SAN JOSE
– Jonathan Cheechoo ended Saturday night’s game on a successful
note for the San Jose Sharks, burying the puck in the seventh round
of the shoot-out to complete the 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles
Kings at sold-out HP Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – Jonathan Cheechoo ended Saturday night’s game on a successful note for the San Jose Sharks, burying the puck in the seventh round of the shoot-out to complete the 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at sold-out HP Pavilion.
San Jose’s magic number to clinch the Pacific Division dipped to three. The Sharks play at Anaheim Sunday at 5pm, then visit the Phoenix Coyotes Tuesday. Nashville comes into San Jose for a Thursday night game.
Evgeni Nabokov, between the pipes for San Jose after missing seven games due to injury, made 23 saves through overtime and limited the Kings to one goal in seven rounds of the shoot-out.
“He played well, was zeroed in,” said coach Todd McLellan of Nabokov. “When he was tested, he was very sharp. It was nice to see him win in the shoot-out.”
Nabokov, while earning his 33rd win of the season, allowed only one goal in 65 minutes of action. Wayne Simmonds netted his sixth goal of the season for the Kings when he pounced on a long rebound and beat Nabokov from 15 feet out 41 seconds into the second period.
Milan Michalek opened the scoring with a deft redirection of a Joe Pavelski pass 5:28 into the first period.
Dan Boyle secured the puck behind the Los Angeles net, finding Pavelski at the top of the right circle with a pass. Michalek skated around several players at the edge of the crease, setting up in the slot. Pavelski’s offering went off Michalek’s stick and past goalie Erik Ersberg.
“I felt good,” Nabokov said of his first action since Feb. 25. “I tried to keep the game simple. The key was not to have too many penalty kills. We had the momentum by pushing the pace and (the Kings) were taking penalties.”
The Sharks put 49 shots on net, including 18 from the defensemen.
“You have to give (Ersberg) a lot of credit,” said McLellan. “We generated a lot of chances.”
San Jose opened the scoring in the shoot-out when Pavelski blasted a shot past Ersberg from 15 feet out in the second round. Los Angeles responded in the second round with a Jack Johnson goal inside the left post. After four rounds of saves and missed shots, Cheechoo lined a shot from 10 feet out past Ersberg. Nabokov ended the suspense by saving Edward Purcell’s try.
“We played very well, coming into San Jose at 3 in the morning from Vancouver,” said Kings coach Terry Murray. “Coming out with that kind of performance was as good as they can play.”
