SAN JOSE
– Three goals in the second period created something novel for
the first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs Thursday at HP Pavilion.
After four games in which no team owned more than a one-goal
lead, San Jose exploded for three unanswered goals in the second
period on the way to a 5-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
SAN JOSE – Three goals in the second period created something novel for the first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs Thursday at HP Pavilion.
After four games in which no team owned more than a one-goal lead, San Jose exploded for three unanswered goals in the second period on the way to a 5-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
San Jose takes a 3-2 series lead into Saturday’s game in Denver (7pm PDT). A seventh game, needed if Colorado squares the series this weekend, would be played Monday night in San Jose.
Goalie Evgeni Nabokov notched his seventh playoff shut-out in his 70th playoff appearance, finishing with 28 saves.
“The next game will be the toughest game,” cautioned Nabokov. “(Colorado) is young and they’ll be playing with nothing to lose. We may have to play even better (Saturday).”
After a scoreless first period in which the Sharks posted a 12-2 edge in shots on net, San Jose took a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
Rookie Logan Couture scored his first playoff goal 8:25 into the second by positioning in front of Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson as Dany Heatley’s hard shot from the top of the right circle flew toward the net. The puck skimmed off Couture’s stick and between Anderson’s pads. Patrick Marleau earned the secondary assist when he began the tic-tac-toe play with a set-up pass from the left boards to Heatley.
“When the puck went across to Heatley, I turned to my backhand,” said Couture. “I was able to redirect the puck past Anderson.”
The Sharks added a power play goal 10:21 into the second period.
Colorado’s TJ Galiardi was whistled for holding Douglas Murray’s stick at 10:15. San Jose turned the next six seconds into a 2-0 lead. Devin Setoguchi collected a loose puck off the face-off and found Joe Pavelski open at the blueline. Pavelski slipped the puck across the blueline to Dan Boyle, who immediately sent the puck back. Pavelski’s one-timer caught Anderson out of position. The goalie slipped down as he moved to his left to watch Boyle, then lunged unsuccessfully toward the left post as the high Pavelski shot found the top left corner of the net.
Once the first two-goal differential was accomplished in the series, the Sharks went to work five minutes later to secure a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Scott Nichol was the instigator of the scoring play. The center controlled the puck while skating into the Colorado zone. Nichol pulled up inside the blueline and rocketed a shot that went wide of the net but allowed a long bounce to the right side of the crease. As Anderson attempted to regain his balance at the top of the crease, Shark Dwight Helminen quickly controlled the puck and chipped it under the crossbar for the goal at 15:30. The tally was Helminen’s first-ever point in four Stanley Cup playoff games.
“It was a great play by Scott Nichol,” said the winger. “Anderson was cheating up, so Scott figured he’d try something different.”
Colorado hustled to a 17-8 edge in shots in the third period, only to see San Jose account for the two goals.
“Tonight we had some real good boardwork,” said San Jose coach Todd McLellan. “We needed to be physical with the puck so we held onto the puck a lot. We ended up wearing them down.”
San Jose produced an even-strength goal at 10:37. Devin Setoguchi worked to pull the puck away from the left boards and fed Ryane Clowe in the Colorado zone. Clowe powered around the Colorado defense and pulled a shot on net that Anderson deflected toward the left circle. Couture, unmarked in the circle, sent the puck back past Anderson for his second goal of the night.
Anderson was pulled in favor of Peter Budaj 11:04 into the third period. Patrick Marleau scored off a feed from Heatley at 13:24 while San Jose was on a five-minute power play.
“I feel we got what we deserved,” said Colorado coach Joe Sacco. “I don’t think we played well enough to win for 60 minutes.
“(San Jose) started to play in the offensive zone. We got caught on some long shifts in our own end, and then our defense wasn’t able to change because the puck wasn’t deep in their end.”
Marleau and Manny Malhotra each finished with five shots as the Sharks built a 37-28 edge in shots on net.
