After a 4 goal explosion in the first period, neither team scored again for 45 minutes. But that did not cool down the San Jose Sharks, as Jonathan Cheechoo scored the winning goal in the shootout and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 2 out of 3 attempts against the Nashville Predators and the Sharks remain dominant on home ice, defeating the Predators 3-2.
After a strong first half of the first period defensively, both teams got into their offensive stride. The Sharks struck first, as they were beneficiaries of a 5 on 3 power play. With 3 seconds left with the 2 man advantage, Rob Blake blasted the puck from the high slot over the glove of Pekka Rinne to give the Sharks the 1-0 lead. But a little over 2 minutes later, J.P. Dumont shot the puck from the point, which deflected off two Nashville predators, touching Joel Ward last, and Evgeni Nabokov could not adjust fast enough to the change of direction and the Predators tied the game. Then, in under 2 minutes after the tying goal, Vernon Fiddler took a bouncing puck that jumped over Joe Pavelski's stick from his blue line and went on a break away. He faked a low forehand shot, and went to his backhand to flip the puck over Nabokov's glove to score a shorthanded goal to give Nashville the 2-1 lead. But with 3 seconds left, Milan Michalek found a loose puck at the side of the Nashville net, and pushed the puck off Rinne's elbow and over the goal line to tie the game 2-2 at the end of the first.
The last two periods and the overtime provided no goals, but that did not hinder the fact that there was a lot of action. The Sharks came out hitting, and it prompted Jordin Tootoo to challenge Brad Staubitz to a fight. Both players decided to ignore their own safety and come out swinging, but Staubitz was the one who connected all his hits into the face of Tootoo, and Tootoo was sent to the locker room to patch up his nose. He eventually returned late in the third period.
After San Jose's last shootout went to a franchise record 7 rounds, the Sharks wanted to end it in the first 3. Joe Pavelski started things out for both teams, and slowed his skating almost to a complete stop before wristing the shot past Rinne. But Fiddler, who scored on the breakaway shorthanded, did a similar move, faking a forehand shot before lifting a backhand shot over the glove of Nabokov. Dan Boyle shot next, and tried simply to shoot the puck as hard as he can past Rinne, but Rinne brought his glove out and stopped the puck easily. Steve Sullivan shot next for the Predators, and tried to slap the shot underneath Nabokov's pads, but Nabokov shut the door down quickly. Jonathan Cheechoo, who scored the winning goal in the 7 round shootout, faked two forehand shots, dropping Rinne to his knees, and then went backhand and lifted the puck over the blocker to put the Sharks up 2-1. David Legwand had to score on his attempt in order to keep the shootout alive, but shot the puck wide on Nabokov's glove side, and the Sharks won in the shootout.
The win came to the Sharks after a 3-4 loss to Phoenix Tuesday night prompted Todd McLellon, a normally positive coach, to question the work ethic of his skaters. Although not directly because of that loss, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson stopped the Sharks afternoon skate before the game against the Predators to hold a 90 minute closed door meeting with his entire organization, from the players to the management. Although no specifics were discussed openly by anyone, several Sharks members said that players got things off their chest, and the team was able to reflect on where they were now. Rob Blake's power play goal gave him 10 on the season, setting a franchise first for the Sharks as San Jose now has two defenseman with at least 10 goals (Dan Boyle currently owns 14). The win for the Sharks improved their league best home record to 28-3-4, and puts them 1 point behind Detroit for the President's trophy, with San Jose benefitting from having one game still in hand over the Red Wings. A win for Edmonton and an overtime loss for Nashville resulted in a tie for 8th place in the Western Conference at 78 points each, but Edmonton has 1 more game than Nashville left in the season. San Jose's next game will be the first of a back to back homestand on Saturday night against the Dallas Stars.
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