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Sharks end skid in
Montreal
Martin Jones stops 40 shots to propel San
Jose
The road trip that wasn't finally ended on Sunday
night. What is wasn't was a complete disaster. The Sharks salvaged the final
game with a 3-1 win in Montreal to end a 6-game road losing streak. San Jose
scored early and counter punched when the Canadiens tried to strike. An
infusion of youth in the lineup helped resuscitate a roster that was in dire
need of change as the Sharks have spiraled out of the Pacific Division lead int
he last week.
The Sharks and Canadiens entered play with almost
identical records and were equally abysmal in their last 10 games. Both teams
sit on the cusp of falling out of the top 8 teams in their respective
conferences, but the Canadiens were coming off a 5-2 win over the New York
Rangers on Saturday night and had the home ice advantage.
San Jose was
smoked by the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon and had to make the short
trip by Canada's capital to Montreal.
The Sharks opened the game's
scoring with some offense from an unlikely source. Defenseman Justin Braun
stepped in front of a Jeff Petry pass just outside the Canadiens blueline as
Montreal tried to exit their own zone. It was an uncharacteristic move by Braun
to pinch on a breakout pass, but an even more unusual move to see the
defenseman skate in on net and blast a shot from 40 feet out.
Former
Sharks defenseman David Schlemko tried to step in front of Braun's shot and may
have screened Canadiens goaltender Carey Price from seeing the shot off the
stick. It was Braun's 1st goal of the season.
Montreal found
themselves in hot water after Mike Reilly and Michael Chaput took separate
minor penalties 58 seconds apart. The Sharks capitalized on the 2-man advantage
when Brent Burns snapped a shot from between the circles past Price. The goal
was the first for Burns in over a month. Joe Pavelski setup the goal with a
pass from the left corner after the Sharks power play forced the Canadiens to
collapse as San Jose moved the puck around the left side.
Petry cut the
Sharks lead in half at 12:15 into the 2nd period when a Jonathan Drouin shot
fooled several skaters as it knuckled through the slot from left to right.
Petry was on lurking on the weak side and tapped in the puck as it floated past
two Sharks defenders.
The Sharks had just peppered Price with a flurry
of shot before Petry countered after the Canadiens moved the puck to the Sharks
end of the ice.
The game was decided 3 minutes later when Pavelski
answered Petry's goal with the Sharks 3rd score of the night. The Sharks cycled
the puck deep in the Canadiens zone before Burns slid a puck out of the right
corner to Pavelski at the right dot for a one-time chance that got past Price.
San Jose misfired on another 2-man advantage later in
the period. A Shea Weber interference penalty was followed by a delay of game
penalty by Petry giving San Jose a brief 17 second 5-on-3 chance.
The
Canadiens threw the kitchen sink at Martin Jones in the 3rd period,
out-shooting San Jose 22-7 in the period. The Sharks goaltender stood on his
head in the frame, providing San Jose with a goaltending performance they
hadn't seen in a while.
Jones play in the period was as important as
the scoring earlier in the game. The Sharks seemingly found ways to lose games
during the first four stops on their trip. After surrendering 20 goals in those
four games, Jones play was a welcome sign.
Game Notes:
* Rookie defenseman Radim Simek made his NHL debut for San Jose, and was a
spark plug for the Sharks. The young blueliner was a wrecking ball on the ice.
Even though he was only credited with a single hit, Simek played a physical
game the was punctuated with several body checks.
* Martin Jones made
40 saves to earn his 10th win of the season. Jones was in need of a lock down
performance after he struggled to play with much consistency this season.
* Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry and Mike Reilly combined for 16 of the
Canadiens 41 shots. Joe Pavelski and Antti Suomela had 4 shots each for the
Sharks.
* Montreal out-hit San Jose 35-16. The only stat the Sharks
led the game in, was blocked shots.
* San Jose returns home to play
Carolina on Wednesday, then they hit th eroad again for a brief 2-game trip
through Dallas and Phoenix.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| MTL |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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| 1st period - 1, SJ,
Braun 1 (unassisted), 2:55. 2, SJ, Burns 4 (Pavelski, E. Karlsson), 10:28,
(pp). |
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| 2nd period - 3, MTL,
Petry 3 (Drouin, Shaw), 12:15. 4, SJ, Pavelski 17 (Burns, Couture), 15:51.
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| 1st period - Reilly, MTL
(cross checking), 8:50; Chaput, MTL (high sticking), 9:48; Bench, SJ (too many
men), 14:52. |
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| 2nd period - Weber, MTL
(interference), 16:53; Petry, MTL (delay of game), 18:36. |
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| 3rd period - M.
Karlsson, SJ (tripping), 16:03. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
41 |
40 |
| MTL - Price |
29 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
11 |
7 |
29 |
| MTL |
9 |
10 |
22 |
41 |
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| Referees: Joanette,
L'Ecuyer. Linesmen: Racicot, Cormier. |
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