SAN JOSE
– In a game that San Jose never led until Devin Setoguchi’s
power-play overtime goal, the Sharks evened the first-round series
with a Colorado Avalanche at 1-1 with a 6-5 nail-biter at sold-out
HP Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – In a game that San Jose never led until Devin Setoguchi’s power-play overtime goal, the Sharks evened the first-round series with a Colorado Avalanche at 1-1 with a 6-5 nail-biter at sold-out HP Pavilion.
Colorado took a 5-4 lead 5:34 into the third period when Chris Stewart notched his second goal of the night and third of the series.
The Sharks, owners of a 52-22 edge in shots for the game, put 17 shots on net in the hectic third period, but could not score the equalizer until goalie Evgeni Nabokov was pulled for the extra skater with 1:26 left in the period.
Joe Pavelski scored with 31.3 seconds left to force the overtime.
Pavelski’s seventh career playoff goal came on a put-back of a rebound of a Dany Heatley shot from the low slot. Joe Thornton controlled the puck inside the Colorado zone and found Heatley open between the circles. Heatley’s hard shot was kicked to the left of the goal post by goalie Craig Anderson, but Pavelski one-timed the loose puck over Anderson’s outstretched stick to force overtime.
San Jose fired six shots at Anderson in the overtime. When the Sharks earned a power play on an Adam Foote interference at 4:28, the Sharks needed 54 seconds to end the game. Dan Boyle controlled the puck around the Colorado net and passed to Ryane Clowe at the right boards. The power forward was able to pull away from pressure and whip a shot toward the net. Setoguchi redirected the puck between Anderson’s pads for his second goal of the night and fourth all-time playoff goal.
“This was not your typical playoff game by any means, to see that many goals,” said San Jose coach Todd McLellan. “What I would like to think is that we bring that passion and that energy to Denver and we apply it and see where we end up.”
The next two games of the series will be in Denver, Sunday and Tuesday. The fifth game will be in San Jose on Thursday.
“It’s tough to swallow right now,” said Colorado coach Joe Sacco. “We had the lead going into the final minute. Then they come back and tie it up. But I think we can take a lot of positives away from the first two games.”
Colorado and San Jose traded goals four times in the first two periods, sending the teams into the second intermission knotted at 4-4.
The Avalanche earned the best 4-of-7 series opener Wednesday with a 2-1 squeaker over the Western Conference’s top-seeded club. Friday’s rematch offered the same competitive balance between the two teams, only this night saw an explosion of goals.
Wednesday’s Avalanche win was earned with a deflected pass off a Shark skate for the deciding goal. Friday’s opening goal, credited to Kyle Cumiskey, featured a shot that rebounded off Shark defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s throat and into the net at 1:10 of the first period.
Nabokov kept the deficit to one goal when he reached back to pull the puck off the goalline after a rush from Colorado rookie Matt Duchene.
For the first of five times in regulation, San Jose tied the score with a goal at 19:18 of the first period while on a power play.
“Our guys did a great job of responding every time,” said Pavelski.
The Avalanche was down one skater because of a too many men on ice penalty at the 17:25 mark. Boyle’s rush toward the net from the left flank produced an Anderson save, but Manny Malhotra lifted the puck over Anderson’s shoulder to make it 1-1.
Colorado needed 24 seconds to tally the first of the six goals registered in the second period. San Jose was caught short-handed when a pass inside the Avalanche zone deflected off an official’s skate and toward Anderson. The goalie earned an assist when he head-manned a pass to Stewart and the ensuing breakaway shot from 15 feet out beat Nabokov.
San Jose’s top line set up Rob Blake’s tying goal at 3:43. Patrick Marleau trusted that Thornton would be behind the net when he sent a blind pass to the endboards. Thornton quickly found an unmarked Blake at the inside edge of the right circle for the one-timer past Anderson.
Colorado regained the lead 25 seconds later. Duchene slid a set-up pass to Milan Hejduk on a 2-on-1 rush that beat Nabokov in the low slot. San Jose made it 3-3 at 7:10 when Setoguchi pounced on a rebound of a Clowe shot and chopped the puck past Anderson at the right post.
Duchene netted his second assist of the night when his shot turned into a rebound and a follow-up shot by rookie winger Brandon Yip at 17:30 of the second. Scott Nichol responded with a goal with 14.5 seconds left in the second to make it 4-4. Jed Ortmeyer powered a shot from the high slot and Nichol hustled to the edge of the crease to pull the puck under Anderson.
“This gives us some momentum and some energy,” Nabokov said of the back-and-forth duel. “The game started with a bad bounce. Our guys played a great game.” Nabokov was touched for at least five goals for only the second time in 67 career playoff games.
“It was a hard game for (Nabokov) to play in, but he did a real admirable job in overtime in sticking with it when we needed him in overtime,” said McLellan
