|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – With Owen Nolan and Vincent Damphousse
out of the lineup, the San Jose Sharks know they'll need offense
from unlikely sources.
Still, nobody expected Bryan Marchment to be their new scoring
machine.
Marchment scored his second goal with 2:53 left in overtime as
the San Jose Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Saturday
night.
The notoriously physical defenseman better known for his hits
than his scoring touch scored his fifth and sixth goals of the
season to establish a career high.
"It's just one of those situations where everything worked
out," Marchment said. "I was just driving the net on that last
goal. That's not what you expect out of me, obviously."
The Sharks said it was the first two-goal game of Marchment's
11-year career, though Marchment thought he remembered scoring
twice in a 1991 game. He said his last overtime goal came "in pond
hockey, probably."
Patrick Marleau scored a power-play goal with 4:47 left in
regulation, then set up Marchment's second goal with a nifty pass
to the net. Marchment tipped the puck past Jocelyn Thibault to keep
the Sharks unbeaten in three games and extend their Pacific
Division lead over Dallas to five points.
"I was surprised to see Mushie going to the net as hard as he
was," Marleau said. "That's what happens when everybody takes
extra responsibility for the team's success. With (Nolan and
Damphousse) out, that's what we all have to do."
The Sharks are the only team without an overtime loss this
season.
Marchment's overtime goal dampened the heroics of Steve
Sullivan, who scored a dramatic short-handed breakaway goal with 46
seconds left to get Chicago a point.
After Dean McAmmond committed Chicago's first penalty with 6:21
to play, Marleau flipped a slow back-hander past three Chicago
defenders for his team-leading 21st goal.
Alexander Karpovtsev's five-minute major for elbowing just 30
seconds after Marleau's tie-breaker appeared to kill Chicago's
hopes of a comeback.
But Sullivan, the Blackhawks' leading scorer, got a wide-open
scoring chance when defenseman Steve Poapst's clearing attempt
ricocheted off a San Jose player and somehow went straight to
Sullivan at mid-ice. He beat Steve Shields for his 27th goal.
"It was a huge point for us," Chicago coach Alpo Suhonen said.
"We made the right decisions out there. We had a lot more chances
than they had in the first and second periods, but that seems to be
the way things go for us in San Jose."
The Sharks continued to struggle offensively while adjusting to
life without Nolan. The game was San Jose's first since Nolan
received an 11-game suspension for his hit on Dallas' Grant
Marshall on Feb. 1.
San Jose on Saturday night announced it will appeal the
suspension, which could leave the Sharks without Nolan and injured
center Damphousse – their top two scorers – for a full month. Nolan
won't be eligible to return until March 1, while Damphousse likely
is out until the postseason.
Shields, who lost his starting job to rookie Evgeni Nabokov
earlier this year, got his season-high third straight start and
stopped 27 shots.
Thibault stopped 28 shots as the Blackhawks dropped to 2-3-1-1
on their eight-game road trip. Chicago has picked up a point in its
last three games, however. Eric Daze also scored for the
Blackhawks.
"I'm glad we came back and got the point. It was almost like a
win," Thibault said.
"Marchment made a great play. I didn't know he was coming so
fast on the other side. I was focusing on the shooters. It was not
a lucky goal. It was a great play."
Marchment matched the career high he set in 1991-92 and 1992-93
with the Blackhawks when he scored on a one-timer midway through
the second period.
Game notes
Karpovtsev clobbered San Jose forward Matt Bradley, who
crumpled to the ice before skating off with a blood-covered jersey.
Bradley's nose bled profusely but wasn't broken, he said after the
game. ... Tony Amonte extended his assist streak to four games. ...
The Sharks are unbeaten in their last eight road games, but that
streak will soon be tested. Ten of San Jose's next 12 games are on
the road, including a three-game road trip that begins Wednesday in
Chicago. The Sharks have only two home games in the next four
weeks.
 Send this story to a friend
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Chicago Clubhouse
San Jose Clubhouse
RECAPS
Pittsburgh 5
New Jersey 4
Florida 7
Atlanta 3
Boston 6
Tampa Bay 2
Montreal 5
NY Islanders 3
Buffalo 2
Ottawa 1
Detroit 3
Toronto 3
Columbus 3
Nashville 2
St. Louis 4
Colorado 3
Calgary 4
Vancouver 1
Washington 4
Los Angeles 3
San Jose 3
Chicago 2
|
