SHARKSPAGE

San Jose Sharks down Phoenix Coyotes 3-1 in rough and tumble regular season finale, await postseason foe

#15 DANY HEATLEY CELEBRATES #39 LOGAN COUTURE'S 3RD PERIOD GOAL

#30 ILYA BRYZGALOV COLLAPSES TO ICE AFTER DESPERATION SAVE IN 3RD

#8 PAVELSKI, #20 WELLWOOD, #17 MITCHELL LINE COMBINED FOR 1G, 3A SAT

San Jose television announcer Randy Hahn noted that a Sharks-Coyotes first round playoff series was possible after a 3-1 win Saturday night at the Tank. Given the previous two home-at-home contests, the thought of a contiguous 9-game superseries would have been a daunting one.

“If you reflect back on our last 3 games, this is the best we have played,” San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan told reporters after the game. “I thought we picked up players gradually. We didn’t have a lot of players in Anaheim, we picked up a few in Phoenix, and we found a few more. This was a good game to play in. Tight, fast, the intensity was there. Something we needed to experience this week so we can get ready for what lies ahead.”

Phoenix had clinched a playoff berth with a win a night earlier on home ice, but on Saturday they were in full playoff mode over a very physical 60 minutes. They were only credited with 20 hits to San Jose’s 23 on the evening, but several of the Coyotes checks were of the pancake variety that sent Joe Thornton (2), Benn Ferriero, Joe Pavelski (2), Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Logan Couture sprawling to the ice. Referees Dan O’halloran and Tim Peel were going to let players decide the game on the ice, and that was no more evident in a end-to-end sequence between a newly returned Martin Hanzal (playing his second straight game after missing 13) and a newly returned Scott Nichol (playing his second straight game after missing 20). Hanzal placed both hands on Nichol and rammed him into the corner on one end of the ice, mauling him briefly on the way out. As Phoenix gained possession in the corner of their own defensive zone, with a free pass Nichol took an exaggerated run at Hanzal in retaliation.

After Jamal Mayers and Michal Rozsival took penalties earlier in the first, it would have to take an extraordinarily bad play to earn a minor given the intensity on the ice. Martin Hanzal and Joe Thornton both obliged, twice. Thornton took a cross-check at 14:12, then Thornton and Hanzal took unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after the end of the first. Hanzal earned a roughing minor later in the second. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound forward was drafted with more of a finesse than power forward skill set, but that has changed dramatically. Hanzel was tangled up with an aggressive Joe Pavelski in front of his own net, then he stared at #8 the entire way up ice until he took a penalty on the other side.

The physical and intense nature of the home-at-home series had a playoff vibe to it, but inopportune penalties can be the deciding factor in a game. With stellar goaltending like Antti Niemi and Ilya Bryzgalov displayed on Saturday night, one goal can be the difference in a game.

The first 10 minutes were positive ones for the Sharks. All 4 forward lines created scoring chances or sustained pressure with the puck deep on the forecheck. The Torrey Mitchell, Joe Pavelski, Kyle Wellwood line (aka the best third line in hockey ptII), against were buzzing in the offensive zone. Mitchell dropped one of his sickest moves on the year on highly regarded defenseman Rosislav Klesla. Mitchell drew the puck hard to his left, then thew a shoulder fake and took the puck back to his right dropping Klesla to one knee. Torrey Mitchell has been one of the fastest skaters on the Sharks, and a dependable penalty killer, but extended time on a line with Kyle Wellwood and Joe Pavelski could have a transformative effect. His shift moves, nose for the net, and killer instinct are not going to go away any time soon. That the Sharks have enough depth up the middle to allow Pavelski to engineer the third line is a sign of how stacked the team is up front.

The fourth line also created a point blank scoring chance, with Bryzgalov closing the door on Scott Nichol. Joe Thornton also displayed the 2-way game that has gone under the radar nationally. After setting up Marleau from behind the net, Thornton backed checked hard enough to become the third man high in his own offensive zone. He created the turnover, and reversed the rush in the other direction. Later in the period he created a scoring chance before again becoming the third man high on a 2-on-2. With no outlets and solid coverage, the Coyotes puck carrier was forced wide before he turned the puck over.

