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Sharks go on major power trip
By Jeremy Harness January 30, 2010 |
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SAN JOSE - The way the Sharks had been playing while on the power play lately was pretty bad. For the caliber of a team that they are, it was almost comical. Two nights after their gallant comeback fell just short in an overtime loss to Chicago, they sure found their mark with that man advantage on Saturday night at HP Pavilion, blasting the Minnesota Wild, 5-2 before 17,562 fans. In fact, San Jose converted on four of their seven power play chances - Jason Demers scoring on two of those instances - against a Minnesota team that was 10th in the NHL in penalty killing leading up to Saturday. Not bad for a squad that only made good on about 15 percent of those chances at home, ranking them 27th in the league while they’re currently converting 29 percent of their advantages away from San Jose. “As we go down the stretch, special teams are going to be huge,” center Scott Nichol said. “Teams have watched 55 games of what our systems are, and it’s going to come down to power plays and penalty kills.” On the other hand, the Sharks have been the best in the NHL in killing penalties this season at an 88 percent success rate, but they let a pair of them slip through in the first period, starting with former Shark Owen Nolan’s man-advantage goal that gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 6:25. Late in the period, the Sharks again ended up shorthanded and had a hard time securing rebounds in front of the net, and the Wild made them pay for it. With 17.4 seconds left in the period, Cal Clutterbuck crammed one in from close range with five seconds left in their power play to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead. The Sharks, of course, had trouble operating their own power play in the beginning. They did nothing with their first chance and were down to four seconds remaining in their second - which wasn’t being handled very well, either - until Jason Demers’ 15-foot desperation slap shot screamed past the shoulder of goalie Josh Harding and found the net at the 11:30 mark of the first period. After Clutterbuck’s goal, the Sharks tied it up once more when Demers again connected from long range as their power play was winding down at 3:15 of the second. They stayed hot on the man advantage late in the period, taking the lead when Joe Pavelski converted at the 16:57 mark. “Pucks got through (Saturday night),” said Demers, who was just recalled from Worcester before facing the Wild. “I guess I just got my chances and picked my spots.” In the third period, Patrick Marleau sealed things up with a pair of goals, the last one being the only even-strength goal of the game for either team, as he raised his stick up to deflect an airborne pass from Dany Heatley at 16:25. |
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