SAN JOSE
– San Jose powered back to the top of the Western Conference
standings Saturday night with a convincing 5-0 victory over the
defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins at sold-out HP
Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – San Jose powered back to the top of the Western Conference standings Saturday night with a convincing 5-0 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins at sold-out HP Pavilion.
Two days after having a six-game winning streak snapped with a shoot-out loss in Detroit, the Sharks earned two points while handing Pittsburgh only its fifth loss in 17 games.
San Jose was in control in the first period, taking a 2-0 lead while posting a 13-3 edge in shots on net. The second period featured starting Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury being chased from the pipes after allowing a third San Jose tally. Back-up Brent Johnson was beaten for one goal in the final 18:18 of the period as San Jose built a 4-0 cushion.
The Sharks finish a three-game homestand with games Tuesday opposite Nashville, Thursday against Dallas.
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 27 shots to earn his second shut-out of the season and 49th of his career.
“Any shut-out has two things – a little bit of luck and total team effort,” said Nabokov.
The Sharks have given up eight goals over the past seven games.
“Puck possession,” said San Jose’s Scott Nichol of the team’s hot defensive streak.
“We’re such a huge team. We work the boards will, don’t spend a lot of team in our own end.”
San Jose opened the scoring by converting its third shot of the night.
San Jose’s Jed Ortmeyer stole the puck inside the Shark blueline and dished it to a streaking Jamie McGinn. After reaching the left circle in the Pittsburgh zone, McGinn’s initial shot missed wide left of the net. Scott Nichol controlled the puck, tapping it to McGinn behind the net. McGinn swerved to the right of the crease and lined a shot that deflected off Fleury and inside the right post at 3:27.
San Jose needed 24 seconds of power play to grab a 2-0 lead.
After Matt Cooke was whistled for roughing San Jose’s Douglas Murray, the Sharks made it 2-0 on the next shift. Joe Pavelski, back from a 15-game Injured Reserve stint, set up in the low slot and promptly redirected a shot from the right point by Dan Boyle at 16:04 of the period.
The Sharks raced to a 4-0 lead within the first 3:31 of the second period.
The teams were skating four aside when Boyle went from the blueline to the outside edge of the right circle before directing a shot inside the far post to end Fleury’s night at 1:41.
Dany Heatley notched his 11th goal of the season at 3:31 when he tapped in a rebound of a Pavelski shot at the right edge of the crease.
The score grew to 5-0 when Manny Malhotra turned a long rebound of a Marc-Eduoard Vlasic shot into a shot inside the top right corner of the net behind a screened Johnson.
“We got contributions from every line,” said Heatley.
