STOCKHOLM
– San Jose had to settle for three points in the Compuware NHL
Premiere Series weekend when Ethan Moreau wristed an overtime goal
for a 3-2 Columbus Blue Jackets nod over the Sharks Friday at
Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm.
STOCKHOLM – San Jose had to settle for three points in the Compuware NHL Premiere Series weekend when Ethan Moreau wristed an overtime goal for a 3-2 Columbus Blue Jackets nod over the Sharks Friday at Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm.
Moreau’s shot from the top of the left circle after taking a head-man pass from Fedor Tyutin skimmed off the left leg pad of San Jose goalie Antero Niittymaki and inside the top right corner of the net.
San Jose opened the series with Columbus in Sweden’s capital with a 3-2 victory Friday.
San Jose threw only seven shots on net at goalie Steve Mason in the first period, yet was able to go into the first intermission tied at 1-1.
The Sharks turned a power play opportunity in the game’s first five seconds to grab a 1-0 lead.
When Blue Jacket Antoine Vermette was called for holding the stick, San Jose placed its top specialty unit on the ice. Captain Joe Thornton had the best scoring chance of the unit’s minute on the ice, ringing a shot off the far post from a tough angle.
The second power play unit followed with a goal four seconds before the penalty expired.
Devin Setoguchi notched his first point of the season when he turned Jason Demers’ soft centering pass from the left boards into a hard shot over Mason’s left shoulder at the 2:02 mark. Ryane Clowe added the secondary assist for his third point of the weekend series.
Just as the first game evolved Friday, Columbus responded to a deficit by scrambling back into a tie.
Columbus captain Rick Nash flew the tying goal past the leg pads of Niittymaki from the right goalline at 3:13 of the first period. Vermette and Kristian Huselius earned assists.
After trailing 12-7 in the first period, San Jose fashioned a 12-5 edge in shots on net in a scoreless second period. Patrick Marleau and Jason Demers each sent two shots into Mason for the period.
Coach Todd McLellan cautioned after Saturday’s morning skate that continued penalties in the offensive zone could cost the Sharks. Setoguchi’s interference penalty inside the Blue Jacket blueline 4:40 into the third period led to a Columbus go-ahead goal.
The Jackets needed only 27 seconds on the power play to take a lead for the first time in two contests. Huselius received a cross-ice pass from winger Nikita Filatov and whipped a high shot past a screened Niittymaki at the 5:07 mark.
Columbus was down one skater after Mike Commodore was whistled for hooking at 5:30 of the third. Dany Heatley’s deflection of a Dan Boyle shot dribbled off the right post 6:54 into the period. Heatley bounced back with an assist at 7:05 when he found Thornton open low in the left circle with a sharp cross-ice pass that the captain turned into a goal over Mason at 7:05. Marleau’s secondary assist gave him his first point of the season, leaving him six short of the 700-point career plateau.
San Jose went back on the power play at 10:23 when Moreau was called for slashing. Marleau hit the post for the second time in the game and Logan Couture’s deflection dropped just outside the right post before the power play ended.
San Jose hosts the Atlanta Thrashers Saturday Oct. 16 at 7:30pm at HP Pavilion.
