|
|
Arizona push Sharks to the
brink
League's doormat essentially ends San Jose's
season
It looked as if the Sharks were about to line up a
valiant comeback in the Western Conference playoff race. With 4 games left in
their regular season, the cards were actually aligning in their favor. The
schedule pitted San Jose against the West's worst in the Arizona Coyotes on
Saturday night in Glendale. True to form this season, the Sharks let a doormat
team take it to them and steal a game that San Jose should have won with their
eyes closed.
The Sharks trailed all night and just didn't have the
ability to catch a spirited Coyotes team that won for the first time in
regulation wince February 3rd. Arizona had gone over two months since winning a
game after 60 minutes, but they found a way to put pucks past Antti Niemi in a
game San Jose had to win.
With the outcome, the Sharks have been
pushed to the brink. Should Winnipeg earn a single point, which can be done
with a win, OT loss or SO loss, or if the Sharks fail to win out their final 3
games, then San Jose season officially ends.
Those combinations really
make a tough situation almost impossible. The Jets have been hot, and San Jose
not. It will make for an interesting game on Monday night when the Sharks close
out their home schedule. Sharks fans won't even have a chance to voice their
displeasure, should the Sharks fall on the road.
The notion of the
playoffs seams ludicrous to begin with. If the Sharks can't handle the 2nd
worst team in the league, how are they supposed to do any damage in the
playoffs. Saturday night was a culmination of more poor penalty killing and the
inability to capitalize on a weaker team that's playing out the season.
The Sharks scored a pair of power play goals on Saturday, but more
importantly, they gave up a pair of special teams goals. Both of those came in
the opening period, after San Jose gave up dumb penalties. The Sharks 26th
ranked penalty kill has arguably the worst in the league in the second half of
the season, and true to form, it continued to disappoint on Saturday.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored the first of his 2 goals on the evening, with a
power pl ay goal at 11:53 of the 1st period, after Karl Stollery took a poor
tripping penalty. Ekman-Larsson shipped a shot from the right point, that
squeezed between Niemi and the left post. It was a shot that Niemi should have
stopped, but it didn't get done.
Larsson was sent off himself at 15:39
after interfering with Tommy Wingles. Tomas Hertl cashed in when his shot
kicked off Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith for a put back chance that Hertl
back-handed home.
Barclay Goodrow tripped Klas Dahlback late in the
period, to put the Coyotes right back on the power play. Shane Doan was the
beneficiary of a Michael Stone shot that hit the left post and bounced to the
top of the crease. The Coyotes long suffering captain punched home the rebound
for his 14th goal of the season and a 2-1 Arizona lead.
Similar to Friday night's game, both teams seemed
unwilling to score in the middle period until Ekman-Larsson lifted his 2nd goal
of the game past Niemi. The Coyotes defenseman was in the right place at the
right time after a rebound bounced out to an open spot for an easy deposit.
Joe Thornton answered 19 seconds later, carrying the puck out of the
left corner and snapping a shot that beat Smith. Like everyone else in the
building, Smith fully expected Thornton to pass, but the Sharks defrocked
former captain put the puck high from a tough angle for his 15th goal of the
season.
If San Jose was going to make a game of it, they would need to
score first in the 3rd period. That didn't happen when Logan Couture was
stripped of the puck in his own end by Doan, who then proceeded to send a pass
across the slot to Mark Arcobello, who snapped a one-time chance past Niemi
from the right side.
A Michael Stone hooking penalty gave the Sharks a
second power play chance in the period, and they would capitalize when Christ
Tierney tipped a Matt Irwin shot past Smith. Tierney has been one of the Sharks
few bright spots this season, having really established his scoring prowess
after being recalled in February.
A David Moss delay of game penalty
setup the Sharks with what should have been a golden opportunity to tie the
game late, but San Jose's power play struggled to gain the zone and setup.
As the power play whittled down, so did the Sharks season. The Sharks
were forced to pull Niemi, which setup a Sam Gagner empty net goal that iced
the Coyotes win.
 |
|
| What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| ARI |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, ARI,
Ekman-Larsson 22 (Arcobello, Moore), 11:53, (pp). 2, SJ, Hertl 13 (Fedun,
Tierney), 16:36, (pp). 3, ARI, Doan 14 (Stone, EKman-Larsson), 18:57,
(pp). |
|
|
| 2nd period - 4, ARI,
Ekman-Larsson 23 (Doan, Erat), 17:46. 5, SJ, Thornton 15 (Burns, Karlsson),
18:05. |
|
|
| 3rd period - 6, ARI,
Arcobello 17 (Doan, Rieder), 5:30. 7, SJ, Tierney 6 (Irwin, Fedun), 6:48, (pp).
8, ARI, Gagner 14 (Erat, Moss), 19:49, (en). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Doan, ARI
(hooking), 4:49; Stollery, SJ (hooking), 10:27; Ekman-Larsson, ARI
(interference), 15:39; Goodrow, SJ (tripping), 17:50. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Doan, ARI
(hooking), 3:55. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Moss, ARI
(high sticking), 1:27; Stone, ARI (hooking), 5:46; Thornton, SJ (hooking),
9:53; Fedun, SJ (high sticking), 12:51; Moss, ARI (delay of game - puck over
glass), 17:11. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
32 |
28 |
| SJ - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| ARI - Smith |
45 |
42 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
16 |
13 |
15 |
45 |
| ARI |
14 |
11 |
7 |
33 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Charron,
St Laurent. Linesmen: Cameron, Rody. |
|
|
|
|
|
