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Sharks draw a blank in game one against LA

May 15, 2013, 1:43 AM ET [35 Comments]
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Sharks were unable to get one past the Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in game one of the best of seven series of the Western Conference semi-finals as the LA Kings marched to a 2-0 victory.

The Sharks lost their first game of the 2013 post-season and it will be the first bit of adversity they have had to face this spring.

It looked as though the Sharks played not to lose rather than playing to win. They did hit Quick with 35 shots, however we didn’t see a ton of great scoring chances and they weren’t able to sustain pressure in the offensive zone for any extended period of time.

Nobody expected San Jose to run the gauntlet and win sixteen straight games so there is no need to push the panic button. They still have a chance to split the games in LA and come back to the Shark Tank with home ice advantage.

The Sharks began the game by carrying the play to the Kings and they looked impressive for a team that had a week off from the intensity that comes with playoff hockey. They weren’t as sharp with the puck as we have seen, however their start could have been more sluggish than it was and nobody would have been surprised.

The first ten minutes may have belonged to the Sharks, but the Kings woke up took the momentum away from San Jose which resulted in the game’s first goal with 0:12 seconds remaining in the opening period.



Slava Voynov was allowed to walk in from the point and wind up to beat Niemi high over the blocker arm.

Voynov factored in on the game’s second goal when he fired the puck to the net before it was deflected off of Mike Richards’ leg to go ahead 2-0 after two periods.

The bread and butter for San Jose is definitely the power play and the Kings did a great job on the penalty kill. They made coming through the neutral zone difficult and applied quick pressure while the Sharks were in the offensive zone trying to set up.

The Kings deserve some credit for doing a good job of scouting the Sharks tendencies with the man advantage as they broke up the rush into the offensive zone.

A bounce or two the other way and this could have been San Jose’s game so it isn’t as though they will be re-inventing the wheel before Thursday night’s battle.

Scoring details

1st period

LA – 19:47 –EV – 26 S.Voynov(3) – assists – 10 M.Richards(6), 77 J.Carter(1)

2nd period

LA – 12:30 –EV – 10 M.Richards(1) – assists – 26 S.Voynov(1), 7 R.Scuderi(2)

3rd period

No scoring

Turning point

The turning point in this contest was the game winning goal. When a team is scored upon in the final minute of play in a period it stings more than usual. The Kings were able to take the momentum from the eventual game winning goal into the second period and never looked nervous.

Contenders & Pretenders

Contenders

Jonathan Quick – makes the list for doing what he does best in the post-season which is frustrate shooters and win hockey games. He recorded his second shutout of the playoffs stopping all 35 shots he faced. If Quick is rounding into Conn Smythe form it could be a short second round for San Jose.

Slava Voynov – scored a goal and an assist for the Kings. He looked more like a goal scoring winger than a defenseman when he sniped the top corner on Niemi’s blocker side.

Mike Richards – is also on the list for tallying two points, a goal and an assist.

Pretenders

The Logan Couture line – are all on the list for losing the battle against the King’s top unit. The unit as a whole finished the game minus – 5 and had very few quality sniffs around the opposing net.

The Sharks will get another crack at the defending Cup champs on Thursday night when they will try to even the series at one game each.

Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
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