Sharks offense looks to regain bite without Nolan
By Joe Lago
ESPN.com
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Owen's O vs. Dallas
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|
Date
|
G
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A
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SOG
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Score
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10/9
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1
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0
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5
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3-2 L
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|
10/13
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0
|
1
|
3
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2-0 W
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|
11/6
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0
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0
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3
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2-1 W
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|
12/27
|
1
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0
|
3
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3-1 W
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|
3/19
|
2
|
0
|
7
|
5-3 L
|
|
4/28
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0
|
0
|
4
|
4-0 L
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It's pretty apparent what the San Jose Sharks need in order to turn things
around against the Dallas Stars -- goals.
That sounds easy enough until you consider who's not around to blast pucks past Ed Belfour or create havoc in the crease for the Sharks.
Owen Nolan didn't play in San Jose's second consecutive shutout loss -- a 1-0
defeat in Game 2 at Dallas -- due to a number of ailments, the most recent and prominent being a foot injury created by an Al MacInnis slap shot in the Sharks' Game 7 win over St. Louis. The
Sharks captain, leading scorer and No. 1 tough guy is a game-time decision for Game 3. And he may not play the rest of
the postseason, which, for the Sharks, won't last much past tonight's
Game 3 (ESPN2, 10 p.m. ET) unless someone else in teal steps forward.
No question, Nolan has been the man for San Jose. He scored a franchise-record 44 goals in the regular season. He has six of San Jose's 20 playoff goals.
But, however dire the situation appears, the Sharks do have alternatives on offense. Their names are Vincent Damphousse, Patrick Marleau and Alexander Korolyuk.
Damphousse recorded five assists in helping San Jose upset St. Louis in the first round, but the Sharks' No. 1 center will have to be more than a playmaker with Nolan out. Damphousse, without a goal in the postseason, registered three of the team's 19 shots in Game 2. He's got to connect on chances.
San Jose hopes to replace Nolan's offense with Marleau and Korolyuk. Of late, coach Darryl Sutter sacrificed young speed for veteran savvy by making both Marleau and Korolyuk healthy scratches. But he had no choice but to go with the youngsters again on Sunday.
Seeing his first action since Game 5 of the St. Louis series, Korolyuk generated one shot while skating with Damphousse and Jeff Friesen on San Jose's top line. A 14-goal scorer in the regular season, the 24-year-old Korolyuk has two assists in six playoff games so far.
Marleau, who missed just one game the entire regular season, had not dressed since finishing a minus-2 in San Jose's opener against St. Louis. In his return to the lineup on Sunday, the 20-year-old didn't have any shots centering a line with Stephane Matteau and Niklas Sundstrom. Still, Marleau produced one of the Sharks' best chances with a late third-period sprint through the Dallas defense and wrist shot that sailed just wide of the net.
That kind of play is what the Sharks expected when they made Marleau the 1997 No. 2 overall pick behind Boston's Joe Thornton. A breakout game would not only put Marleau back in the good graces of Sutter but San Jose back in this Western Conference semifinal series. |
