 15:17; Goodrow, SJ (fighting major), 15:17. |
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| 3rd period - McGinn, ARI
(roughing), 12:37; Dillon, SJ (roughing), 12:37; Stone, ARI (high sticking),
14:31. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| ARI - Domingue |
37 |
34 |
| SJ - Niemi |
21 |
20 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| ARI |
3 |
7 |
11 |
21 |
| SJ |
16 |
10 |
11 |
37 |
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| Referees: Kowal,
Rehman. Linesmen: Sharrers, Murchison. |
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