Winning on home ice continues to elude the San
Jose Sharks. Skating in their 10th contest on SAP Center ice, the Sharks
fizzled late to fall to the New York Rangers 2-1 in a game that didn't see any
scoring for the first 54 minutes of the contest. James Reimer stood on his
head, stopping 41 of 42 shots, but his teammates could not generate the
necessary offense to compete.
The Sharks have been victorious once in
their 10 home games this season. After falling to Detroit on Thursday, the
absence of any offensive push against the Rangers was disappointing.
The Rangers controlled most of the opening 20 minutes, out-shooting San Jose
15-8 in the period. Neither team would score in the opening frame. The Rangers
enjoyed a full 2-minute power play after Steven Lorentz was called for
tripping.
Former Shark Ryan Carpenter was sent to the box on a
boarding call with 18 seconds left in the period. Carpenter pasted Nico Sturm
against the side board glass with a hit from behind, that could have drawn a
stiffer penalty. San Jose would squander the man-advantage.
Worse,
they wouldn't counter the dirty hit with any sort of message. They generated 11
shots in the 2nd period, but still trailed New York's intensity in the frame.
Timo Meier took a holding penalty 5:16 into the 2nd period, allowing
the Rangers to flirt with a goal. New York rang three pucks off iron on their
power play. The Sharks top ranked penalty kill denied the Rangers from scoring,
largely on goaltender James Reimer's cool disposition in net.
The 3rd period was all Rangers, who out-shot the
Sharks 31-2 through the first 15 minutes of the period and 16-4 in the period.
New York finally cracked the scoring column when Julien Gauthier converted at
13:57. The forward skated to the slot after the Rangers won a faceoff. As New
York cycled the puck to the blueline, Jacob Trouba fired a shot on goal that
Gauthier tipped with his stick blade to redirect his 3rd goal of the season
home.
Reimer made a highlight reel save with 2:39 to play when he
robbed Jimmy Vesey with a glove save to cover the right side of the net.
The Rangers scored an empty net goal with 67 seconds left in
regulation. That would turn out to be the game winning goal, because Logan
Couture potted a goal with 17 seconds left in the game.
With Reimer
out of the San Jose finally pressed matters in the Rangers zone. Couture
stuffed home his 9th goal of the season of a short feed from Tomas Hertl.
Couture was parked on the right post with Hertl fighting off a defender at the
top of the crease. Hertl flipped the puck over to his right for Couture's
finish.
Game Notes: * The Rangers are 32-10-5 all time
versus San Jose. The Rangers also have a 14-5-3 record at SAP Center.
* James Reimer finished the game with 41 saves. He has made 40 or more saves
two other times this season, all loses.
* Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson
led the Sharks with 3 shots each. Mika Zibanejad had 8 shots on goal to lead
all skaters.
* The Sharks ruled the faceoff circle, winning 60% of
draws. They could not parlay those wins into much offense.
* With the
loss, the Sharks fall to the 27th spot in the league, trailing the Anaheim
Ducks by 4 points in the Connor Bedard Cup. The Sharks are 31st in points
percentage (.375) as they have played more games than any other team in the
league with the exception of the Los Angeles Kings.
