After losing their last 2 home games during a 2-4-1 slide without their top goaltender, the San Jose Sharks welcomed back Evgeni Nabokov, who was out with a lower body injury he suffered after missing the first two games with the flu. The Sharks were hosts to another team on the bubble of a playoff spot: the Los Angeles Kings. In a game where there were hardly any stoppages in play, both teams struggled to find their offense despite having a generous amount of power play opportunities. The game went into the shootout, and like the regulation and overtime periods, it became a battle of the goaltenders, as the shootout went 7 rounds before Jonathan Cheechoo scored the winning goal and San Jose won 2-1 in the shootout to win 2-1 in the game.
The Sharks and the Kings both pushed the pace early, and the first period ended almost as quickly as it had started. One of the rare stoppages in play was courtesy of an early first period goal. Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle kept the puck alive in the offensive zone, and Pavelski shot the puck hard off Milan Michalek's stick, which redirected past Erik Ersberg for the 1-0 lead.
But in the first shift of the second period, the Kings immediately brought the puck into the San Jose zone and did not leave until it was in the back of the net. Alexander Frolov found the puck on the back of his skate, and threw it quickly towards Nabokov. Before the San Jose goaltender could get back in position for the rebound, Wayne Simmonds poked the puck through to tie the game 1-1. There was no more scoring after that, despite the Sharks outshooting the Kings 13-4 in the third period. But the biggest chance to break the tie came shorthanded for Los Angeles, when Joe Thorton went to the bench on a line change after breaking his stick, unaware that Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown broke the puck out of their own zone and were skating by. Nobody was back for San Jose, and the Kings had a very rare 2 on 0 opportunity. But Nabokov was patient and well-positioned, Brown could not get the pass to Kopitar in time, and the pair did not even register a shot on goal as Anze was already behind the net by the time the puck reached him. In the last few minutes of the third period and in the first minute of overtime, the Sharks came roaring offensively, trying to end the game. But Rob Blake was robbed twice by Ersberg's glove, and San Jose could not get the puck past the Los Angeles netminder, who made 38 saves on 39 shots.
The shootout was the exclamation mark of a well goaltended game. The Sharks elected to shoot first, and Joe Pavelski scored in the second round to put the Sharks up by a goal after he nearly stopped his forward progress completely before wristing it through the legs of Ersberg. But Jack Johnson came right back on his opportunity, shooting the puck quickly off his stick past Nabokov's right leg to tie the shootout 1-1. The Sharks continuously failed to get the puck behind Ersberg, and the Kings were given 4 chances to end the game. But Nabokov stopped 3 of the shots, 1 shot went wide, and Cheechoo faked a shot to drop Ersberg to his knees before shooting the puck over the glove to put San Jose up 2-1. Teddy Purcell, who only had 1 previous shootout attempt, was given the opportunity to tie it, but could not put the puck past the same leg that Johnson had previously, and San Jose came out the winners in the shootout.
San Jose outshot Los Angeles 39 to 24, courtesy of 8 power play opportunities. But the Sharks could not convert on a single one, putting up 12 shots with the man advantage. The Kings had 4 power play chances of their own, but also could not generate a goal. The Sharks also welcomed back Rob Blake, who missed the last two games after taking a shot off the foot in Vancouver. Both Detroit and Boston won their games on Saturday, so San Jose still remained 1 point behind both of them in the standings, with the Red Wings and Bruins tied for first in the NHL with 99 points, and San Jose in third place with 98. Los Angeles, who was still in the playoff picture coming into the game, gained a much needed point with the shootout loss, but still remain 4 points out of the 8th spot as Dallas, Nashville, and Minnesota all gained at least 1 point as well. San Jose will play their second game in a back to back Sunday evening as they travel down to face the Anaheim Ducks, who are currently 2 points out of a playoff spot.
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