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San Jose Sharks Pull Out All The Stops “Fortunately for us, we got the break at the end.”--Coach Todd McLellan
There was a lot of good
news, bad news for the San Jose Sharks the past few days, although there
was definitely more of the former than the latter. The bad news would of
course be the absence of goalie Evgeni Nabokov in Saturday’s game against
the Dallas Stars due to the injury suffered on the last play of the
shoot-out win over St. Louis last Thursday night. Now for the good news;
the injury to Nabokov seems to be less
Boucher readily accepted the pressure that came along with filling in for Nabokov. “We all want to play,” said Boucher. “I don’t want to be here for a free ride,” he said. After the first period at HP Saturday night, the Sharks had taken control of the game. Boucher had 5 saves keeping Dallas out of the net. It was San Jose who sent the puck searing home when #22 Dan Boyle scored his third goal of the season to give the Sharks the early lead, 1-0. He was assisted by #19 Joe Thornton (11th assist) and #12 Patrick Marleau (9th assist). The Dallas Stars gave San Jose all they could handle in the second period. It was a defensive battle from beginning to end however San Jose kept the pressure on in a scoreless period. Dallas had a number of scoring opportunities with two power plays however came up empty. As the third period got underway it was Boucher’s teammates that had to keep Dallas out of the net to give their goalie his third win of the season and keep his slate unblemished. He had not allowed a single goal this season. At 3:41, Dallas’ #21 Loui Eriksson soiled his record as Boucher moved to the front of the goal and Eriksson slipped the puck in behind him to tie the game. The momentum that was in San Jose’s favor through two periods had shifted into the Stars corner, as the Sharks had a real fight on their hands. With 28.3 ticks left on the clock, San Jose’s #12 Patrick Marleau clinched the team’s ninth straight win at home with a blistering shot past Dallas goalie Marty Turco. He was unassisted. It was a real nail-biter with nary a fan venturing out of their seats as it appeared that overtime was inevitable. Marleau and company pulled out all the stops for the last minute 2-1 victory. Although goalie Brian Boucher didn’t get the shutout, he stressed that winning is what is of the most importance. “Obviously in the third period they (Dallas) gave us their best,” said Boucher after the game. “It’s one of those games where we might have wanted to take it to them a little bit more.” “It came at the right time I guess,” said Patrick Marleau of his last second winning goal. It seemed as though Dallas was saving the best for last in this game giving San Jose a daunting challenge in the final period. “They really came out in the third period,” he said. “They played in Anaheim last night so that might have played a factor into tonight’s game,” said Marleau explaining a possible reason for the Stars slow start. The bottom line is that getting one past Marty Turco is a feat in itself and it doesn’t happen easily or often. Coach Todd McLellan felt as if it was a pretty evenly played game. “Both team’s competed hard and it was the kind of a game that we expected; a lot of board work, not necessarily a lot of pretty passing but a scrappy type game. Fortunately for us we got the break at the end. He (Turco) made that one mistake,” he said. “It’s hard when you are a goaltender. People are zeroing in on you and you want to make the right play and the right decision. Marty has a lot of courage to go out and play the puck which is a great quality but sometimes it comes back to haunt you.” While San Jose will savor this last minute victory, it will be short-lived as they take the ice again on Sunday. They will be heading back out on the road for a game with division rivals, the Phoenix Coyotes. |
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By
Barbara Mason 11/09/2008