San Jose 5, Dallas 2
When: 8:30 PM ET, Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Referees:
Chris Lee, Brad Meier
Linesmen:
Steve Miller, Derek Nansen
Attendance:
18584
By SportsDirect Inc.
SHARKS 5, STARS 2: Logan Couture scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and visiting San Jose swept a home-and-home from Dallas to move within one point of the Pacific Division lead.
Daniel Winnik, T.J. Galiardi, Joe Thornton and Ryane Clowe added goals
for the Sharks, who went 5-0-1 against the Stars this season.
Antti Niemi turned aside 29 shots to improve to 6-0-1 in his last seven against Dallas and the Sharks closed within a point of division co-leaders Los Angeles and Phoenix.
San Jose, which snapped a four-game road losing streak, finishes the regular season with a home-and-home series against the Kings.
Brenden Morrow and Alex Goligoski scored for Dallas, which fell three points behind the Sharks for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoff race with two games to play.
Winnik put San Jose at top with a sharp-angle goal that beat Kari Lehtonen at 12:09 of the opening period, giving the Sharks the lead for the first time in the past four road games.
Morrow tied it 5 1/2 minutes, beating Neimi from behind the net for only his second goal in 19 games and a 1-1 tie after one period.
Goligoski ended a 20-game goal-scoring drought with a blast from the point to put the Stars ahead at the 11:10 mark of the second period, but Galiardi answered only 32 seconds later with his first tally in 19 games.
The Sharks regained the lead when Couture ended a 10-game drought with his 31st goal on the power play at 17:24 of the period. It was Couture's eighth goal in 14 games against the Stars.
Thornton then sent the fans for the exits, taking a pass from Joe Pavelski and beating Lehtonen with a snap shot with 4:50 left in regulation. It was Thornton's 12th point (two goals, 10 assists) in six games against Dallas this season.
GAME NOTEBOOK: San Jose had never led in its previous three road games. The last time the Sharks scored first away from home was March 13 in Calgary. ... Lehtonen allowed at least four goals for the fourth time in his last nine starts and fell to 4-6-1 lifetime against the Sharks. ... Galiardi, who was acquired from Colorado, notched his first goal and first point in 12 games with San Jose. ... The Sharks improved to 28-6-3 when scoring first this season. San Jose won for only the fifth time in its last 22 games away from home.
Top Game Performances
| San Jose |
|
Dallas |
|
Logan Couture 2 |
Points |
Alex Goligoski 1 |
|
Logan Couture 1 |
Goals |
Alex Goligoski 1 |
|
Logan Couture 1 |
Assists |
Jamie Benn 1 |
|
Logan Couture 1 |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Antti Niemi .935 |
Save Percentage |
Kari Lehtonen .840 |
|
Antti Niemi 29 |
Saves |
Kari Lehtonen 21 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| San Jose
|
26 |
5 |
1-4 |
2-2 |
4 |
34 |
| Dallas
|
31 |
2 |
0-2 |
3-4 |
18 |
32 |
Upcoming Games
-
Dallas will play their next game on the road against Nashville. The Stars have a W/L % of .512 after a win and .541 after a loss.
-
San Jose will play their next game on the road against Los Angeles. The Sharks have a W/L % of .525 after a win and .500 after a loss.
For more information, contact us