|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Patrick Marleau helped the San Jose
Sharks get through another game without captain Owen Nolan.
With Nolan serving the sixth of his NHL-ordered 11-game
suspension Friday night, Marleau scored an unassisted goal and
added an assist as the undermanned Sharks extended their NHL-best
road unbeaten streak to 10 with a 2-0 victory over the Nashville
Predators.
The Sharks are 3-0-2 since Nolan was suspended and have won
three straight. Marleau has two goals and three assists during the
winning streak.
"We've still got a great bunch of guys in here," Marleau said.
"(We're) playing strong and we just have to keep it going."
Evgeni Nabokov made 19 saves for his fourth shutout this season
and fifth career. San Jose has shutouts in three of four games, and
the back-to-back shutouts Wednesday and Friday were the first
consecutive efforts in club history.
The Pacific Division-leading Sharks, who won their third
straight, are 6-0-4 in their last 10 road games and a
league-leading 17-5-6 overall away from home. The Predators dropped
their third straight after winning four in a row.
San Jose played without Nolan (suspension), top scorer Vincent
Damphousse (shoulder), and ice-time leader Marcus Ragnarsson
(shoulder).
"I think we came closer as a group having those guys out,"
Marleau said. "Everyone has to be going."
Marleau put the Sharks up 1-0 early with an unassisted tally,
his team-leading 22nd goal of the season. He skated through the
Nashville defense and straight up the slot before beating Mike
Dunham with a 1-on-1 move 6:14 in.
The 22 goals are a career high for Marleau, whose previous best
was 21 in the 1998-99 season. He has 11 goals at home and on the
road.
"You know, Patty makes a hell of a play," San Jose coach
Darryl Sutter said. "It gives everybody a little juice."
Nabokov stopped Drake Berehowsky twice and Scott Walker once
during a two-man Nashville advantage early in the second period. He
faced only three shots in the final period.
"They're a good team," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "We
just didn't capitalize on our chances. They capitalized on their
chances and we didn't."
Moments after the Sharks killed off the Nashville 5-on-3
advantage, Gary Suter put San Jose up 2-0 with the teams skating
four-a-side. Suter broke up the slot and banged a perfect pass from
Niklas Sundstrom by Dunham. Sundstrom hit Suter in stride from
along the right boards.
"(Sundstrom) makes a great play and Suter goes to the net,"
Sutter said. "It's funny, because it's what we try to get our
defense to do 4-on-4 is jump up and in."
Nashville fell to 9-15-6 at home. The Predators are 15-12-1-2 on
the road, but they are home for seven of their next eight.
Some of the normally forgiving fans at Gaylord Entertainment
Center even booed the Predators during the closing moments.
"It's just we're not getting the bounces," Dunham said. "It's
a game of inches and right now the inches are against us."
Los Angeles beat Minnesota and moved two points ahead of
Nashville in ninth place in the Western Conference.
Game notes
Nolan and Sharks GM Dean Lombardi met with NHL commissioner
Gary Bettman in New York on Friday, and hoped to hear Saturday from
Bettman on a possible reduction of Nolan's suspension. ... Before
this season, the Sharks' longest road unbeaten streak was six
games, a 3-0-3 string in March 1999. San Jose's last road loss was
at Buffalo on Dec. 23.
 Send this story to a friend
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
San Jose Clubhouse
Nashville Clubhouse
RECAPS
Phoenix 2
Carolina 0
Detroit 4
Columbus 2
Florida 2
Boston 1
Pittsburgh 4
New Jersey 4
Chicago 6
St. Louis 2
Los Angeles 4
Minnesota 0
San Jose 2
Nashville 0
Dallas 3
Anaheim 2
NY Islanders 4
Edmonton 2
|
