| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Special teams are the key to winning games
in the NHL these days. Just ask the San Jose Sharks.
San Jose killed nine of 10 Carolina power plays and Marco Sturm scored his league-leading third shorthanded goal of the season with 9:52 left in a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
"It's not as easy to score power-play goals as people think,"
San Jose center Mike Ricci said. "I think Carolina is having the
same problem as other teams. You've got to work hard on your
special teams."
Sturm beat Arturs Irbe on a breakaway moments after the
Hurricanes nearly scored as San Jose won its third straight road
game.
"I think it was an excellent read by Strum," San Jose
assistant coach Rich Preston said. "He just took off and made the
goal."
Carolina's Glen Wesley said he was pinching in from the point on the power play and the pass to Strum by Vincent Damphousse hit off his stick.
"It was one of those plays I wish I could have back," Wesley
said. "Right now this is a tough one to swallow. We had some great
opportunities and unfortunately our power play didn't cash in for
us."
The Sharks, the best penalty-killing team in the league, killed off a two-man disadvantage over the final 1:12 to secure the win.
"You can't afford to sit back," Carolina coach Paul Maurice
said when asked how to attack a team that led the NHL last year
with 16 shorthanded goals. "We lost a lot of battles on our power
play and that seems to be the re-occurring theme. When the other
team stacks the (blue) line you're forced to dump the puck in and
that's not very good."
Patrick Marleau gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead 2:10 into the third period. He picked up a wild shot from Brad Stuart behind the net
and scored from a sharp angle off the back of the skate of Irbe,
who failed to cover up the short side.
The lead didn't last long. Bates Battaglia wrestled the puck away from the San Jose defense behind the net five minutes later
and scored his second of the season on a wraparound.
But Sturm scored his game-winner 35 seconds into Jeff Friesen's holding penalty.
San Jose lost starting goaltender Evgeni Nobokov early in the
second period when a shot bent the grill of his mask and cut him
above his right eye.
Miikka Kiprusoff, playing in his first NHL game, came off the bench and didn't face a shot for 7½ minutes before Martin Gelinas tipped one past the rookie on the power play to tie it 1-1.
The goal was the fourth of the season for Gelinas and extended his goal-scoring streak to four games. It was also just the third power-play goal allowed this season by San Jose.
Less than a minute later, Irbe got a shoulder on a breakaway by Friesen to keep the score 1-1.
Nabokov returned late in the second after getting stitched up.
The Sharks dominated the opening 10 minutes, getting a goal by
defenseman Marcus Ragnarsson while holding the Hurricanes without a
shot for the first 9:50.
Ragnarsson took a pass through traffic from the right boards by Stephane Matteau and rifled a high shot from the left circle over the glove of Irbe.
Game notes
San Jose's Gary Suter returned after missing three straight
games with a rib injury. It was his 999th career game. ...
Defenseman Marek Malik played in his first game of the season for
Carolina after missing the opening six with whiplash. ...
Ragnarsson has only 21 career goals in 363 games, but already has
two in seven games this season. ... Ozolinsh is a team-worst
minus-4 for Carolina. ... Gelinas didn't score his eighth point
last season until the 36th game of the season.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
San Jose Clubhouse
Carolina Clubhouse
City council: Sharks may play at Compaq-ed arena in future
RECAPS
San Jose 3
Carolina 2
Philadelphia 5
NY Rangers 4
Minnesota 2
Montreal 2
Vancouver 4
Nashville 4
Phoenix 2
Calgary 2
|
