SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks sent St. Louis away singing the blues. In a game that had everything a hockey fan could ask for, the home team notched an impressive 2-1 overtime win over the visiting Blues to keep pace with the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference standings.
At the end of a long shift in overtime, the Sharks Dany Heatley was looking to get off the ice in exchange for fresh legs. That is until he selflessly blocked a point shot and saw nothing between him and the Blues netminder Chris Mason. That is not to say that the Sharks sniper had time weigh his options on the way to finishing off a hard fought game. Heatley could feel the breath of three Blues chasing him down. Where he found the energy to keep them at bay is unknown, but the sellout crowd at the HP Pavilion was glad he did. Hockey players are taught at a young age to always keep the puck in front of you on a breakaway, and not unnecessarily stick handle the puck or it will only slow you down and increase the chances of being caught from behind. Number 15 for the Sharks remembered this lesson well and put it to good use. As it was, the game winning goal was scored from a left handed shot that found its way to the back of the net above Mason’s right leg pad and just below his blocker.
The game was a battle of patience between the two teams. The Sharks were coming off a tough loss to division rival LA Kings where they outshot their opponents by almost a 2-1 margin. When you pepper a team the way San Jose did and come away with nothing to show for it can be very frustrating. The Sharks once again led in the shots on goal category. Good coaching and veteran leadership is what keeps hockey players from getting frustrated and focused on the game plan. St. Louis took a 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Andy McDonald in the 2nd and for a while it looked as though they may end their five game losing skid. The Blues are the first NHL club this year to fire their head coach. Andy Murray was released and his interim replacement, Davis Payne, was brought up from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. Whenever you have a new head coach, the pecking order for dominance begins all over again. A fourth line player has a chance to impress and earn more ice time. The usual result is a team that works hard and on Wednesday last night there was not much room to maneuver on the ice. The Blues played a tight checking game and were almost rewarded with two points. With 7:09 remaining in the 3rd period, Patrick Marleau scored a power play marker to even things at one and helped change the momentum. Hockey is a team game and after a great play to even the score, goaltender Evgeni Nabakov came up with his best save of the night less than a minute later. Andy McDonald’s speed created a point blank scoring chance but the Sharks goalkeeper was up to the challenge.
The game was not a high scoring affair but that is not to say it lacked excitement. Both goalies were sharp and scoring chances were abundant but what really got the crowd to their feet was the marathon fight between the Blues Cam Jansen and fan favorite Jody Shelley of the Sharks. The gloves came off in the latter half of the second period right around center ice and the two enforcers put on a great show. The crowd knew they were in for a treat when half way through the bout the officials attempted to and break it up but were waved off by Jansen who had taken the worst of hits at that point. When it was over both players were exhausted. Getting them apart was no problem for the linesmen who were treated to a thrilling fight and showed appreciation for each other with subtle butt taps. It may not seem like a long time, but these guys went toe-to-toe for 90 seconds. Both players needed at least five minutes in the sin bin to recover. Needless to say the fight got the 17,562 fans that filled the Shark Tank back into the game.
In their previous game against the Kings, the Sharks were clearly lacking mental focus and for a short period of time looked as though Wednesday’s game might resemble the Kings game, but to their credit San Jose did not change strategies and did not panic. Patrick Marleau credited his team after the game for staying the course.
Coach McLellan also gave kudos to his team for being mentally sharp but believes his squad will have to better against the Detroit Red Wings who enter the hostile Shark Tank Saturday in San Jose.
After a loss one usually wants to see their top players step up to the plate and rally their team to victory the next time out of the gate. Against the Blues there was no shortage of that. Goals by Marleau and Heatley, as well as outstanding goaltending by Nabokov were the recipe for the Sharks against the Blues. Dan Boyle not only assisted on the first goal but missed only a few minutes in the second period after taking a puck to the face on a clearing shot and had to go in for stitches. Things don’t get any easier for the Sharks. After hosting Detroit Saturday night it will be off to LA for a rematch with the Kings on Monday.
Keep Your Sticks On the Ice
Contact cam.gore@prohockeynews.com
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