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Nabokov shines in
shutout
26 saves for the Sharks
goaltender
10/7/06 - by Mike Lee
Opening the season against two soft teams is one way to overcome
traditional slow starts. Having your goaltender shutout the opposition is
another. Evgeni Nabokov turned in a strong 1st period on Saturday night, and
coasted after his teammates converted on their first two power play chances en
route to a 2-0 shutout of the visiting New York Islanders.
Nabokov
stopped 14 shots in the first period, while his teammates kicked the offense
into gear. The Islanders tried stepping up the tempo early in the contest after
giving up six goals to the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday. New York's sustained
pressure kept Nabokov busy, but he seemed to see every shot clearly.
"It's always good to start like that and get your first win but it's nothing
more than that," Nabokov said. "They were coming to the net pretty hard but
when there were rebounds the defense was able to clear the puck. We did a good
job on penalty-killing too."
San Jose converted on a Chris Simon
slashing penalty midway through the opening period. San Jose's primary and
secondary power play units have been on a tear, converting on 4 of 14
opportunities in the first two games of the season.
Patrick Marleau
setup the first San Jose goal with a pass to Steve Bernier, chipped the puck
over to a slashing Matt Carle on the left wing. The Sharks defenseman took
Bernier's pass and buried it from 15 feet out, after Islanders goaltender Rick
DiPietro over committed on what he thought was going to be a shot from Bernier.
Carle also scored a goal on opening night. His second tally of the
season ties him for the team lead in goals with Milan Michalek.
"Those
power plays worked out well," Carle said. "We had some good shots. When Patrick
got the puck in the corner I knew he saw me. All I had to do was one-time
it."
Marleau and Bernier would setup the Sharks second goal
less than four minutes later, except Marleau would earn the primary assist.
With Andy Hilbert in the box serving a hooking penalty, Bernier and Marleau
worked another set of passes that forced DiPietro to move laterally enough that
he exposed a lane for Christian Ehrhoff.
Marleau setup Ehrhoff with a
pass in the slot, for a one-timer that sailed over DiPietro's shoulder.
The Sharks out shot New York 14-5 in the middle period, but failed to
capitalize on their offensive chances. Failure to put the Islanders away in
that period setup an interesting ending.
Alexei Yashin missed on a
scoring chance eight minutes into the 3rd, and Miroslav Satan failed to convert
on a golden opportunity after Ville Nieminen was sent off for hooking at the
14:35 mark.
Nabokov shut down both scoring opportunities to earn his
first victory of the season. The shutout leaves an interesting dilemma for
Sharks head coach Ron Wilson, who must now decide who to start in goal in
Calgary on Monday. Vesa Toskala allowed two soft goals in the season opener,
and Nabokov recorded a shutout in his first appearance of the year.
"When your goalkeeper is hot like that it makes it easy for the rest of us,"
Sharks defenseman Kyle McLaren said. "They came out hard and we were under fire
in the first 10 minutes or so. We started to clamp down and our power play took
over."
The Islanders limp off to Southern California to finish up their
West Coast swing before returning to Long Island to face the Boston Bruins next
Saturday.
"It's too easy to look at the mistakes right now than the
positives," Islanders' coach Ted Nolan said. "We need to tighten up our defense
and grab some chemistry. Rick played a great game. Both of the goals came
quickly and he wasn't at fault."
Notes:
Kyle McLaren
landed his first knockout of the season with a bone-jarring hit on Jason Blake
in the 1st period. Blake tried carrying the puck around the left dot, when
McLaren lowered the boom on him with a devastating check that forced Blake head
over heels, knocking the Islanders helmet off.
Sharks winger Mark Bell
skated off late in the 3rd period after tangling with the end boards. Bell did
not return to the ice after the incident. His injury was also not disclosed
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NYI |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| SJ |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, San
Jose, Carle 2 (Bernier, Marleau), 13:51, (pp). 2, San Jose, Ehrhoff 1 (Bernier,
Marleau), 17:33, (pp). |
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| 1st period - Grier, SJS
(hooking), 5:03; Michalek, SJS (hooking), 8:16; Simon, NYI (slashing), 13:44;
Hilbert, NYI (hooking), 17:12. |
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| 2nd period - Gervais,
NYI (hooking), 2:33; Witt, NYI (holding), 10:09; Thornton, SJS (tripping),
18:10. |
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| 3rd period - Bates, NYI
(holding), 1:44; Simon, NYI (unsportsmanlike conduct), 5:23; Carle, SJS
(interference), 5:23; Gorges, SJS (hooking), 6:10; Hill, NYI (holding the
stick), 8:36; Nieminen, SJS (hooking), 14:35. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| NYI - DiPietro |
27 |
25 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
26 |
26 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| NYI |
14 |
5 |
7 |
26 |
| SJ |
9 |
14 |
4 |
27 |
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| Referees: Tom Kowal, Brad
Watson. Linesmen: Mike Cvik, Don Henderson. |
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