NHL: San Jose 1, St. Louis 0 (OT)

[TheGeneral+]

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 9 (UPI) -- Niko Dimitrakos scored in overtime to give San Jose a 1-0 win early Friday over St. Louis in Game One of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Dimitrakos grabbed a loose puck at the hashmarks, dragged it through the right faceoff circle and snapped a wrist shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Chris Osgood for his first career playoff goal, 9:16 into the overtime match.

Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves.

Osgood turned aside 28 shots for St. Louis, which went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a four-minute advantage after Dimitrakos received a double-minor for high-sticking in the second period.

St. Louis had chances to break through early in the third period, but Nabokov got his right pad on a point-blank shot by Doug Weight.

Blues left wing Keith Tkachuk took an interference penalty with just over two minutes to go in regulation and the Sharks had two chances to avoid overtime.

Vincent Damphousse whiffed on a shot from close range and Osgood denied Marleau, who got a good piece of a bouncing puck.

http://washingtontimes.com

 

[jointpleasures]

St. Louis had a real good chance to score on a two on one in the third period. Keith Tkachuk takes the shot from the top of the slot and missed what appeared to be an open net on the glove side of Nabokov. Other than that, St. Louis, for the most part, battled in front of the net in hopes of picking up a Phil Esposito.

 

[hallr21]

What a garbage goal to end on I thought, a play that started with a hand pass then it looked to me like the SJ player was holding the stick of the defender in order to get the scoring chance. Anybody else see these things?

 

[BoZZi]

more like the other way around...i felt like the blues player was holding the stick....who cares

1-0 BABY.....STANLEY CUP HERE WE COME

 

[Mr NJ Sports]

I thought the Blues guy had his stick held, until I saw the replay.

Tkachuk sucks every year in the playoffs.

Is Eric Weinrich still backing in?

 

[hallr21]

Bozzi you better hope you don't meet the wings in the playoffs, do you have any idea what the Sharks record is against the Wings since the mini miracle you pulled in the playoffs like 10 years ago?

 

[WildBill]

Sharks were the better team most of the night, but really choked on the pressure. How the hell did Cheech miss that puck in front of the net in the first I will never figure out, even a guy who can't skate could have scored on that one! The Blues just don't look dangerous beyond Weight. Pronger just isn't as dangerous without his buddy Al out there.

Detroit fans better hope for an upset in another series out West because I don't think they can beat the Stars or Avs with their uncertainty in the nets and their only sometimes devotion to defense.

 

[hallr21]

Detroit would have their way with Dallas, that I promise you but Colorado is ringing them up hard. I expect a good series if the arch rivals meet.

And note, Manny and the Wings rose to the occasion huge in the recent Home and Home series allowing just one goal. These teams have a healthy respect or disrespect for each other depending on how you look at it. Colorado doesn't have Roy back there either so it will be a battle.

 

[BoZZi]

2-0