Hot Sharks Handled By Stars
 

"It took us too long to get in and we wasted some valuable minutes when we thought
we could maybe establish some momentum," --- Todd McLellan

By Justin Libaste 3/05/2011

Bay Area Sports Drive

Photos by Al Reyes BASD
 

No one is playing better hockey than the San Jose Sharks, PERIOD. With huge wins on the road and at home against some of the premier teams in the league. The games between these two teams never seem to finish at the end of regulation. Dallas took the first two meetings by beating the Sharks 5- 4 in OT and 3 -2 in a shootout. The Sharks took the 3rd meeting beating the Stars 4 - 3 in Dallas back in December 16.

As the game proceeded, Dallas drew an early penalty for delay of game by Defensemen #37 Karlis Skrastins. The Sharks did not take advantage of the opportunity. Instead, they were hit by a shorthanded breakaway goal from Left-Wing #14 James Benn at the 1:14’ mark. Defensemen #3 Stephane Robidas got an assist on the goal. With time left on the PP, Sharks struggled crossing the Stars’ blue-line as the passes to each other were sloppy.

Knowing that this was a rival game, physicality had to play a huge role from teams exchanging hard board checks.  The result was a 2-minute penalty on the Stars #3 Stephane Robidas for slashing and a 2-minute penalty on Sharks #15 Dany Heatley for cross-checking. San Jose used that motivation and Centermen #20 Kyle Wellwood scored the first goal of the game, assisted by fellow linemate #17 Torrey Mitchell. 

As the last minutes of the period came to a close, the Stars did not take their foot off the pedal. Instead, they put 3 shots on goal requiring Antti Niemi to make good saves. The level of play for both teams appeared equal as they entered their respective locker rooms tied 1 – 1.

In the 2nd period it was fan favorite #12 Patrick Marleau and a 2-on-1 breakaway as Heatley assisted with a pass across the ice for a Marleau tip in the net and a 2 - 1 lead. For the rest of the 2nd period, the style of play from each team came short of expectations with no more scoring in the period.

Pushing and shoving overshadowed the period. No real offensive push from either team except the early period goal from Marleau. With only 3 seconds left in the period, #29 Steve Ott of Dallas and #39 Logan Couture received 4-minute penalties for roughing.
 

Dallas #21 Loui Eriksson responded by scoring the first goal of the 3^rd period off a rebound to tie the game 2 – 2 at the 7:37’ mark.  It seemed the game was slipping away from the Sharks as #29 Ryan Clowe drew a penalty for goaltender interference. It was the 3rd PP of the night for the Stars. At the end of the PP, Stars’ #27 Jason Williams controlled the puck behind the net and passed it through the middle. Instead, the puck bounced off of #15 Dany Heatley’s skates and in for a goal. This goal was marked at 12:48 and assisted by #29 Steve Ott and #6 Trevor Daley.  The goal would put the Stars ahead 3 – 2.

With less than 6 minutes left and time running out, the Sharks had the opportunity to even up the score when the Stars #17 Toby Peterson took a 2-minute penalty for checking.  In the 8 game winning streak, the Sharks were in similar situations and able to revale and come out with the 2 points. But on this night the Sharks were not able to execute and ended up scoreless at the end of the PP. With time running out, San Jose’s Todd McLellan called a timeout with 1:14 left on the clock. He decided to pull Niemi from the net. Unfortunately, the extra player on the ice was not enough to score a goal as the Dallas survived a nail biter in the tank, walking away with a win. "It took us too long to get in and we wasted some valuable minutes when we thought we could maybe establish some momentum," coach Todd McLellan.