Final - 2OT
Samsonov lifts Hurricanes past Sharks in shootout
Feb 6, 2009 - 8:12 AM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks finally have a home losing streak with which to deal.Sergei Samsonov scored in regulation and netted the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout Thursday, lifting the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the Sharks.
Tuomo Ruutu also tallied in the shootout and Michael Leighton made 37 saves before forcing Ryane Clowe and Joe Pavelski to shoot wide in the bonus format.
"We played a solid team today, one of the best in the league right now," Samsonov said. "It was a good measuring stick for us. We hung in there. I thought they played a real strong first half of the game, and our goalie made some big saves.
"It was nice to pull that one off. We are fighting for a playoff spot."
Matt Cullen converted a penalty shot and added an assist and Ray Whitney also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the fifth time in seven games despite missing All-Star Eric Staal in the third period. Staal suffered a minor lower body injury and was taken out as a precautionary measure.
"Absolutely it was harder," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said of his team playing without Staal, who is expected to be in the lineup Saturday against Phoenix. "It hurts losing a player like that. Again, we hung in there. I thought we played smart hockey against such an intense team. We had to cut down our mistakes. We were definitely prepared for that game."
Clowe scored a goal and set up another and defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Alexei Semenov each tallied for the Sharks, who have lost back-to-back games at home for the first time this season.
Milan Michalek notched three assists and Pavelski set up a pair of goals in support of Evgeni Nabokov's 26-save performance.
"I thought, for the most part, we were OK as a team," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "Individually, we made some mistakes, and it cost us."
After Clowe's wrist shot sailed wide of the net in the first round, Ruutu fired a hard shot between the pads of Nabokov to stake Carolina to an early lead in the shootout.
In the second round, Leighton watched Pavelski's attempt go wide before Cullen's wrist shot was turned aside by Nabokov. Michalek kept the Sharks afloat with his goal, but Samsonov sealed the victory by lifting a backhander over Nabokov.
"I was just trying to come out from left to right," Samsonov said. "I was trying to change angle a little bit. I thought I saw the goalie trying to pokecheck, and I went to the other side and threw a backhander at the net."
San Jose squandered a pair of two-goal leads in falling to 23-3-2 at home and 31-2-4 in its last 37 games here.
"I think that was definitely a game we gave them," said Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle, who returned to the lineup after a two-week absence with a lingering wrist injury. "Their three goals were the result of three turnovers. Certainly at this point of the season, you can't let that happen."
Coming off a 4-2 setback to the Chicago Blackhawks at HP Pavilion on Saturday, San Jose opened the scoring with 7:37 remaining in the first period, when Clowe registered his 20th tally of the season.
Semenov netted his first goal of the campaign, beating Leighton with a slap shot from the high slot at 3:10 of the second. But Cullen received a penalty shot 1:45 later and scored on a wrister to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Clowe and Michalek set up Vlasic's power-play tally at 7:16, staking the Sharks to what seemed to be a commanding lead, considering Nabokov had surrendered just five goals over his previous four games.
However, Carolina continued to chip away as Samsonov tipped in an initial attempt from Jakub Petruzalek, who was recalled from Albany of the American Hockey League prior to the contest, with 5:10 left in the second period.
"It's nice to win, especially against a team like San Jose," Samsonov said. "There's not many teams that can say they came in here and won the game. We battled hard. I think they had tons of chances."
Whitney - the last remaining original Shark still playing in the NHL - forged a 3-3 tie with a snap shot from the slot 7 1/2 minutes into the third and Leighton was impenetrable the rest of the way.
Leighton had not started since suffering a 3-2 setback to the Minnesota Wild on December 23, a span of 17 games.
"For me, it's always worrying about the first shot," Leighton said. "They shot 10 seconds in, I made a save, and that kind of cooled me down. Once you make a couple of saves early in the game, you feel more confident and comfortable."
Maurice also felt Leighton helped steal a victory due to the loss of Staal.
"We weathered the storm early. I thought we got better as the game went on," Maurice said. "For a goaltender to play as well as he needed to play, it was big. And psychologically, we hope there's a lift here.
"We understand this has only happened a handful of times in this building this year. It should be good for this team."
