Sharks 2, Predators 1
SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks broke their recent power outage and rode the consistent goaltending of Antti Niemi to a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at HP Pavilion.
San Jose, just 3 for 52 on the power play in February, started March off with a 2-for-3 man-advantage night. Niemi, meanwhile, stopped 18 shots and allowed two or fewer goals for the 12th time this season.
Nashville's lone goal came short-handed when Gabriel Bourque blew past San Jose rookie defenseman Matt Irwin on the way for a breakaway goal at 14:30 of the third period.
San Jose carried its first-period momentum into the middle period, scoring another power-play goal and dominating in shots.
Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the season on a wrap-around at 9:12, 16 seconds after Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis was sent off to tripping Andrew Desjardins.
Joe Thornton picked up his second assist of the night to give the veteran center 1,100 career points to rank 56th on the league's all-time scoring list. His first-period assist tied Thornton with Glenn Anderson at 1,099 points.
San Jose outshot Nashville 13-6 in the period and held a 29-12 edge in shots through 40 minutes.
The Sharks scored the only goal of the first period, a late power-play strike after the San Jose had dominated the opening 20 minutes in terms of shots and territorial advantage.
It took Dan Boyle 19 seconds into a Kevin Klein tripping minor to convert his third goal of the season. Boyle beat screened Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with a blast from the center of the blue line at 17:47.
Pavelski was positioned in front of the net and San Jose benefitted from the fact Nashville penalty-killing forward Paul Gaustad lost his stick early during the 5-on-4.
The Sharks, who cranked off seven of the game's first eight shots, ran the advantage to 15-3 before Nashville closed the gap with three of the period's last four shots.
NOTES: Nashville right wing Brandon Yip suffered an upper-body injury early in the first period and did not return. ... Six of the previous seven Sharks' home games before Saturday went to a shootout. ... Nashville right wing Matt Halischuk was a healthy scratch. Hal Gill did not make the three-game trip to California as the veteran defenseman is nursing a lower-body injury. ... Forwards Tommy Wingels, T.J. Galiardi and defenseman Jason Demers did not dress for San Jose. ... The Sharks play four of their next five on the road starting with back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday in Vancouver and Calgary, respectively. ... Nashville caps the three-game West Coast swing Monday in Los Angeles.
