Second-period scoring frenzy fuels Sharks
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Marco Sturm had a goal and two assists, and Teemu
Selanne got his 400th career goal Thursday as the San Jose Sharks
snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa
Senators.
The Sharks pounded goalie Patrick Lalime for five goals in the second
period -- four in a furious 5:45 span -- and breezed past the Senators,
who had one regulation loss in their previous 15 games. The scoring
flurry was a remarkable change for the Sharks, who were shut out by
Nashville on Tuesday.
Adam Graves got a shorthanded goal, while Matt Bradley and rookie Jeff
Jillson also scored for San Jose. Daniel Alfredsson and Marian Hossa
scored for the Senators, who are in the midst of a five-game, nine-day
road trip.
Evgeni Nabokov, starting for the ninth time in 10 games, stopped 20
shots for his 28th victory. He was much sharper than Lalime, who looked
worn out after going unbeaten in his previous five starts with a .950
save percentage.
San Jose maintained its three-point lead over Los Angeles atop the
Pacific Division, while Ottawa missed a chance to move past Toronto and
Boston atop the Northeast Division.
Selanne, who hadn't scored in four games, got the Sharks started with
his 21st goal early in the second period during a power play. San
Jose's leading goal-scorer also figured in two apparent goals that were
pulled off the board later in the period.
Officials ruled Selanne pushed Lalime into the net while scoring on a
rebound. Moments later, Selanne's tripping penalty negated a goal by
Bryan Marchment.
But Bradley and Jillson, who put a blue-line slap shot past Lalime, put
the Sharks ahead midway through the period. Two minutes later, Graves
stole the puck at mid-ice and beat Lalime with a long shot that Lalime
should have stopped.
Lalime, making his fifth consecutive start since the Olympic break,
also looked confused just 45 seconds later, when Sturm put a quick
wrist shot past him. It was Sturm's 16th goal, matching the career high
he set in 1999.
Lalime was replaced by Simon Lajeunesse, who stopped nine shots in his
NHL debut. Lajeunesse, recalled from AHL Grand Rapids on Tuesday, was
the Senators' 1999 second-round pick.
NOTES: Sharks captain Owen Nolan, who got an assist, has 29 points in
24 career games against Ottawa. . . . Senators defenseman Chris
Phillips, the subject of numerous trade rumors, was a healthy scratch.
Veteran Ricard Persson took Phillips' spot. . . . Lajeunesse was in the
low-level East Coast Hockey League in December. He's filling in for
backup goalie Jani Hurme, who has a sore groin.