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Sharks rally falls just short in loss to Devils
By Dave Fowkes March 2, 2010 |
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(San Jose, CA) -- The San Jose Sharks used a late charge to make it close but in the end fell short to the New Jersey Devils 4-3 as the NHL returns to action after the Olympics. The Sharks scored three goals in a 2:43 stretch in the third period to cut a 4-0 lead down to a one goal lead but could not get that final tally. Devin Setoguchi scored two of those goals and Joe Pavelski had the third goal for San Jose. Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves in his first game since giving up six goals for Team Russia against Canada in the Olympics. Martin Brodeur struggled in the Olympics as well but he returned with 17 saves for the win for the Devils. Danius Zubrus, Mark Fraser, Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac scored for New Jersey. Both teams looked sharp in the first period which was skated to a 0-0 tie. But in the second period the Sharks did not play their best. ”We did not get enough pucks to the net,” Pavelski said. “That makes for an easy night for their goalie.” The first goal came from Zubrus. Kovalchuk shot the puck that bounced over Nabokov and landed in the goalie crease and just sat there. Zubrus won the battle to push the puck in through the sticks of teammates and defenders. Just 35 seconds later, Fraser scored on a one-timer from the blue line that was slightly deflected off Joe Demers stick into the net. “I was not happy with the way we played in the second and that is why we were down 3-0,” Sharks defender Dan Boyle said. “The second period killed us.” The Devils made it 3-0 in the third period when Kovalchuk’s blue line shot was again deflected just enough to find the net. The fourth goal came from Zajac again from long distance as he skated into the offensive zone. Setoguchi scored his 15th goal on a nice pass from Joe Thornton in front of the net and he wristed a shot past Brodeur. Less than two minutes later Setoguchi found the net again on the power play. Rob Blake blasted a shot off Brodeur, the long rebound went right to Setoguchi in front of the net who rapidly fired the puck past the diving goalie. Joe Pavelski made the game really close just 57 seconds later. His goal cut the lead to 4-3. That would be the final score. “We knew if we could get one,” Pavelski said, “get the building going a little bit, unfortunately it was just a little too late.” The Sharks homestand continues on Thursday when they host Montreal. |
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