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Vokoun, Weber lad Predators past Sharks

Feb 15, 2007 - 9:17 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- A sterling performance by goaltender Tomas Vokoun lifted the Nashville Predators to the top of the pack.

Vokoun stopped 22 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and Shea Weber scored twice as the Predators won for the third time in five games with a 5-0 triumph over the San Jose Sharks.

Nashville moved past the Buffalo Sabres by one point for the league's best record (39-16-3) by winning for the 21st time in 28 home contests. The Predators also became the first Western Conference team to score 200 goals this season.

"Tonight we threw a lot of pucks at the net," Nashville center David Legwand said. "We haven't done that in a long time and that pays off. We have to keep doing that more often.

"First place is a goal of ours and winning the division is a goal of ours. We have to keep working and doing the right things to get there."

After sitting out 21 games in December and early January, Vokoun is 7-3-0 since coming back. He stopped nine shots in the first period, five in the second and eight in the third for his 20th career shutout.

"We played a good game," Vokoun said. "We played from the first minute to the last minute. That's how we are supposed to play. ... We did the right things defensively tonight and we did the right things offensively tonight, and we scored five goals."

"Shutouts aren't just because of the goalie, but obviously the goalies are a big part of our defense," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "The biggest offensive weapon for San Jose is their power play. By being disciplined, we nullified that."

Nashville jumped to a 1-0 lead at 6:22 of the first period on J.P. Dumont's slap shot from the left faceoff circle that beat goaltender Vesa Toskala to the glove side for his 300th career point.

"We went at them right away and that's the kind of game we want to play every game," Dumont said. "We have so much speed and skill. We just have to make sure we use it every game."

Weber widened the margin nearly four minutes later with his ninth goal of the season on a slap shot from the right point.

"I'm just happy we won and hopefully, we can keep it up," Weber said. "I felt pretty good. The coaches made sure I stayed in good shape and I felt good."

"He did a good job of getting pucks to the net before the other team could get in the shooting lanes and I think that was important," Trotz said.

The tally prompted the Sharks to replace Toskala with backup Evgeni Nabokov after yielding two goals on just five shots in 10 minutes.

"I didn't like some of the goals (Tuesday) night and I didn't like the two goals again tonight," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "I don't care if they are exact shots. In a game like this, you are going to need saves."

Martin Erat gave San Jose a 3-0 lead at 1:13 of the third period before Weber completed his first career multi-goal game roughly five minutes later with a shot from the right faceoff circle inside the left goalpost.

Legwand reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time with 7:31 remaining, giving him 99 tallies in his eight-year career.

"We skated and used our feet tonight," Legwand said. "We were good around the puck, and we supported each other and helped each other out."

"When you get 20 goals, you can say that you really did something," Trotz said. "I am really happy for David. I think he (has) done very well. He (has) gotten better. He (has) matured and he's playing very well for us."

Nabokov registered 25 saves after filling in for Toskala for the Sharks, who lost for the second time in five games.

"We knew that they were a good team," Sharks center Joe Thornton said. "We just gave them the respect we needed to give. They were skating well tonight and we just didn't get enough pucks and enough traffic at the net."