SHARKS BEAT AVS, REGAIN WEST LEAD

The San Jose Sharks’ slump of earlier this month may very well be over.  On Sunday, San Jose defeated Colorado 3-1 for their fifth victory in six games.  The win also propelled them back into first place in the NHL Western Conference by one point over idle Detroit, giving them the best record in the league—at least for the time being.

The Sharks were held to only five shots on goal during a tightly contested and scoreless first period.  Their defense held up their end as well, limiting Colorado to eight shots on goal.  San Jose opened the scoring in the second period with Jamie McGinn’s power play goal at the 9:25 mark assisted by Alexei Semenov and  Marc-Edouard Vlasic.  Colorado responded less than two minutes later as Scott Hannan put the puck in the net with assists to Wojtek Wolski and Milan Hejduk.  San Jose would take the lead for good with just over a half minute to go in the second period as Milan Michalek beat Avs’ goalie Andrew Raycroft for his 22^nd of the year assisted by Alexei Semenov and Joe Pavelski.  The Sharks would protect this one goal lead for most of the final period until Devin Setoguchi scored into an empty net with seconds remaining in the game to produce the final 3-1 margin.

Also crucial to San Jose’s victory was the stellar goaltending of Evgeni Nabokov, who stopped a total of 31 shots on goal including 17 in the third period alone.  For his heroics, Nabokov received the game’s ‘third star’.  Nabokov has been one of many top players for the Sharks to miss time due to injury this season, which makes their position atop the standings all of the more rewarding according to head coach Todd McLellan:

"Considering the bodies out of the lineup and the amount of hockey we've played, I was pleased. It's a good time for our organization when that many players come up and make an impact."

Milan Michalek, who scored the game winning goal for the Sharks, said that winning the President’s Cup for best record in the league was now the team’s top priority:

"For sure we want to finish first, because that gives you the best playoff position. It's down to the end now, so we've got to try to get every point to be sure we have a chance."

Despite the loss, Colorado coach Tony Granato—a former Shark—was pleased with his team’s effort:

"From start to finish, we played solid. They are No. 1 for a reason. We had our opportunities, but another reason they are so good is their goalie. Nabokov played well all the way."

San Jose will continue their run for the league’s best record later this week when they travel to Chicago on Wednesday and Nashville on Thursday.  They’ll return home to face the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night.  Colorado’s only real motivation is to avoid finishing last in the NHL’s Western Conference, where they currently reside three points behind Phoenix.  They’ll host Anaheim on Wednesday and Vancouver on Friday before traveling to the Honda Center for a return date with the Ducks on Saturday.