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The Sharks and the Canucks add to their rivalry |
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The Sharks hosted the Vancouver Canucks in a historic and chippy battle filled with hits, fights, and plenty of penalty minutes.
First off congratulations to Sharks head Coach Todd McLellan for his 200th win. He is the second fastest to get there behind Bruce Boudreau.
The other part of Sharks history achieved in this game won’t be viewed with as much enthusiasm and that is Ryane Clowe’s eight penalties which is also a Sharks record. Clowe was given five minors, two misconducts, and a fighting major for a total of 35 minutes.
This game started different from yesterday’s 4-0 win over Colorado but the results at the end of the first period were the same. The Sharks led 2-0 on goals by Thornton and Pavelski, but the animosity between these teams boiled over before the puck was even dropped. It was easy to see that these players have a dislike for each other because there were minor penalties given to Ryane Clowe and Alex Burrows at 0:00 of the first period.
The highlights of the first twenty were the two goals which both came off of turnovers by Vancouver in the slot, but the Ryane Clowe versus Zack Kassian scrap brought the roof down at the HP Pavilion. It was a long bout and unless you had been slurping the wobbly pops all afternoon it was easy to see that Clowe schooled the young Kassian at the art of throwing knuckles on the ice.
These teams don’t like each other and they haven’t for quite some time. The Western Conference final two years ago reignited the rivalry and since then both teams have similar personnel so the fire still burns; the first period was proof of that.
“It was awesome, the intensity was set before the puck dropped” said Pavelski. “We knew it was going to be that kind of game.”
Getting off to a good start and often scoring the first goal has worked for the Sharks in this early season. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is how the saying goes and so far the Sharks have won their first five games of this short season. They’ve done it by capitalizing with the man advantage, great goaltending, and yes by a competent and timely penalty kill.
“The big thing is we wanted to get off to a better start than yesterday. We did that and special teams were huge” were Joe Thornton’s opening comments in the post-game presser.
The Canucks had their moments and some opportunities particularly with the man advantage, but they hit the goalie’s best friend the goal post on numerous occasions.
Patrick Marleau scored his ninth goal of the season, and although we the press gave him a hard time for not bagging two Marleau scored his goal from the blue paint. Patty has lit the lamp from close to the house on many of his goals this year and has shown more desire to get into the dirty places than what we saw from him last season.
Scoring details
1st period
SJ – 0:43 –EV – 19 J.Thornton(3) – assists – 44 M.Vlasic(2), 7 B.Stuart(2)
SJ – 3:26 –EV – 8 J.Pavelski(1) – unassisted
2nd period
VAN – 11:05 –EV – 14 A.Burrows(1) – assist – 36 J.Hansen(3)
SJ – 14:27 –PP - 12 P.Marleau(9) – assists – 22 D.Boyle(4), 39 L.Couture(5)
3rd period
SJ - 8:14 -PP – 8 J.Pavelski(2) – assists – 19 J.Thornton(10), 12 P.Marleau(4)
The turning point in this game was the first period. The Sharks scored 0:43 seconds into the game which got the crowd going. Joe Pavelski’s first goal of the season and the Clowe fight were recipes for success in this game.
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Joe Pavelski – scored his first two goals of the season including the game winner when he intercepted a pass in the slot and beat Cory Schneider to the glove side.
“It happened so fast, I think he was trying to get some air on it. It stayed down” (referring to the clearing pass he intercepted) is how Joe Pavelski described his first goal of the game.
“I saw a hole as the goalie charged out, I hit it and it went in.”
Zack Kassian – earns his way onto the contenders list for manning up and dropping the gloves with Clowe when he knew Burrows wouldn’t. Kassian was fighting up a division and knew it but, took one for his team.
Sharks penalty kill – tonight went a perfect 6 for 6 including a double minor to start the third period.
Todd McLellan – earned his 200th win but that was the farthest thing from his mind after the game “I’m just happy we won the game for the group. It was a real gritty effort tonight” were the remarks made when asked about his accomplishment.
Andrew Desjardins – earned a lot of respect from his team mates for sticking up for the newest Shark Scott Gomez after he got popped by Kevin Bieksa. Like Kassian, Desjardins fought somebody who he knew he had little chance of beating when he went in but that didn’t slow him down one bit. Welcome to the list Andrew we hope to see your name here more often.
Pretenders
Alex Burrows – is no stranger to this list as he is no stranger to most lists that describe players who have no respect for their fellow competitors. Burrows makes the list tonight for gabbing with Clowe before the game but not backing it up and dropping the gloves later, but even more so for a dirty trip on Vlasic into the boards which could have resulted in serious injury.
Ryane Clowe – went from the Contenders list to the Pretenders list in a matter of seconds. Clowe got the short end of the stick on two minor penalties tonight and after the second one he was unable to contain himself. He is on the list for not controlling his temper and earning the extra unsportsmanlike minor at the end of the second period to go along with a 10 minute misconduct and a game misconduct.
Kevin Bieksa – found his way into the sin bin three times tonight and one resulted in a goal.
Alex Edler – turned the puck over right in front of his own net which led to the game winning goal by Pavelski. Too many mistakes made by the Canucks tonight were their downfall but that one stood out more than others.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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