The three-game sweep of the NHL starts in Chicago, where Corey Crawford made 36 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped one of three shooters in the talent portion of the game to help the Blackhawks edge the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1.
Corey Crawford – file photo by Brent Clark
The Hawks’ Patrick Sharp scored after Crawford made his lone shootout save to get the win.
“I was excited,” Sharp said. “I was glad [Crawford] made the save on the third attempt. It gave me a chance to win it. I just wanted to stay calm, stay patient and make my shot.”
Sharp’s wrist shot beat Marc-Andre Fleury who took the loss on 31 saves and could not stop any of the three shooters for Chicago in the skills competition.
“Really, when I look at the game, it’s how we play,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston said. “How do we play in 60 minutes? How do we play in overtime? I liked our game. That’s two games we’ve played against this team and we’ve played well defensively. We had our scoring chances. We didn’t convert.”
In San Jose, the Tampa Bay Lightning opened a five-game roadie with a 5-2 win over the not surprisingly struggling Sharks.
“We hoped we’d be in a playoff position at this time of the year, and this would have a big effect on how we were going to finish the year,” Bolts coach Jon Cooper said. “To come out and get a win in a really tough building to play in, I can’t say enough about the effort of the team. Especially after St. Louis knocked us around a little bit [on Thursday]. (San Jose) is exceptional. They’re big, they’re fast, they’re strong in all areas of the ice, and for us to stand up to them, I’m pretty proud of the guys.”
The Sharks got goals from Logan Couture and Brent Burns and were never in the game.
“This is frustrating,” Couture said. “The mistakes we make are things we work on, we practice on and watch video. When you constantly make the same mistakes every single night, you question whether you are prepared to play.
“These are things that should have been fixed in Week 2 of the season. We all go through training camp learning the system. You have to play it. I don’t care whether you’re a rookie or a veteran. Our attention to details is not where it should be. It’s the entire team. You lose when the team is not on the same page and that’s what we’re going through right now.”
The up-and-down play of the Sharks is as frustrating as their in-game mistakes.
Ben Bishop faced 35 shots and allowed just two goals for the win.
“It was important for me,” Bishop said of his bounce-back performance. “You look at the past few games and the numbers aren’t really where you want them to be, but then you watch the game and it’s kind of like you’re doing the right things. It was important just not to change anything, just go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing all year.
“Kind of a rough patch in the year where I think it was like five goals off your own players in four games or something. It’s a long year. There’s a lot of ups and downs. You try not to get too low, you try not to get too high. So after a win like this you don’t get too high. It gets even harder.”
The inconsistency of the Sharks play cause for concern as the number of games dwindles in the regular season.
“There were moments we thought we did some good things tonight,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “There were moments when details got away from us. You don’t beat first-place teams like that. You have to be alert all the time.”
In Sunrise, the St Louis Blues’ Brian Elliott made 40 saves in a 2-1 shootout win over the Panthers.
“The (Panthers) did a great job of throwing the puck on net,” Blues defenseman Barret Jackman said. “A lot of them were from outside. We did give a couple from the middle that we weren’t happy with, but they played hard, they came at us. If it wasn’t for (Elliott), we’d be going home with our tail between our legs.”
He missed a shutout by less than two minutes in regulation when Nick Bjugstad forced extra time for the Panthers.
“Tip your cap to that one and try to move on and take it into overtime and win it,” Elliott said. “They got one obviously to tie it up. They had a few opportunities. … We’ll take that win every time.”
The Panthers’ Roberto Luongo made 32 saves in the loss.
“We battled hard, tied it up there at the end,” Luongo said. “That was huge for our team, but we’ve got to find a way to get two points. It’s nice to get the point, but it’s not going to cut it in the long run if we don’t win games.”
The point in the loss was welcome but the Panthers need every point they have access to and cannot afford to leave on the table.
“There were a lot of positives,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “I didn’t like our first period. They outplayed us pretty good. But after that I thought we took the game to them and played real hard and well. The goalies seem to be first stars against us a lot of night. Both goaltenders tonight were outstanding. They were both stars in my mind. We get 40 shots against the St. Louis team, we’re pretty happy.”
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