Game Day Report: San Jose Vs. Edmonton
By Ryan Bayer
Mar 6, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Joe Pavelski (8) skates with the puck past Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry (58) during the third period at HP Pavilion. Edmonton defeated San Jose 3-2 in shootouts. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports
Tonight the San Jose Sharks hosts the Edmonton Oilers for the first time this season as this contest makes their second of three meetings. The last time these two clubs squared off against one another was during the Sharks two game Canada road-trip. San Jose walked away from that contest with a 6-3 victory. Both Marleau and Couture each scored twice. Furthermore, Couture scored his first goal of the season. In addition, San Jose received scoring contributions from the blue line as both Boyle and Vlasic each chipped in a goal. Sharks net minder Niemi allowed stopped 26 of 29 shots he faced with a 0.897 save percentage. For the Oilers it was a special night of sorts. Their 2012 first overall draft pick Nail Yakupov tallied his first ever NHL goal. Hot commodity signed Justin Schultz also scored his first ever NHL goal, and 2010 first overall pick Taylor Hall scored his marker of the season.
The Sharks are coming of a 3-2 shootout victory over their divisional rivals the Anaheim Ducks and extended their winning streak to six games. In that game, San Jose scored the first tally when Thornton setup Joe Pavelski with a nice pass on the rush and fired a wicked wrister passed Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller in the opening period. The Ducks responded with back to back goals by both Beauchemin and Beleskey in the middle frame. In the late stages of the contest, the Sharks tied it up when Scott Gomez sent a sweet drop pass to Logan Couture and fired the puck towards Hiller thru a screen and went five hole. Gomez registered his first point as a Shark on Couture’s game tying tally. The was decided in the shootout competition as Handzus of San Jose scored the lone goal to seal the deal for the Sharks.
For the visiting Oilers, they played last night in Phoenix in which Edmonton defeated the Coyotes 2-1 in overtime. The hero of the night was none other than Nail Yakupov who scored the power play strike in overtime. Furthermore, Yakupov’s OT winner was his fourth career NHL goal.
As of today the San Jose Sharks are the only team left in the Western Conference with a perfect 6-0-0 record with 12 points to their credit. This is because last night the Chicago Blackhawks were handed their first lose of the season courtesy of the Minnesota Wild in the shootout. Thus snapping their six game winning streak. For the Edmonton Oilers, they are currently in second place of the Northwest Division with 4-2-0 record with includes 8 points. They are sitting fifth overall in the West, while San Jose is right behind Chicago in 2nd place overall.
Tale of The Tape Stats:
San Jose Sharks:
Goals per game: 4.17 (2nd)
Goals-against per game: 1.67 (2nd)
Power play: 35.3 percent (1st)
Penalty kill: 81.5 percent (12th)
Edmonton Oilers:
2.67 goals-per game (15th)
2.50 goals-against per game (10th)
Power play: 34.4 percent (2nd)
Penalty kill: 82.8 percent (11th)
April 16, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi (31) warms up before game three of the 2012 Western Conference quarterfinals against the St. Louis Blues at HP Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports
Goaltending Matchups:
Antti Niemi has been a huge part of that success, going 5-0-0 with a 1.97 GAA. The Finland native is 4-0-1 with a 2.36 GAA lifetime against Edmonton.
Devan Dubnyk, who’s started all six games, made 27 saves Wednesday. Dubnyk is 4-4-0 with a 3.08 goals-against average lifetime against San Jose, allowing two goals or fewer in the wins and a combined 17 in the losses.
***Injury Front:
Sharks: Brent Burns (lower body) is on injured reserve. Dan Boyle (flu) is probable.
Oilers: Ryan Jones (eye surgery), Andy Sutton (knee surgery) and Ben Eager (concussion) are on injured reserve.
Keep an eye on report:
Sharks: The defense. Jason Demers declared himself ready to return yesterday from a fractured wrist, and Dan Boyle (flu) should also be back after sitting out Tuesday. The Sharks’ coaching staff will have a tough decision to make on who comes out of the lineup if they choose to insert either or both of those players.***
***Injury report courtesy of Kevin Kurz.***
Official Link: http://www.csncalifornia.com/blog/kevin-kurz/sharks-oilers-glance
Today’s contest has a 7:30p PST puck drop and can been seen on Comcast Sportsnet California HD and can be heard on 98.5 KFOX
LET’S GO SHARKS!!!!!!!!
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