|
|
DeBoer era kicks off with a
bang
Sharks roll Kings 5-1 on opening
night
After playing what was arguably their worst hockey
in over a decade, the Sharks had a long off-season to contemplate how they
would respond. Six months later, San Jose kicked of their 2015-16 campaign with
the look of a team that's been rehabilitated and eager to prove that last
season was an anomaly. They got things started with a commanding 5-1 win over
the Los Angeles Kings.
The game amounted to the first few steps of a
marathon, but to win in such resounding style was exactly what head coach Peter
DeBoer wanted as he made his debut with the San Jose. The team clicked on just
about every facet of the game, but their attention to defensive coverage left
the Kings with little opportunity to do much.
The Sharks season got
off to an auspicious start when Nick Shore deflected a Dustin Brown shot from
just outside the right post past new San Jose goaltender Martin Jones. Shore
was tied up by Tomas Hertl, but he was able to get his blade out to his right
with his back to the net. The rising Brown shot made an abrupt change of
direction when it got to Shore, beating Brown on the first shot of the game.
That would be it for Los Angeles.
Jones settled down and sat
back as his teammates went to work and dissected Kings goaltender Jonathan
Quick. Even though Los Angeles held a 1-0 lead, the Sharks were generating more
scoring chances. With the Kings pressing in the Sharks zone, Joe Thornton
gathered up a turnover in his own zone then skated up ice on a 3-on-1 break.
Programmed to pass, Thornton crossed up Quick with a shot that slipped past the
Kings goaltender to the high stick side.
Shore took a delay of game
penalty with 4:14 left in the period after he covered the puck with his hand.
Newly anointed Sharks captain Joe Pavelski picked up where he left off last
season by scoring on the power play, after tipping a Brent Burns shot from the
left side. Brown got his stick in front of Burns' shot, but he ended up slowing
the puck down and potentially fooling his own goaltender and the puck knuckled
to Pavelski for the redirect.
Burns gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead with
his 1st goal of the season at 6:07 of the 2nd period. Burns snapped a wrist
shot from the top of the right circle as rookie forward Joonas Donskoi created
traffic in front of the Quick. The Kings netminder never saw the shot, as his
stationary posture revealed. Donskoi didn't record a point on the goal, but he
created the chance with his effort in front of the net.
Alec Martinez
put the Sharks on the power play for the 4th time of the game after he took a
holding penalty at the 7 minute mark of the period. Hertl converted that power
play chance with a deflection from the top of the crease after Marc-Edouard
Vlasic threw a puck on net from the point.
Jones workload was limited by his team's smothering
defense. He faced only 10 shots through the first 30 minutes of the contest,
but he was put to the test late in the middle period. Tyler Toffoli had a
chance to cut into the Sharks lead when a puck found its way to his stick as he
faced the net from 10 feet out while the Kings were on a power play. Jones
stoned Taffoli by pivoting to his left with a leg pad and his glove extended
out to create the barrier that denied Toffoli.
With little evidence
that the Kings were going to right the ship, Donskoi punched a hole in the
Kings hull by scoring his 1st NHL goal 3:31 into the 3rd period. Pavelski
ripped a shot from the slot that hit the crossbar and shot across the goal
mouth toward the left post. Donskoi was crashing in from the left side when the
puck deflected off his stomach and into the goal. Pavelski was originally
credited with the goal, but that was later corrected after a video review.
The Kings frustration spilled over later in the period when Matt
Greene went after Barclay Goodrow with a late hit along the right wing boards.
Mike Brown immediately jumped in to protect his younger linemate, engaging
Greene. Goodrow ended up exchanging blows with Andy Andreoff in a mismatch that
the Sharks forward was able to survive.
The Kings missed on a 5-on-3
chance later after Brown was whistled for interference, then Logan Couture was
sent off for running into Quick. Things escalated when Couture exited the
penalty box and lined up Milan Lucic with a hip check that sent the former
Bruins forward flipping head over heels.
Lucic took exception to the
hit and immediately chased Couture to the front of the Sharks bench where he
left is feet to lay a hit on the Sharks centerman. Couture laughed off the hit,
and got bigger kick out of the match penalty that Lucic received for targeting
his antagonist.
Lucic receives an automatic suspension for the
penalty, but the league will decide just how long that suspension will be.
Game Notes:
Speaking of Match Penalties, the Sharks
announced before the game that Raffi Torres will not appeal his 41-game
suspension. The Sharks forward will not be able to return to the ice until
January.
 |
|
| 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 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
| LA |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
| 1st period - 1, LA,
Shore 1 (Brown, Doughty), 1:49. 2, SJ, Thornton 1 (Martin), 9:43. 3, SJ,
Pavelski 1 (Burns, Marleau), 15:52, (pp). |
|
|
| 2nd period - 4, SJ,
Burns 1 (Pavelski, Thornton), 6:07. 5, Hertl 1 (Vlasic, Wingels), 8:14, (pp).
|
|
|
| 3rd period - 6, SJ,
Donskoi 1 (Pavelski, Vlasic), 3:31. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1st period - Brown, SJ
(fighting major), 1:51; Clifford, LA (fighting major), 1:51; Goodrow, SJ
(slashing), 11:48; Gaborik, LA (tripping), 12:23; Shore, LA (closing hand on
puck), 15:46; Ehrhoff, LA (interference), 19:50. |
|
|
| 2nd period - Dillon, SJ
(high sticking), 2:00; Martinez, LA (holding), 7:00; Vlasic, SJ (roughing),
11:55; Tierney, SJ (holding the stick), 17:57. |
|
|
| 3rd period - Goodrow, SJ
(fighting major), 5:11; Greene, LA (charging), 5:11; Andreoff, LA (fighting
major), 5:11; Greene, LA (roughing), 5:11; Brown, SJ (roughing), 5:11; Ehrhoff,
LA (interference), 11:13; Brown, SJ (interference), 16:00; Couture, SJ
(goaltender interference), 18:30; Lucic, LA (match penalty), 18:41. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
20 |
19 |
| LA - Quick |
32 |
27 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
14 |
6 |
12 |
32 |
| LA |
8 |
6 |
6 |
20 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Referees: Pochmara,
Meier. Linesmen: Knorr, Rody. |
|
|
|
|
|
