Sharks vs Coyotes - 3.30.07
Sharks hit 100 point mark
San Jose, CA - Friday night, the San Jose Sharks battled the Phoenix Coyotes for the final time this season. Though Phoenix did well to keep the game close through the first period, Team Teal proved to be too much and defeated the Coyotes by a final score of 4 - 2.
In the first period, the Sharks showed a lot of jump early by generating a number of scoring chances and peppering Curtis Joseph with ten shots on goal. Unfortunately, CuJo was able to stand up tall and keep the period scoreless. The only memorable moments of the first were a couple of big hits put on by Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray.
It wasn't until the second period when Patrick Rissmiller broke the tie and scored his 6th goal of the season. Thanks to Curtis Brown's forecheck, the Coyotes defense accidentally turned the puck over to Mike Grier. With a quick transition, Grier snapped a pass to Rissmiller who was all alone in front. From roughly ten feet out, Rissmiller wristed the puck up high over CuJo's pads for the 1 - 0 lead. With three minutes left in the period, Christian Ehrhoff extended the lead on the power play giving assists to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Mark Bell. Unfortunately, one minute later, the Coyotes got the goal back with a shot from Fredrik Sjostrom.
In the third period, the Sharks took control of the game; with even strength goals from Scott Hannan and Jonathan Cheechoo, the Sharks pushed the lead to 4 - 1. Cheechoo's goal was his 32nd of the season; a quick pass from Joe Thornton sprung Jonathan along the near boards. With a quick deke, CuJo went down and Cheechoo took advantage by stamping it for a three goal lead. On an odd call by the referee, Evgeni Nabokov was whistled for Delay of Game when all he did was smother the puck to keep it away from an approaching Owen Nolan. One minute and 33 seconds later, Vlasic was sent to the bin for Hi-sticking giving Phoenix a two-man advantage. During their 5 on 3 power play, the Coyotes scored to cut the Sharks' lead in half.
Late in the game, the Coyotes pulled their goalie for an extra attacker on what was already a 5 on 3 power play. Fortunately, Nabokov and the penalty killers kept Phoenix off of the scoreboard and finished the game strong.
This win pushed the Sharks' point total to 100, keeping pace with the Dallas Stars who had won earlier in the night. As expected, the Sharks took care of business and handled the Coyotes quite easily.
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Comments
Cheechoo only made number 7?!!? Although its clear that you are trying to keep some kind of historical perspective, I think you should have factored in his potential success which at this point is pretty unlimited. #7....I think youre going to have to rethink that at some point, and hopefully soon.
Posted by: Moosefactory | April 2, 2007 01:26 PM
Thanks for the comment. I agree that Cheech has a ton of potential to become an annual 40-goal scorer. However, I couldn't possibly put him higher on the list simply based on this potential. It would be like putting Sid the Kid in the Hockey Hall of Fame next week.
Posted by: PdR | April 2, 2007 08:30 PM