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Sharks blank punchless Oilers

Jan 30, 2008 - 6:51 AM By Chris O'Leary PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- It turns out that the frigidly cold temperatures in Canada's prairies have even affected the Edmonton Oilers.

A complete inability to get shots on net left the Oilers' offense looking frostbitten in a 3-0 loss to the Sharks on Tuesday night at Rexall Place.

The Sharks outshot the Oilers 39-13, and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov turned away all 13 of the Oilers' shots to pick up his sixth shutout of the season and the 40th of his career.

"I don't think there is any reason for what happened tonight, we just didn't show up as a team," Oilers goalie Mathieu Garon said. "I don't think anybody can leave here with the satisfaction of having a good night.

"When you need two points the way we do everybody has to show up and play a lot better than that."

San Jose had a 10-5 edge in shots in the first period, but it was Edmonton who had the opening frame's great chances.

Dustin Penner couldn't get his stick on a puck that was sent in front of an open net early in the session, Andrew Cogliano was stopped on a breakaway and then Penner was able to get the shot off in the same situation at 15:50. He batted at the puck and actually beat Nabokov, but the shot fell in front of the post, behind the sprawled goalie. A scrum ensued and somehow it stayed out.

San Jose took control of the game in the second period, as they continued to rifle shots at Oilers goalie Mathieu Garon, whose stellar play kept the game scoreless for almost 30 minutes to start the game.

The Sharks finally got the best of Garon at 11:48, when defenseman Craig Rivet fired a shot from the point off of a faceoff deep in the Oilers' zone. Devin Setoguchi whacked at the rebound and was denied, but Joe Pavelski put it away on the third try for his eleventh of the season.

San Jose doubled its lead in the final minute of the period when right wing Mike Grier ripped a one-timer into the top corner that silenced the crowd at Rexall. Patrick Rissmiller and Torrey Mitchell picked up assists on the play.

"I haven't seen Grier shoot a puck like that probably ever," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said.

For the Oilers, the period couldn't end fast enough. After tallying only five shots in the first period, the offence froze up even more in the second, where the Oilers only mustered four shots.

"You don't want to look at the shot clock too much," Oilers captain Ethan Moreau said. "But we had some shots we didn't take on the power play very early that could have made things a lot better. Then you start to look at the shots and get uptight and that never works out well."

It was more of the same in the third period. San Jose controlled the puck for the vast majority, while the Oilers had trouble getting anything going. After a particularly rough-looking powerplay, the boos rained down from the fans, as the Oilers were only able to add another four shots to the total count.

"You come in tomorrow and work yourself out of it and hope San Jose was that good," said Oilers coach Craig MacTavish. "To (play poorly) in front of your own fans is disappointing as well."

With the win, the Sharks have now won three straight and improved their road record to 17-4-3-2, tops in the NHL.

"I think we're just more patient and not trying to force the play," Nabokov said of the team's road prowess. "The whole game was 1-0 and we were playing patient without giving up rushes against. I think at home we're trying to do a little too much, trying to force the play."