SAN JOSE
– Evgeni Nabokov was in post-season form Thursday night, leading
the San Jose Sharks past the visiting Vancouver Canucks 4-2 at HP
Pavilion.
Nabokov made 30 saves in earning his 43rd win of the season.
SAN JOSE – Evgeni Nabokov was in post-season form Thursday night, leading the San Jose Sharks past the visiting Vancouver Canucks 4-2 at HP Pavilion.
Nabokov made 30 saves in earning his 43rd win of the season. San Jose regained the lead in the Western Conference (111 points), two points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks as the NHL rolled toward the conclusion of the regular season Sunday.
Vancouver, locked into the third seed in the Western Conference as the Northwest Division champion, rested Olympic hero Roberto Luongo, opting to put Andrew Raycroft between the pipes. Raycroft brought a 0-4-0 record against the Sharks into the contest.
After San Jose earned a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes while posting a 15-10 edge in shots on net, the Sharks put the game away with three goals in the second period for a 4-0 cushion.
Joe Pavelski equaled his career high in goals when he scored 18:35 into play off a feed from Ryane Clowe.
As Clowe pulled the puck away from a crowd along the right boards and drove toward the net, Pavelski skated into position at the top of the crease. Clowe’s short pass led to Pavelski netting his 25th goal by pushing the puck past Raycroft as defenseman Mason Raymond tried unsuccessfully to stop the scoring play.
Logan Couture struck for his fifth goal in his 24th game as a Shark rookie 1:57 into the second period.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic was able to keep the puck inside the Canuck zone at the left boards. Vlasic’s lofted shot from the point was knocked down by Couture’s stick and past Raycroft for the 2-0 edge. Torrey Mitchell earned the secondary assist.
The top line of Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau sparked the third goal, 5:16 into the second.
Heatley took Thornton’s pass and circled through the right circle. Thornton rushed into the slot and was able to one-time Heatley’s pass inside the left post. Thornton’s 20th goal of the year marked the fifth consecutive season the center has reached the 20-goal level.
Manny Malhotra added his 14th goal of the campaign, 90th in 704 career games, 16:41 into the second.
Mitchell added his second assist of the game when he directed the puck to Malhotra. A 2-on-1 rush resulted, with Malhotra using Couture as a decoy before wristing a 20-foot shot between Raycroft’s pads. Mitchell recorded his first-ever two-point game.
Nabokov’s puck-repelling skills were most needed in the penalty-filled third period. The teams combined for 76 minutes in penalties for the 20 minutes, with Vancouver finally able to solve Nabokov for a pair of goals. At one point 11 minutes into the third period, the Sharks had nine players on the bench, five on the ice, five in the penalty box and one in the lockerroom.
In one stretch of the third period, San Jose picked up minor penalties at 6:24, 6:59 and 7:21. Nabokov was able to keep the Canucks off the boards for the extended 5-on-3 Vancouver advantage.
The visitors scored a 4-on-4 goal at 10:26 when Pavol Demitra set up to the left of the Sharks net and one-timed a Henrik Sedin feed to ruin Nabokov’s shut-out bid. Henrik Sedin improved to 108 points atop the scoring race, leading Alexander Ovechkin by two points for the Art Ross Trophy.
Vancouver’s Andrew Alberts threaded a shot from the left point through several screens that dropped inside the right post for the final goal of the game.
