SHARKSPAGE

Brandon Dubinsky sinks Sharks in 6th round of overtime shootout, New York Rangers earn 3-2 win in San Jose

#61 JUSTIN BRAUN PULLS PUCK OFF GOAL LINE IN 2ND - MSG

The Sharks were concerned about an emotional letdown after a ‘game of the year’ candidate earlier in the week against the high profile Vancouver Canucks. Those concerns were not realized Saturday night in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers. As throngs of Ranger fans and East Coast transplants filtered their way to the Tank, the Sharks dominated large stretches of the first and third periods, but could not capitalize on enough scoring chances en route to their second straight shootout loss at home. Ryane Clowe scored a power play goal in the first period. Ben Eager added his 5th goal of the season in the second. In his 24th consecutive start, goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 20 of 22 shots against, and 4 of 6 shootout attempts. In that 24 game span, the Sharks compiled an 18-3-3 record and positioned themselves for a grueling stretch run to the end of the regular season.

After outshooting the Rangers 12-3 in the third period, and coming up short on three quality scoring chances in overtime, it was somewhat of a letdown for a tight team contest to be determined by individual play in the shootout according to Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “It is a hard thing at this time of the year to play a hard fought team game, and then have it settled with individuals,” McLellan said. “I understand it is an exciting part of the game, and it is a way to break a tie, and the fans love it. When you have blocked 4 or 5 shots and you have no chance to make an impact on the game once it is over in overtime, it makes it tough.”

What makes it tougher, facing one of the NHL’s best goaltenders in the shootout. New York’s Henrik Lundqvist trails only Jonathan Quick and Miikka Kiprusoff with 6 shootout wins, and an impressive .846SV% in the post-OT skills competition. The more shootout attempts a goalie faces, the more comfortable and confident he can be in that situation. Lundqvist has faced a league high 39 shootout attempts against. Against the Sharks, the shootout may have been decided on the first San Jose attempt by Patrick Marleau. As Marleau came in with speed, Lundqvist outwaited the alternate captain and matter of factly made the save. Clowe, Pavelski and Couture tried similar quick wrist shots, and they may have been baited by Lundqvist according to Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “I guess when they are going in there is not much room to shoot at, (Lundqvist) may be baiting them a little with 5-hole,” McLellan said. After Dan Boyle came in at an extraordinarily slow pace, stickhandling nearly a dozen times and lifting a backhand high, only Dany Heatley tried some semblance of a deke later in the shootout. “I think he may have taken a timeout,” the Rangers announcer said of Boyle’s glacially slow shootout pace.

For his part, Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi performed well in his second straight overtime shootout. But for the second straight game, he failed to pick up a win. Niemi has registered a 3-4 record, and a .739SV% on 23 shootout attempts against (11th) this season. Niemi stuffed a slick deke by shootout specialist Erik Christensen with a well timed poke check, and covered the lower portion of the net against Zuccarello, Anisimov and Callahan. Both Zuccarello and Anisimov missed the net, which is a sign there is not a lot of room to shoot at. Former Av Wojtek Wolski scored a goal far side, and Brandon Dubinsky capped solid third period and overtime play with the deciding goal in the 6th round.

Defenseman Dan Boyle returned to the lineup after missing 6 games with a lower body injury. He registered 2 assists, 1 shootout goal, 2 shots on goal, and 2 blocked shots in 22:42 of ice time (Boyle’s season average 26:40). The Sharks dressed 7 defenseman while trying to work Boyle back into the lineup, but none of them had a larger physical impact than Douglas Murray. On his 31st birthday, Murray registered 5 hits, several of them were of the pancake variety. Murray was challenged by Brandon Prust at the point as he unloaded a shot. On his followthrough, Murray lowered his shoulder and left Prust crumpled on the ice. The Swedish iceberg also crushed Artem Anisimov in the first, and left defenseman Marc Staal in a heap in the third.

The Swedish Olympic representative also got his stick up against Wolski in the first, and it was one of many non-calls the officials made against San Jose on the night. Marc Staal was flagrantly high sticked by Dany Heatley, and after being crushed by Murray Brand Prust was also high sticked by Marc-Edouard Vlasic in the first. During a tv stoppage in play, Rangers head coach John Tortorella lit into 29 year veteran referee Bill McCreary, and then into less experienced Eric Furlatt. Dany Heatley also got a stick up to the face of Ruslan Fedotenko in the third. The Sharks were called for only one minor penalty, Logan Couture for goaltender interference in the first, but they could have been called for several more. Ben Eager took a fighting major in the first, and a matching unsportsmanlike call with Prust in the second.

The National Hockey League was a difficult way to earn a living in the first period for Rangers left wing Brandon Prust. After being hammered by Murray and high sticked by Vlasic, he dropped the gloves for a first period fight against veteran Ben Eager. It was a somewhat disjoined fight, one ruled a draw on hockeyfights.com, but both players had the manners to fight directly in front of the rinkside camera. Eager landed a heavy right hand to start the fight, which tipped the scales. Eager completed two thirds of the Gordie Howe hat trick, being the third man in on a point shot from Dan Boyle. The shot deflected off the stick of Rangers forward Erik Christensen, off the stick of Joe Pavelski, and then off the stick of Eager. It was the fifth goal of the season for #55, who was mixed and matched on several lines due to his agressive play.

