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Sharks overcome stellar performance by Luongo, top Canucks

Sep 23, 2007 - 5:40 AM By Michael Duca PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) --Pop singer Elton John would have been proud.

Saturday night was, indeed, the night for fighting as a second-period fracas overshadowed a stellar performance by Roberto Luongo and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, in preseason action.

Luongo made 34 saves to keep the Canucks afloat while his teammates looked overmatched for most of the contest, managing just 10 shots - including five in the third period.

Things got testy in the second period as three seperate bouts featuring San Jose's Patrick Marleau, defenseman Craig Rivet and Ryan Clowe and Vancouver's Jeff Cowan, Alex Burrows and blue-liner Nathan McIver resulted in 89 penalty minutes between the teams.

Out of the melee, it was the Sharks who ended up with the man advantage, and they cashed in. Devin Setoguchi scored his team-leading third goal of the preseason late in the second period to give San Jose a 2-1 edge with two Vancouver players in the penalty box and it would stand as the game-winner.

Jonathan Cheechoo added an insurance goal, charging the net to deposit a feed from Joe Pavelski feed at 7:40 while with the man advantage.

The Sharks dominated play for the majority of the contest, forcing Luongo to bail out his teammates shift after shift. At the other end, San Jose netminder Dimitri Patzold saw little action.

After allowing a goal by McIver on a broken play in front on the second shot he faced, Patzold rarely broke a sweat as his defensemen and a strong forecheck kept the puck out of harm's way.

It could have been worse for Vancouver as San Jose's Tomas Plihal was awarded a penalty shot at 14:44 of the second period after being hauled down on a breakaway. However, Luongo kept his cool and calmly gloved the attempt.