Bryzgalov stopped all 12 shots he faced in the first period, at times when he was hung out to dry with Sharks camped in front of him. Dany Heatley gained inside position on 2 Coyotes, before a shot was sent wide of the net. Devin Setoguchi also rang a shot off the post.

After the 4-on-4 sequence expired at the start of the second period, the Sharks turned up the heat in the offensive zone. Even strengthed, a Marc- Edouard Vlasic point shot was blocked before Kyle Wellwood gathered the rebound and stuffed another attempt on net. Bryzgalov locked down the lower portion of the net. Heatley dug the puck out from behind the net, and sent it out in front where Logan Couture and Wellwood took multiple whacks. Heatley took two whacks of his own as the puck bounced around the crease, but a clearing attempt by Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle failed. Jason Demers hammered a hard point shot back on net.

After another shot on goal, Wellwood and Mitchell combined to get the puck back to the point. Ian White loaded up on a slapshot and scored his 4th goal of the season, his second in as many games against Phoenix. The Sharks received a break when a Michal Rozsival shot was nullified when the net was ruled to be off its moorings. Rozsival made a short pass to Lee Stempniak on the rush, and Stempniak sent a hard cross-crease pass that was one-timed on Niemi. Niemi pushed hard right to left to get the tip of his leg pad on the shot, but the puck settled down behind his body. As 4 Coyotes crashed the net, the last of the fourth (Rozsival) tipped it home. No goal.

The Sharks would build on that play with their first power play goal late in the second period. A series of short passes down the right wing found Joe Thornton at the side of the net. His first shot was blocked down low, but he sent a short pass in tight to Pavelski who buried it up high. Pavelski became the seventh San Jose Sharks 20-goal scorer on the last day of the season, assisted by Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

Niemi kept the score at 2-0 with a brilliant highlight reel save at the end of the second. Keith Yandle drove right before reversing the puck across the crease to Radim Vrbata. Niemi pushed hard left to right, and with his glove up in the full splits, made the save down low. Two Coyotes forwards shook their heads as they moved back up ice in the other direction.

“Wow was (Niemi) good,” San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said after the game. “When we made mistakes, he was there to make some tremendous saves. That is playoff goaltending.. There are not many nights where I turn to the coaches and we are all going ‘wow’.” McLellan was also impressed by the goaltending of Ilya Bryzgalov. “I thought the guy on the other end, Bryzgalov, was very good too.”

Niemi picked up right where he left off in the third period, but the momentum had swung to the Coyotes as the pressed hard to get on the board. Phoenix outshot San Jose 13-12 over the final 20 minutes. “Nemo” stopped a Pyatt 1-timer, and a subsequent attempt by Belanger. 8:36 in, Lauri Korpikoski blocked a Jason Demers point shot, then jumped on the loose puck in the neutral zone. Speeding down the left wing, Korpikoski threw a shoulder jiggle then wristed a shot short side before the San Jose defense could get back. 2-1 Sharks.

Bryzgalov made his save of the game, and a candidate for save of the year, with a diving head first stop on Joe Thornton. On the penalty kill, Bryzgalov made a save on Ian White while Joe Pavelski was knocked to the ice in front of them. San Jose gathered the rebound, and a quick White pass to Thornton on the right side lead to a quick shot with some height on it. Bryzgalov made the first save, turned to see the shooter in front of him, then dove head first to stop the puck. He laid motionless on the ice for a few seconds after the whistle blew.

San Jose remained on the power play, and Logan Couture would benefit with his 32nd goal of the season at 18:29. Heatley dished the puck from Joe Thornton’s office (behind the net). Bryzgalov stoned the first shot, but Couture got his own rebound and punched the puck off the post and in. Heatley delivered one of the biggest checks of the game as he slammed into Couture for the celebration.

“I think (the sustained pressure in the second) kind of turned the game for us,” Joe Pavelski said of the momentum building win to end the regular season. “I think there is less hype, and less talk about our team, which will help us,” Todd McLellan said. “We have experienced the Vancouver scenario, I have as a coach more than once. It is a tough one. It is up to us now to get ready and to be prepared.”

A photo gallery from the game is available here. Video highlights from youtube are available here.