San Jose Sharks Lose First Game Of Season In A Shootout
Oct 17, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Antoine Roussel (21) fights with San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Irwin (52) during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Stars (3-3-0, 6 points) had to go all the way to a shootout to end the San Jose Sharks’ (6-0-1, 13 points) six-game winning streak to start the season. Dallas looked stronger than any opponent San Jose had faced all season, and in the end were able to hand the Sharks their first loss of the season in a shootout by the final of 4-3.
The Sharks got on the board first with Tyler Kennedy scoring his first goal of the season just nine seconds into the game. After that it was the Dallas Stars who came on strong for a majority of the period, although by the end of it the Sharks held a 2-1 lead.
First though, there was a goal by Tyler Seguin for the Stars on an assist from Jamie Benn followed about a minute later by a great goal by Matt Nieto. Nieto showed off his speed after receiving a beautiful pass from Joe Pavelski to get into the offensive zone. Once there he fired a blistering slap shot which beat Dan Ellis.
In the second period it was the Stars who scored twice. They scored their second goal of the game on what was a bit of a flukey goal that was deflected by Trevor Daly which tied the game at two apiece.
Midway through the period Patrick Marleau scored for the fourth-straight game, this time scoring on a wrap-around which after grabbing his own rebound on a two-on-one with Kennedy. Vlasic also picked up an assist on Marleau’s goal, meaning he now has a four-game point streak going. Marleau has also tallied a point in all seven games so far this season.
Unfortunately the Dallas Stars answered right back with a goal just 28 seconds later when Cody Eakin was able to put home a big rebound that Antti Niemi kicked out. Alex Chiasson picked up an assist as he was the one who originally put the puck on net to create the rebound. Just like that it was 3-3, and the game went into the second intermission.
The game also started getting a bit rough after Matt Irwin put a Stars player into the boards and then was subsequently goaded into a fight by Antouine Roussel who was sticking up for his teammate. Both received matching five-minute majors while Irwin got the extra two for boarding.
Also, at the beginning of the second period Tomas Hertl and Matt Nieto swapped places in the lineup, and it stayed that way for the rest of the game.
In the third period the pace really picked up with and we got a little bit of back-and-forth action with both teams getting scoring chances. At one point Jamie Benn hit the post, but that was as close as Dallas came to ending the game in regulation because Niemi was stellar all night. Throughout the game Niemi was one of San Jose’s best players as made a number of saves to keep the Sharks in the game. By the end of the game he had 28 saves on 31 shots.
In overtime it was Niemi’s counterpart, Ellis, who kept the Stars alive stopping six shots during the extra frame, and held down the fort during 1:02 of a San Jose power play.
The game would then go on to a shootout where the Stars were able to get a goal by Niemi thanks to Chiasson who scored top-shelf, while San Jose could not beat the Dallas goaltender. All in all Ellis also had a great game and ended with 32 saves on 35 shots.
GGS 3 Stars
1. Cody Eakin (1 goal, 1 assist)
2. Antti Niemi (28 saves)
3. Dan Ellis (32 saves)