After suffering its first loss when leading after 40 minutes of play, San Jose now embarks on a five-game road trip that begins Saturday at Columbus.
"Usually at this time of the year, you hit that rut in the schedule," Clowe said. "I think last year, it was all at once where you just go out and you're pretty well out there for three weeks, or close to it.
"We've got a little break in between, but we've had a bit of rest here at home and it's our first real challenge for long road trips this year. We'll look forward to the challenge, but we've got to be better at putting teams away. We'll certainly be tested this trip."
- NHL
FINAL IN SHOOTOUT 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CAROLINA 0 2 1 0 (2) 4
SAN JOSE 1 2 0 0 (1) 3 FINAL IN SHOOTOUT
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: SAN - RYANE CLOWE 20 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 12:23
2ND PRD: SAN - ALEXEI SEMENOV 1 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 3:10
CAR - (PS) MATT CULLEN 13 4:55
SAN - (PP) MAR
Hurricanes 4, Sharks 3 Final - 2OTFeb 6 1:18 AM - NHL
END OF OT 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
CAROLINA 0 2 1 0 3
SAN JOSE 1 2 0 0 3 END OF OT
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: SAN - RYANE CLOWE 20 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 12:23
2ND PRD: SAN - ALEXEI SEMENOV 1 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 3:10
CAR - (PS) MATT CULLEN 13 4:55
SAN - (PP) MARC-EDOUA
Feb 6 1:10 AM - NHL
END OF THE 3RD GOING INTO OT
1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
CAROLINA 0 2 1 3
SAN JOSE 1 2 0 3 GOING INTO OT
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: SAN - RYANE CLOWE 20 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 12:23
2ND PRD: SAN - ALEXEI SEMENOV 1 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 3:10
CAR - (PS) MATT CULLEN 13 4:55
SAN - (PP) MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC 4 (RYANE CLOWE
Feb 6 1:01 AM - NHL
CAROLINA 3
SAN JOSE 3
3RD PRD: CAR - (PP) RAY WHITNEY 17 (MATT CULLEN) 7:30
Hurricanes 3, Sharks 3 3rd - 12:30Feb 6 12:40 AM - NHL
END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
CAROLINA 0 2 2
SAN JOSE 1 2 3 END OF THE 2ND
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: SAN - RYANE CLOWE 20 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 12:23
2ND PRD: SAN - ALEXEI SEMENOV 1 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 3:10
CAR - (PS) MATT CULLEN 13 4:55
SAN - (PP) MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC 4 (RYANE CLOWE,
Feb 6 12:11 AM - NHL
CAROLINA 2
SAN JOSE 3
2ND PRD: CAR - SERGEI SAMSONOV 10 (JAKUB PETRUZALEK) 14:50
Hurricanes 2, Sharks 3 2nd - 5:10Feb 5 11:59 PM - NHL
CAROLINA 1
SAN JOSE 3
2ND PRD: SAN - (PP) MARC-EDOUARD VLASIC 4 (RYANE CLOWE, MILAN
MICHALEK) 7:16
Hurricanes 1, Sharks 3 2nd - 12:44Feb 5 11:45 PM - NHL
CAROLINA 1
SAN JOSE 2
2ND PRD: CAR - (PS) MATT CULLEN 13 4:55
Hurricanes 1, Sharks 2 2nd - 15:05Feb 5 11:39 PM - NHL
CAROLINA 0
SAN JOSE 2
2ND PRD: SAN - ALEXEI SEMENOV 1 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 3:10
Hurricanes 0, Sharks 2 2nd - 16:50Feb 5 11:35 PM - NHL
END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
CAROLINA 0 0
SAN JOSE 1 1 END OF THE 1ST
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: SAN - RYANE CLOWE 20 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 12:23
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
CAR 9 9
SAN 16 16
GOALIES: CAR - MICHAEL LEIGHTO
Feb 5 11:14 PM - NHL
CAROLINA 0
SAN JOSE 1
1ST PRD: SAN - RYANE CLOWE 20 (MILAN MICHALEK, JOE PAVELSKI) 12:23
Hurricanes 0, Sharks 1 1st - 7:37Feb 5 10:59 PM
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