From: nlu@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Nelson Lu)
Subject: Sharks lose to Lightning 5-4 (OT)
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 08:12:21 GMT

Wednesday, December 16, 7:30 P. M., at the Cow Palace:

For the second straight game on Cow Palace ice, a team choked up a sizable
lead in the third period, forcing overtime.  Unfortunately for the Sharks,
it's they who choked this time, and unlike the Nordiques the previous time,
the Sharks did not win in overtime, but instead lost it to the Tampa Bay
Lightning, losing for the first time ever to the first year team.  Jeff
Hackett, who had two stellar periods, had a similar collapse as the team did,
and finished stopping 45 of 50 Tampa Bay shots for the loss, while Jean-
Claude Bergeron stopped 26 of 30 San Jose shots for the victory, handing the
Sharks their 9th straight loss.  The Ottawa Senators are now the only team
which hasn't beaten the Sharks yet.  (But of course, they haven't played...)

The Lightning came out striking early, but could not strike Jeff Hackett, as
they peppered 12 shots on him in the first period to the Sharks' 5 shots on
Bergeron, but could not get anything by him, as he made stops left and right.
Bergeron made a couple tough stops as well.

The teams played about evenly in the second period, with the Sharks out-
shooting the Lightning 15-14, but Hackett was excellent while Bergeron was
merely fair, as the Sharks were able to get the puck by Bergeron twice, both
times on the power-play.  They struck first at 10:33.  Rob Gaudreau's pass
back to the left point was almost too far for Tom Pederson to take, but
Pederson somehow held it in, and sent it to the right point to Sandis Ozolinsh,
who one-timed Pederson's pass hard past Bergeron.  The lead became 2-0 at
17:42, as Ozolinsh, one-timing a Kelly Kisio pass from the right boards, shot
the puck wide, but Gaudreau intercepted it at the right side of the net, and
jabbed it past Bergeron.

Things appeared good for the Sharks early in the third period, as they extended
the lead to 3-0 just 52 seconds into the period, short-handed.  Rob Zettler
intercepted a Lightning pass, and sent a pass up to Perry Berezan, who went
on a 2-on-1 with Kisio, and Kisio finally flipped the puck past Bergeron.
However, then things began to fall apart for the Sharks.  With just 5 seconds
remaining on that same penalty, at 2:30, the Lightning got on the scoreboard.
Roman Hamrlik had held the puck in at the point, and sent it to the right
boards to Rob Ramage, who sent a shot from there that Marc Bureau then
deflected right in front pass Hackett.  Just 17 seconds later, off a faceoff
won by Brian Bradley and taken by Joe Reekie, John Tucker went into the Sharks
zone and ripped the puck from the left circle past a surprised Hackett to
make the lead just 3-2.  The Lightning then tied the game at 3-3 at 6:21.
After he took the pass from Steve Maltais at center, Chris Kontos went into
the Sharks zone and took a point blank shot at Hackett that Hackett stopped,
but Bradley followed up and poked the puck by Hackett.  The Sharks seemed to
have escaped, as they went ahead again at 11:06.  Claudio Scremin, after taking
a pass from Jeff Odgers at center ice, went into the Lightning zone, attracting
the defense, and then dropped the puck off to Ozolinsh at the right point, and
Ozolinsh ripped the puck through a screen past Bergeron.  But the Lightning
would not give up, and tied the game at 17:00 on a broken play.  (This one
is confusing...  Someone with a better description?)  A Mikael Andersson
attempt to shoot the puck into the Sharks zone took a strange bounce, came back
out in front, and just sat in front of Hackett, and Reekie jumped up and
broke in alone, poking the puck by Hackett.  Adam Creighton also received an
assist.  The Lightning ended up out-shooting the Sharks 16-10 in the period.

The Sharks thought that they had won the game early in overtime, as a Gaudreau
shot went off the post but was signaled a goal by the goal judge.  However,
referee Mick McGeough did not agree, and after an inconclusive video replay,
waved the goal off.  The Lightning, with all three shots of overtime, then,
won the game at 2:53, as Bradley intercepted an Ozolinsh clearing pass, and
quickly centered it in front for Tucker to shoot by Hackett.

Tonight's three stars:

1.	John Tucker
2.	Sandis Ozolinsh
3.	Joe Reekie

Tonight's lines:

Johan Garpenlov		Kelly Kisio		Rob Gaudreau
John Carter		Dean Evason		Pat Falloon
Michel Picard		Ray Whitney		Perry Berezan
Dave Snuggerud		Mike Sullivan		Jeff Odgers

Tonight's defensive pairings:

		Sandis Ozolinsh		Claudio Scremin
		Tom Pederson		Rob Zettler
		Neil Wilkinson		Doug Zmolek

Scratches:	Arturs Irbe (knee), Doug Wilson (leg), Jayson More (groin),
	Lyndon Byers (neck), David Bruce (groin), Yvon Corriveau (back),
	Larry DePalma, Pat MacLeod.  All are day-to-day.

Notes:

1.	Hackett played two beautiful periods, and then fell apart in the
	third.  The first Tucker goal, particularly, should have been gotten.

2.	None of the lines really distinguished itself. :-(

3.	Neil Wilkinson returned tonight, after missing 14 games with a back
	injury.  He appeared steady but rusty.  He suffered a hand injury
	late in the second period, but returned midway through the third.

4.	Scremin's assist on the second Ozolinsh goal was his first NHL point.

===============================================================================
"M. C. Hamrlik: Can't Touch This Lightning."
GO LOS ANGELES KINGS!  Luc Robitaille for Hart!
GO SAN JOSE SHARKS!  Sandis Ozolinsh for Calder!  Jeff Hackett for Vezina!
===============================================================================
Nelson Lu (claudius@leland.stanford.edu)
rec.sport.hockey contact for the San Jose Sharks