SAN JOSE
– Evgeni Nabokov picked up his second straight shut-out Thursday
night as the San Jose Sharks blanked the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 at
sold-out HP Pavilion.
San Jose takes on the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night,
Carolina Tuesday before embarking on a five-game roadtrip.
SAN JOSE – Evgeni Nabokov picked up his second straight shut-out Thursday night as the San Jose Sharks blanked the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 at sold-out HP Pavilion.
San Jose takes on the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night, Carolina Tuesday before embarking on a five-game roadtrip.
Nabokov’s 44th career shut-out guided the Sharks to a 24-point lead over both Phoenix and Anaheim in the Pacific Division. San Jose (36-6-5) has a one-point lead over the Boston Bruins in the race for the President’s Trophy.
San Jose, 7-1 in the past eight games, locked up the win with 14.3 seconds to play when Marcel Goc scored an empty-net goal. The Sharks had two prior scoring chances with the open net, but both Joe Pavelski and Mike Grier hit posts with long shots before Ryane Clowe set up Goc for his second goal of the season.
San Jose opened the scoring by converting its third power play opportunity of the night.
Coyote winger Todd Fedoruk earned a minor penalty when he flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game call 5:21 into the second period. The Sharks needed 38 seconds to take the 1-0 lead. Joe Thornton threaded a pass from the endboards to linemate Devin Setoguchi in the low slot. Setoguchi’s shot deflected into the corner. Patrick Marleau collected the puck and fed Christian Ehrhoff for a hard shot from 30 feet out that flew over the right shoulder of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
“(Ehrhoff) looks much more confident,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of the improvement shown by the 26-year-old defenseman. “He’s playing with authority.”
The Sharks did have a puck find the back of the net in the first period, but Clowe’s apparent goal was waived off after video review because Clowe’s kicking motion directed the puck into the net 11:35 into play.
Nabokov set a personal best with 170:10 of scoreless netminding.
“It was a great battle,” said Nabokov. “Anytime you are in a close game, the special teams will be the key.” San Jose handled six Coyote power plays.
“Obviously, Nabby has been tremendous the last few games,” said McLellan. “He’s as sharp now as he has been all year and we’re excited about that. The other players around him did a real good job. Not a lot of second chances and very good penalty killing.”
Claude Lemieux played in his third game of the season and 1,200th of his NHL career, having 8:08 of ice time and dishing out three hits for the Sharks.
