Sharks nip Kings in shootout

The San Jose Sharks welcomed their superstar goaltender Evgeni Nabokov back to the lineup following a seven game absence due to injury on Saturday night, and he responded with a solid performance to help his team to a 2-1 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings.  The victory helped the Sharks keep pace with the Detroit Red Wings in the race for Western Conference supremacy, with San Jose currently a single point behind their rivals from the Motor City.

San Jose’s defense made things considerably easier for Nabokov in his return, limiting Los Angeles to 24 shots on goal over three regulation periods and a five minute overtime.  The Kings’ netminder Erik Ersberg also played well, stopping 38 of 39 shots in a losing cause.  The Sharks scored their lone goal just past the five minute mark of the first period when Milan Michalek found the net assisted by Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle.  Los Angeles would respond just 41 seconds into the second period when Wayne Simmonds scored from Alexander Frolov and Michal Handzus to tie the contest 1-1.  The score would remain knotted at one throughout regulation and the five minute OT period, with the Sharks prevailing in the shootout to give them a 2-1 victory.  Nabokov stopped six of seven attempts in the shootout to preserve the win.

After the game, Nabokov gave considerable credit to his defensemen:

"The guys really made it easier for me. I didn't have to face a lot of shots. I felt good right off the bat."

In turn, Sharks’ defenseman Dan Boyle credited Nabokov with the team’s victory:

"He played great. He came through in the shootout and he's the reason we won the two points."

Kings’ coach Terry Murray was pleased with his team’s showing despite the shootout setback:

"We played very well. Coming into San Jose at 3 in the morning from Vancouver and coming out with that kind of performance, it was as good as they can play."

The Western Conference playoff race is one big logjam, and despite currently occupying 13^th place the Kings are just five points out of a playoff position.  Kings’ goalie Ersberg said that if his team could continue this high level of play that a postseason berth was a realistic possibility:

"We hung in there. It was anybody's game. If we play like this over the last 14, we can make things interesting."

The Sharks will play their next two on the road, heading to Anaheim on Sunday night and Phoenix on Tuesday.  They’ll return home for a game against the Nashville Predators on Thursday.  Los Angeles will host Nashville on Monday night before traveling East for games against Boston on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Friday.