Recap: San Jose vs. Dallas
Sports Network | November 09, 2008
San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Patrick Marleau scored the game-winning goal with 28.3 seconds remaining in the third period and the San Jose Sharks stayed hot with a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars at the HP Pavilion.
Marty Turco came out to play a dump-in and literally handed the Sharks their seventh straight victory, as his clearing attempt hit Marleau and he chipped the puck past the scrambling netminder.
Marleau also picked up the secondary assist on Dan Boyle's first-period tally.
With Evgeni Nabokov nursing an unspecified lower-body injury and listed as day-to-day, Brian Boucher got the start between the pipes and made 23 saves for San Jose, which is a perfect 9-0-0 at home this season. Originally drafted by Philadelphia in the first round of the 1995 draft, Boucher had posted shutouts in his previous two starts this season.
A Vezina trophy finalist in 2007-08, Nabokov was hurt on the final shot of the shootout in Thursday's 5-4 victory over St. Louis.
"It's one of those games where we would have liked to take it to them a little bit more, but we didn't do it so we're just happy with the result," said Boucher.
Loui Eriksson had the lone goal for the Stars, who have lost three of their last four games. Turco allowed two goals on 33 shots in defeat.
"We played a very good game," said Dallas head coach Dave Tippett. "It was a hard fought game, our goaltender played very well, but, in the end, we made a mistake that cost us."
Dallas capitalized on a giveaway to tie the game early in the third period. Brad Lukowich coughed the puck up behind the Sharks' goal and Eriksson backhanded it to the slot, where Steve Ott's blast sailed wide of the cage. The disc caromed off the end boards right to Eriksson and he banged it home at the 3:41 mark.
The Sharks struck for the game's first goal on a brilliant passing sequence. Lukowich held in a clearing attempt at the left point and slid the puck across to Marleau, who hit Joe Thornton streaking down the left wing. Thornton then quickly fed a cross-ice pass to Boyle and he rifled a shot from the right circle past Turco 7:13 into the contest.
Both goalies were up to the task in the second period, as Turco and Boucher made 11 and seven saves, respectively.
San Jose has won six of the last 10 meetings...At 13-2-0, the Sharks lead the NHL with 26 points...The Sharks travel to Phoenix on Sunday, while Dallas will wrap a five-game road trip Tuesday in Los Angeles...San Jose forward Jonathan Cheechoo missed the game with an upper-body injury.
