When the Sharks and Anaheim Ducks squared off four nights ago at
HP Pavilion, visiting coach Randy Carlyle was last seen spewing
expletives and subtly giving the digital salute as he made his way
across the ice from the bench to the locker room. The Sharks were
in a better mood, having just skated off with a 4-2 victory. But
they weren’t amused by the antics of Ducks tough guy George Parros
who tried to pick a fight with the less pugilistic Marc-Edouard
Vlasic with 4.1 seconds remaining in the game, apparent payback for
a Douglas Murray hit on Anaheim defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky.
SAN JOSE
When the Sharks and Anaheim Ducks squared off four nights ago at HP Pavilion, visiting coach Randy Carlyle was last seen spewing expletives and subtly giving the digital salute as he made his way across the ice from the bench to the locker room.
The Sharks were in a better mood, having just skated off with a 4-2 victory. But they weren’t amused by the antics of Ducks tough guy George Parros who tried to pick a fight with the less pugilistic Marc-Edouard Vlasic with 4.1 seconds remaining in the game, apparent payback for a Douglas Murray hit on Anaheim defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky.
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So what to expect when the two teams meet again Wednesday night at the Honda Center in a game that begins with Joe Thornton just one shy of his 1,000th NHL point?
Well, retribution wasn’t at the top of anyone’s list Tuesday.
“We’re playing to win. We need to get these points,” coach Todd McLellan said “We’d like to have home ice advantage as far as we possibly can.”
The Sharks, who will be looking for their fifth consecutive win and ninth in the last 10 games, can guarantee themselves the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference by winning their final three games.
The Ducks, in truth, need the victory even more as they have yet to qualify for the postseason. Poise, discipline and a consistent effort for 60 minutes had a higher priority in comments after Anaheim’s practice than retribution.
“We’ve played spurts over the last two games where we felt that we did a lot of things that we’ve been doing for a while, but it got away from us in some of the games,” Carlyle told the Orange County Register. “It showed on the scoreboard.”
The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Murray has been a heavy hitter since joining the Sharks defense during the 2005-06 season. But in the past month, he seems to be getting under the skin of the opposition more frequently.
No penalty was called when he hit Visnovsky after the high-scoring Ducks defenseman released a shot midway through the third period and the two became entangled as they fell to the ice. Visnovsky did not return that game, but he was back in action the next day and scored against the Dallas Stars.
Carlyle complained after the game that it was a late hit. Murray disagreed, but added that he could understand how the Ducks might have thought that.
“It’s a pretty fast game, and I’m trying to close the gap as quickly as possible,” Murray said. “It’s not like I was trying to take his head off. “¦ I think you get a second or two, and I’ve seen a lot later hits than that that haven’t been called.”
The Sharks defenseman said he never has worried about payback from one game to the next, saying “you can’t waste your energy thinking about it.”
And, Murray joked, “If I feel threatened, I’ll send Danny against them.”
Dan Boyle, Murray’s defense partner, had a Gordie Howe hat trick Monday night when he earned a fighting penalty for intervening in a situation where two Los Angeles Kings took exception to being knocked down by Murray. Boyle already had a goal and an assist at that point.
— Story by David Pollak, San Jose Mercury News
