Sharks Shut Down Division Leading Kings

“I thought we buckled down, and our goal-tending was solid.”-Kyle McLaren

By Barbara Mason BASD/Raiderdrive.com 1/10/06

Despite missing practice due to “feeling a little under the weather”, Jonathan Cheechoo was ready for Saturday nights game against the division leading Los Angeles Kings.  The Sharks needed this win to gain a little more ground in the Pacific Division since they are currently residing in the basement. Los Angeles leads the division with 56 points, which puts them second in the Western Conference behind the Detroit Red Wings who have 59 points. Looking at their head to head history this season, the two teams have split two games both in Los Angeles.  Jonathan Cheechoo figured in the win last October 28 when he scored a power play goal with 3.7 seconds left in the game to give the Sharks the victory 5-4.  On December 26, Cheechoo turned in two power play goals in the third period, in a losing effort for San Jose 4-3. 

San Jose had two players miss Saturday’s game, Tom Preissing due to the flu and Scott Parker with a head injury.  The list of injured players for Los Angeles was extensive and read like a litany with eight of their players out and one doubtful.  Despite all the injuries that Los Angeles comes into this game with, they always pose a threat no matter what is thrown at them. “In spite of some of their injuries, they’ve still got some dangerous forwards,” said Coach Wilson.

The first period saw the Sharks miss several scoring opportunities something you just cannot do against the Kings.  The Sharks made things even more difficult for themselves becoming the victim of a 5 on 3, when San Jose had too many men on the ice, followed by another penalty when Mark Smith was called for hooking.  The Kings wasted no time scoring on the power play and less than a minute later found pay dirt for a second time, and San Jose found themselves behind 2-0.  Lubomir Visnovsky scored at 10:22 and Sean Avery scored at 11:11.  San Jose came out with both guns firing, assaulting Los Angeles goalie Mathieu Garon until #17 Scott Thornton (7^th goal of the season) sent one screaming past him assisted by #10 Alyn McCauley (10^th assist of the season) and #11 Marcel Goc (7^th assist of the season). at 15:11.

The second period saw a more disciplined Black and Teal take the ice.  The game became a defensive struggle until Patrick Marleau (16^th goal of the season) assisted by #14 Jonathan Cheechoo (13^th assist of the season) and #19 Joe Thornton (44^th assist of the season) broke through, and tied the game 2-2.  Winning the face off at 4:21, #17 Scott Thornton (8^th goal of the season) sent a bullet past Garon, his second goal of the game, and the Sharks took the lead 3-2.  Thornton was assisted by #23 Niko Dimitrakos (10^th assist of the season) and #6 Josh Gorges (his first assist of the season).  Both second period goals were closely followed by San Jose penalties, which the Sharks were able to successfully kill.  As the period ended both teams had taken 22 shots on goal.

At 17:13 in the third period, the Sharks had their fifth power play, which couldn’t have come at a better time for the team.  It slowed down the Kings significantly as the Sharks closed out the game giving Los Angeles very little in the third period to work with, shutting them down, and handing San Jose their third win in a row. 

“It was just a good heads-up play,” said Scott Thornton (Photo left)  in reference to his second goal, the game winner. “It was nice to have Niko back in the line-up.  He’s got great vision and he made a nice pass to me.  It was a great effort.  It’s kind of a face-off play that we practice a little bit.  They don’t always work, but tonight it worked.  It felt good,” said Thornton.

The Shark defense really stepped up in a game that was a fight to the bitter end with both teams putting out maximum effort offensively and defensively.  The improvement that defenseman Kyle McLaren had hoped for in their last outing against Columbus certainly came to pass.  “I thought we buckled down, and our goal-tending was solid.  We gave up two early goals but I think we settled down after that, and really played to our strengths,” said McLaren. 

The second and third Shark goals were closely followed by penalties, something that has plagued the team in the past.  “We’re learning to forget those mistakes as best we can and as quick as we can.  In this league we can come back from a two goal deficit, where before maybe you couldn’t,” explained McLaren.

Kyle McLaren also spoke of the Los Angeles rivalry that always accompanies these games.  “I think it’s built up over the years and I think it’s only going to get stronger.  They have a good team over there, and we have a good team. It’s a nice rivalry to have especially since they’re from our own state.  The rivalry is building and it’s only going to get better,” he said.

Much of the success Saturday night was due to the solid goal-tending performance by Evgeni Nabokov (Photo right bottom), back after a brief absence. Although letting two goals by in the first half of the first period, Nabokov hunkered down for the remainder of the game warding off 17 shots on goal.  He admittedly has a lot of respect for the Kings and the challenges they brought into this game.  “They are a tough team and it doesn’t matter how many guys they are missing,” Nabokov said in reference to the eight Los Angeles players that missed the game due to injury.    “Every year they still seem to come through with hard work.”

Coach Ron Wilson gave the Kings a lot of credit for the fight they put up in this game.

“They really competed hard and made you fight for every inch on the ice. That was a very tough game.  It was great to see Thorty (Scott Thornton) get a couple.  He’s worked really hard, and he deserved it,” Wilson said.

The Sharks now take a three game winning streak out on the road for three road games. They will meet Boston next Tuesday, followed by a Thursday contest versus Ottawa and wrap it up with a Saturday night match-up against Montreal before returning home to HP Pavilion to face Tampa Bay January 16.