• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Sharks' special teams doom Blackhawks

Jan 23, 2008 - 7:08 AM By Michael Duca PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) - Defensemen Sandis Ozolinsh and Christian Ehrhoff each scored a power-play goal as the San Jose Sharks continued their dominance over the Chicago Blackhawks with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.

Joe Pavelski added a shorthanded tally and Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves for his 26th win of the season as the Sharks picked up their ninth straight win against the Blackhawks.

Goaltender Patrick Lalime had led the Blackhawks to four consecutive wins, but couldn't stop San Jose's special teams on Tuesday, despite being spotted an early lead.

"We got caught back on our heels early, but got our equilibrium about halfway through the first period," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "Fortunately, our power play and penalty kill did a great job and decided the outcome of the game."

Chicago opened the scoring at 4:49 of the first period when rookie Jack Skille slapped a long rebound over a prone Nabokov from the slot.

"The more reps we get with the young players, the better off we're going to be down the road," Chicago coach Denis Savard said.

Skille narrowly missed duplicating the feat five minutes later when the puck crossed out of the offensive zone before he launched a shot that found the back of the net.

Ozolinsh tied the score with a power-play goal at 13:39 of the first period. The 35-year-old Russian flipped a backhander from the slot over Lalime's glove-side shoulder for his third goal of the season.

The tally also gives the Sharks 11 straight games in which a defenseman has registered at least one point. Over that span, San Jose has a 31.5 percent success rate on the power play.

After a rash of penalties on both teams during the second period, San Jose took the lead on a shorthanded goal by Pavelski.

Ehrhoff cleared the puck to the neutral zone where Pavelski beat rookie Patrick Kane into the slot and backhanded a shot past Lalime at 13:14 of the second session.

"I had the feeling that he (Kane) didn't feel me coming," Pavelski said. "By the time he saw me, it was too late."

"Unfortunately we made a mistake on the second goal," Savard said. "But they're a more experienced team than we are and they found a way."

Just 2:44 later, Ehrhoff scored his first goal of the season on a slap shot from the blue line through a screen by Joe Thornton. The Sharks' second power-play tally of the night gave them a 3-1 lead.

"(Thornton) screened me and hit my stick and turned my body a little bit," Lalime said. "Those are little things that veterans do."

The Blackhawks halved the deficit when Adam Burish scored his first career goal at 11:18 of the third period.

After the Sharks committed a turnover deep in their own zone, Jacob Dowell picked up the puck and passed to a streaking Burish, who raced down the ice, beating the defense and Nabokov for his first NHL tally. The assist was also the first of Dowell's career.

"Even though it's a loss, there's a lot of positives we can take from this game," Savard said. "This is a tough building to play in."