Blackhawks Dominate Sharks 4-2

Evgeni Nabokov's shutout streak ended less than a minute after the puck dropped, and the night only got worse for the San Jose goaltender.  The Chicago Blackhawks scored 4 goals in 29 shots, and overcame a strange rule in the rulebook and handed the San Jose Sharks their second regulation home loss of the season as they won 4-2.

Coming into the game, Jonathan Toews scored 3 goals in his past 9 games.  But he snapped out of their offensive funk, scoring twice against the Sharks.  His first goal came on a delayed penalty on San Jose.  David Bolland then scored again, but there was a missed high-sticking call on Patrick Kane earlier in the period that drew blood from Jonathan Cheechoo.  According to the rule book, a double minor penalty that was missed can be called after the penalty had occured, and if the guilty team had scored a goal before the double minor was enforced, then the goal can be negated.  Then, San Jose scored on the power play on a shot from the point by Christian Ehrhoff to tie the game 1-1.  But Chicago was not phased by this turn of momentum, and they ran over the Sharks in the second period.  They were much faster to the pucks and caused multiple turnovers, including one when San Jose was on the power play.  The turnover led to a shorthanded goal by Kris Verteeg, off a rebound by Bolland on his stomach after he was tripped by Ehrhoff.  Toews then scored his second and the eventual game winner on Chicago's powerplay, squeezing the puck over Nabokov's shoulder to make it 3-1.  Duncan Keith scored a power play goal in the third period to increase the lead to 3 goals and San Jose could not close the deficit, despite Milan Michalek putting a shot past Nikolai Khabibulin, who made 32 saves in the game, 10 seconds after Keith's goal to make it 4-2.  

The Sharks had trouble containing the Blackhawks throughout the game, as they could not connect passes to get themselves past center ice.  Chicago was visibly faster to loose pucks on the ice, and even when they were out of position they always pressured the San Jose skaters.  There seemed to be a defender no matter where the Sharks put the puck.  The Blackhawks's effort game finally paid off for them, as they had lost 3 of the last 4 games.  Dan Boyle, the San Jose All-Star defenseman, missed his 3rd game do to an upper body injury.  Chicago plans to watch the Super Bowl tomorrow in Las Vegas before heading to Edmonton to continue their long road trip.  The Sharks, however, might not be so lucky, as Todd McLellon was clearly displeased with his team's play.  "We're going to put our work boots back on and do a lot of skating," said the San Jose coach after the game.  The Sharks will get their last break of the regular season, with their next game not coming until Thursday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes for their last home game before their longest road trip of the season.