“I think we salvaged the trip. It’s a good answer. We still have things to work on. We played against a very good hockey club tonight and found a way to win,” New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella said after the game. “I thought we played the right way, the way we need to play. In the third period, we just couldn’t stop their surge. We got caught on our heels a little bit. But the biggest key was that we wanted to play the right way, and I thought for most of the minutes, we did.”

The Vancouver broadcast on Thursday night noted that the Sharks came at the Canucks in waves during the third period. On Saturday night, the New York Rangers broadcasters made similar observations. There will be a threshold after the regular season ends on April 9th. Whether or not the Sharks can maintain their confidence, maintain their ability to overcome obstacles, and maintain their ability to wear down opponents with depth and speed remains to be seen. If it can happen once early in a first round series, or if it can happen in the first game, then it should be a switch the Sharks can flip regularly for the duration of the postseason. Any ‘playoff choker’ comments or notations about the dropoff in offensive production from key stars by national or Canadian analysts will completely miss the point. The Sharks are built for tight, postseason play. 16 of the last 20 games San Jose has played have been 1-goal affairs, and they have won the bulk of them. They are close to having 4 lines playing better together than they have all season, and with Justin Braun and Kent Huskins (injured), they have 8 defenseman they can add to the mix. A successful return by goaltender Antero Niittymaki from an extended injury would give the Sharks depth across the board heading into the playoffs. There are two teams with that type of depth in the Western Conference: Vancouver and San Jose.

Vancouver may learn a harsh lesson this postseason. Having the best record in the NHL by a wide margin, and having the most prolific offense in the league means absolutely zero on April 10th. Rink-wide backhand saucer passes, and end-to-end rushes by aggressive defenseman are going to be a lot harder to come by as playoff teams tighten the vice grip in the defensive zone. One other stark contrast between Thursday and Saturday night at HP Pavilion. While the Rangers had a legitimate complaint, scratch that, several legitimate complaints for high sticks that weren’t called, Vancouver dove like they were in the paint for the Miami Heat. One Canuck even grabbed his opponent’s stick, lifted it into his own face, and then flailed his arms backwards like it was a mortal wound.

The Sharks had several whacks at earning a win in the third period and in OT. A diving Setoguchi got a stick on a behind the net pass from Thornton, only to send it high and wide of Lundqvist. Patrick Marleau fed a saucer pass to a streaking Jason Demers, who chipped a puck high into the glove of the Rangers netminder. New York defenseman Ryan McDonagh blew a tire twice in the game, and both resulted in quality scoring chances for San Jose. Later in the third, he fell creating a 2-on-1 for Torrey Mitchell and Ben Eager. Mitchell waited on the shot, but fired it off the shoulder. With more confidence, Mitchell could have picked a corner, under the arm or 5-hole. At times, he is looking pass first or unloading a shot just to get it on goal. He is playing solid 2-way hockey, and on many nights Wellwood-Pavelski-Mitchell is one of the most creative lines, but Mitchell needs to pick a spot and be aggressive with the puck on his stick. He was coming off a spectacular goal where he slashed through 4 Canucks on Thursday night, a goal that rivaled his end-to-end short hander in December 2007 against Anaheim.

In OT, Brandon Dubinsky executed one of the best shifts of the game playing against Joe Thornton in the offensive zone. In a 1-on-1 battle along the boards, Dubinsky positioned his body on the check to allow room for the puck on the left side. After Thornton was up against the glass, Dubinsky took several hard strides towards the net with the puck. Thornton was able to get back in time, forcing Dubinsky behind the net with a stick check. Dubinsky and Thornton then battled twice more for possession, before the play was cleared out of the zone. Scoring the game winner in the overtime shootout was the culmination of a very strong game by Dubinsky. The Sharks had 3 quality opportunities to close the deal in OT, but they could not punch through. Lundqvist swallowed up an attempt by Thornton and Pavelski, then held firm down low as Couture set up Pavelski for a point blank opportunity just outside the crease. Another blown tire by Ryan McDonagh gave Ryane Clowe room entering the zone. He cut to the middle of the ice, and fired a shot with Logan Couture falling down in front of the net. Lundqvist remained calm and in position to make the save.

[Update] Lundqvist saves Rangers in shootout win over Sharks – Larry Brooks for the NY Post.

Lundqvist actually had attempted to coach in the shootout, coming out of his crease to give Callahan advice when the winger came up in the bottom of the fourth with the game on his stick.

“Our guys were trying to make moves, and [Niemi] is so quick, that I told Call to shoot,” Lundqvist said. “He didn’t listen to me, but that’s OK, Dubi did.”

[Update2] New York Rangers top San Jose Sharks in shootout on Brandon Dubinsky’s game-winner in shootout – NY Daily News.

[Update3] San Jose Sharks fall to New York Rangers in shootout – San Jose Mercury News.