SAN JOSE
– Evgeni Nabokov earned his 100th NHL victory and Patrick
Marleau surpassed 300 points as the San Jose Sharks bolstered their
Pacific Division lead with a 5-2 nod over the Atlanta Thrashers
Saturday after-noon at HP Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – Evgeni Nabokov earned his 100th NHL victory and Patrick Marleau surpassed 300 points as the San Jose Sharks bolstered their Pacific Division lead with a 5-2 nod over the Atlanta Thrashers Saturday after-noon at HP Pavilion.
San Jose continues a four-game homestand with dates against the Dallas Stars today, and the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Alexander Korolyuk, Nils Ekman and Niko Dimitrakos scored goals in the first period as San Jose entered the first inter-mission up 3-0.
The Thrashers, one point out of eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, resp-onded with one goal in the second period before Marleau banged home his 19th goal of the year to make it 4-1 with 12 minutes gone in the third period.
“We were up 3-0, but I didn’t think we played that well in the first period,” said coach Ron Wilson. “They out-quicked us.”
Atlanta built a 14-7 edge on shots on net in the first 20 minutes.
The Sharks have 51 points (18-10-11-4) through 43 games. Only one team, Philadelphia with eight, has fewer regulation losses than the Sharks. San Jose has earned at least one point in each of its last 14 home games.
San Jose needed just 2:08 of play to take a 1-0 lead, Korolyuk finding the cage on a power play. Marleau, who was named team captain for the current 10-game stretch, earned an assist on the play, giving him his 300th career point.
Nils Ekman turned Alyn McCauley’s head-man pass into a 30-foot goal from the right circle at the 4:33 mark.
Dimitrakos scored his 10th career goal 13:20 into the same period. Nabokov evened his record at 10-10-7 for the season with the win.
San Jose hit the season’s halfway point last week when they beat Vancouver 2-1 on the road. After starting the season with just one win in their first nine games, the Sharks have posted an 18-5-9-4 record in their past 35 games and taken over sole possession of their division.
