San Jose
– Nashville defeated San Jose 4-3 by taking the shoot-out 2-1
Wednesday in Bill Guerin’s Sharks debut.
By Bob Burch Staff WRiter
San Jose – Nashville defeated San Jose 4-3 by taking the shoot-out 2-1 Wednesday in Bill Guerin’s Sharks debut.
Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the shoot-out when Alexander Radulov scored in the first round. Joe Pavelski scored in the second round to make it 1-1. When the three rounds remained at 1-1, Jonathan Cheechoo was stopped and J.P. Dumont scored for the Predators to earn the extra point.
The Sharks posted their 18th consecutive sell-out at home while remaining in third place in the Pacific Division with 78 points after 64 games. San Jose begins a three-game roadtrip Friday in Anaheim against the division-pacing Ducks.
Nashville took over the NHL lead with 90 points, two points ahead of fellow Central Division member Detroit.
Matt Carle recorded a goal and an assist in the first period as the Sharks turned power play prowess into a 2-1 lead.
San Jose began the night with the second-best home power play in the league. The Sharks earned three power plays in the opening 20 minutes and cashed in twice.
Carle began the game’s first scoring play with a cross-ice pass to Milan Michalek at the top of the right-wing circle. Michalek’s strong shot toward the net was deflected into the goal by winger Steve Bernier, who was stationed with his back to the crease and redirected the pass between his legs and inside the right post at 12:07.
Nashville was limited to eight shots in the first period, yet managed to pull into a 1-1 tie on a goal from center Vernon Fiddler.
The Sharks needed 46 seconds in power play mode to take a 2-1 lead at the 18:50 mark.
Erat was successful with the Predators’ eighth shot on net of the third period to create a 2-2 tie.
The Predators took a 3-2 lead when defenseman Shea Weber’s power-play blast from the high slot caromed off Radulov and into the net at the 14:53 mark.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, a teammate of Radulov at Quebec in juniors last season, made it 3-3 at 15:52 when the defenseman intercepted a Nashville attempted clearing pass at the top of the slot and whipped a shot into the top right corner of the net for his third goal of the year.
The teams battled through a scoreless five-minute overtime that included 40 seconds of Nashville power play.
NOTES: Captain Patrick Marleau and assistant captain Scott Hannan each were scratched from the line-up with injuries. Bill Guerin was in the starting line-up for San Jose, while the second player picked up by trade this week, Craig Rivet, was not available because he was still en route to California from Montreal at gametime.
