SAN JOSE
– Jamie McGinn’s first NHL goal gave the San Jose Sharks a lead
they would not relinquish Thursday night, leading to a 4-2 victory
over the Detroit Red Wings at sold-out HP Pavilion.
October turned out to be a treat for the Sharks. Earning a third
consecutive win Thursday, San Jose takes a 9-2-0 mark into
November.
SAN JOSE – Jamie McGinn’s first NHL goal gave the San Jose Sharks a lead they would not relinquish Thursday night, leading to a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at sold-out HP Pavilion.
October turned out to be a treat for the Sharks. Earning a third consecutive win Thursday, San Jose takes a 9-2-0 mark into November.
McGinn, a second-round selection in the 2006 NHL entry draft for San Jose, stuffed home a goal 9:02 into the second period to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.
Playing in just his second game in the league, McGinn set up the scoring play by controlling the puck against the back of the Detroit net. Linemate Tomas Plihal moved the puck to the right post where Detroit goalie Ty Conklin made an initial save. McGinn powered to the net and jabbed the puck past Conklin.
San Jose used open shooters in the slot to nab the first and third goals for the club.
Detroit opened the scoring when Marian Hossa slid a long shot from the right circle that went under goalie Evgeni Nabokov 18 seconds into the second period.
The Sharks responded with a tying goal at 7:01. Joe Thornton, along the endboards, received Devin Setoguchi’s pass and quickly sent the puck along to Patrick Marleau in the slot. The captain one-timed the 10-footer past a helpless Conklin for his 10th point of the season.
After McGinn made it 2-1, another set-up from behind the net gave the Sharks a 3-1 edge.
Joe Pavelski eased a pass to linemate Joe Pavelski in the Detroit end. Pavelski’s follow-up pass to an unmarked Ryane Clowe turned into a 3-1 lead when Clowe one-timed the pass into the open net at 10:26.
San Jose came up with an insurance goal 6:08 into the third period. Once again, a pass from the endboards, this time by Setoguchi, allowed an advancing Pavelski to jab the puck inside the right post before Conklin to recover.
Detroit concluded the scoring on a Brian Rafalski goal with 32 seconds left in the third.
“I thought they were better than us,” said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. “They had more spark than us. That is the bottom line.”
NOTES: Marleau and Pavelski share the team points lead with 10 apiece…Conklin brought a 3-0-0 mark into the game for Detroit…San Jose plays the Avalanche in Denver Sunday before beginning a three-game homestand on Election Night against the Minnesota Wild. The Sharks are unbeaten in six games at home…Detroit has only two regulation losses (7-2-2) and trails Western Conference-pacing San Jose by two points.
