This was held in HP Pavilion in San Jose and the stadium itself took my breath away. I instantly loved the feeling. The match was between the San Jose 'Sharks' and St. Louis 'Blues'..and the game went on..
Here's the overall picture of the game :
Milan Michalek scored two goals and Curtis Brown got the game-winner in overtime as the Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues, 5-4, before a sold-out crowd of 17,496 at HP Pavilion at San Jose.
St. Louis struck first at 36 seconds of the first period. Dallas Drake had the puck in the left corner and got a pass out to Jamal Mayers, who took the puck behind the net and tried to back door the puck. The shot rebounded off Vesa Toskala’s pads and right on the stick of Dan Hinote, who put the puck between Toskala’s legs for a 1-0 St. Louis lead.
San Jose answered at 2:39. Marcel Goc brought the puck into the St. Louis zone on the left wing and spun around at the left face off circle. He passed the puck to Mark Smith on the right point. Smith’s shot went wide left, but Matt Carle pinched in and banged home the carom for San Jose’s first goal of the 2006-07 season.
The Blues came back slightly over a minute later. At 3:42, Josh Gorges lost the puck in the St. Louis zone to Hinote. He was able to get the puck to Mayers, who shot it past Toskala to give the Blues a 2-1 lead.
The game’s first penalty came at 8:37 when Blues defenseman Barrett Jackman was called for hooking Steve Bernier in the right corner of the Blues zone. Despite having the top power play unit of Mark Bell, Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo up front with Christian Ehrhoff and Carle on the points, the Sharks could manage only one shot.
Play was relatively quiet until the 16:25 mark when there was a scrum in front of the St. Louis goal. That’s when Petr Cajanek was called for cross-checking Mike Grier and gave the Sharks their second power play opportunity. However, the Blues didn’t allow the Sharks to score.
After the first 20 minutes, St. Louis led the Sharks, 2-1, despite being outshot, 15-10.
San Jose got their third power play opportunity at 4:31 when St. Louis was called for too many men on the ice. The man advantage turned into a two-man advantage when Hinote was called for hooking at 5:10.
The Sharks capitalized at 6:11. With five forwards on the ice – Bernier, Michalek, Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Cheechoo – the Sharks had the puck in the Blues zone. Cheechoo faked a shot from up high in front of the net. He passed to Thornton in the right faceoff circle, who shot the puck off Manny Legace’s pads. The rebound came to Michalek in front and he tapped it in to tie the game at 2-2.
But the Sharks good fortune continued as Dallas Drake was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after Michalek’s goal. The Sharks kept the same five forwards on the ice for another two-man advantage and scored 46 seconds later. In a near repeat of the previous goal, Thornton shot the puck from the right faceoff circle, the rebound came off Legace’s pad and Michalek banged home the rebound. The goal was his second of the game and gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead.
St. Louis went on their first power play at 10:57 when Scott Hannan was called for holding Jamie Rivers. While the Blues couldn’t score, San Jose couldn’t get the puck out of the St. Louis zone. Eventually, St. Louis’ hard work paid off. At 13:48, the first goal review of the season came after St. Louis’ Eric Brewer took a wrist shot in front of the net from the blueline. The shot deflected off a high stick from Lee Stempniak. The goal was allowed and tied the game at 3-3.
San Jose went back on the power play at 15:23 when Jay McClement was called for interference. The Sharks didn’t score, but as soon as McClement came out of the box, Mark Smith was called for hooking at 17:33. Fourteen seconds later, San Jose gave the Blues a two-man advantage when Kyle McLaren was called for cross-checking.
The Sharks sent out Hannan and rookie Marc-Edouard Vlasic on defense and Curtis Brown up front. The trio killed off the 5-on-3 and San Jose killed off both penalties as the period ended with the score tied at 3-3. The teams ended the period with 24 shots each in the game and St. Louis outshot San Jose, 14-9.
San Jose got their seventh power play opportunity of the game when Bryce Salvador was called for holding at 4:00 of the third period. Play stopped at 5:12 when a shot from Michalek went off the face of referee Rob Martell, who was stationed behind the St. Louis net. Martell, who was hit in the left eye, was helped off the ice and taken to a local hospital for observation.
The Blues killed off that short handed situation but went back into penalty killing mode when Dennis Wideman was called for hooking at 6:14.
While the Sharks were in the middle of the power play at 13:26, Cheechoo and a Blues player went into the left wing boards in the Blues end. Cheechoo kicked a big hole in the dashers that took 18 minutes to repair.
When play resumed, the Sharks still had the man advantage. At 7:42, Marleau brought the puck down the left wing and passed from near the goal line to Bernier in front of the net. His shot went off Legace and looked as if it was kicked into the net by Blues center Jay McClement. After the second review of the night, the goal was disallowed.
The Sharks broke the tie at 14:18. St. Louis turned the puck over at the blue line in their zone. Thornton took the puck towards the middle of the Blues zone, passed to Cheechoo on the right wing and then he gave it to Bell, who was crashing the net in the left slot. Bell put the puck past a diving Legace to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead. The goal was Bell’s first with the Sharks.
But the Blues tied the game at 19:54. With six men on the ice, Keith Tkachuk flipped a wrister from the left slot that was saved by Toskala. However, the carom went off the stick of Bill Guerin and into the net to tie the score, 4-4, after 60 minutes. St. Louis out shot the Sharks, 11-8, in the third period.
Then, at 2:12 of overtime, San Jose’s hard forecheck kept the puck in the St. Louis zone. Brown’s aggressive play behind the St. Louis net created the winning opportunity. Bernier got the loose puck in the left corner and passed it to Carle at the left face off circle. His shot was stopped by Legace, but Brown was in front of the net to put the loose puck past Legace for the game winner.
Well, that was how the game proceeded...and the Sharks won the game :) But I understand only a part of this...and I tried my best to follow the news...so here's the transcript of the same and I am putting disclaimers for the same ;)
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