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Cheechoo, Sharks topple Penguins

Feb 25, 2008 - 12:26 AM By Chris Adamski PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) - A perfect performance in the shootout left the road-weary San Jose Sharks smiling.

Jonathan Cheechoo, Joe Pavelski and Jeremy Roenick all scored in the bonus format as the Sharks posted a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

Cheechoo also scored in the third period for the Sharks, who posted their second straight win and improved to 2-3-0 on a season-high eight-game road trip.

"This was one of our most complete games," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "I'm disappointed we had to do it in a shootout, but I can't complain about our effort at all tonight. Everyone was focused, we moved the puck and we had a ton of scoring chances. It was fun to watch the way we can play when we put our minds to it."

San Jose shut down Pittsburgh All-Star Evgeni Malkin, who has held scoreless for the second straight contest following a 10-game point streak.

The loss completed a disappointing weekend for Pittsburgh, which squandered a three-goal lead in Saturday's 4-3 overtime defeat to the Ottawa Senators.

"It was a very tough game for us to play for many reasons," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said. "We had four games in six days, we had an emotional game against Montreal (a 5-4 win, Thursday) and an emotional game against Ottawa (a 4-3 overtime loss, Saturday).

"They were ready for us, and they had a lot of chances early in the game. We stuck to the plan and found a way to get a point."

San Jose dominated Sunday's overtime but netminder Ty Conklin kept the Penguins in the game with five saves. Pittsburgh did not register a shot in the extra session.

"(A shootout) is a position our team doesn't want to be in when we played as well we did early," Pavelski said. "But once you are, you definitely want that extra point. You get a half dozen of these (shootout wins) throughout the season and they start to add up and you move up the standings a bit."

Cheechoo opened the scoring 3:10 into the third period.

After accepting a feed from All-Star Joe Thornton, Cheechoo skated around defenseman Ryan Whitney and drove to the net.

While fending off Whitney, Cheechoo moved to his forehand and snapped a wrist shot inside the left post for his 18th goal of the season and third in as many games.

"I got a step on him," Cheechoo said. "I made a move to cut around him and as soon as I made the cut, the goalie played his glove side and that opened it up."

Erik Christensen leveled the game just under seven minutes later, quickly cashing in a power play.

All-Star defenseman Sergei Gonchar faked a shot from inside the blue line and passed to Christensen, who ripped a one-timer past All-Star Evgeni Nabokov from the right faceoff circle 15 seconds into the power play.

"We knew we were playing well, so we still felt very confident even after that goal," Roenick said. "I thought we deserved to win that game. We played well enough to win."

Christensen also scored for Pittsburgh in the shootout, along with Jarkko Ruutu.

"It was just sort of one of those games where each team was waiting for the other one to make a mistake and capitalize on it, and each didn't really make too many mistakes," Christensen said.

"Both goalies played great. We get the point. We would have liked another, but we hung pretty well against one of the best teams in the Western Conference."

The start of the game was delayed about 25 minutes due to a malfunctioning Zamboni that leaked a large puddle of red hydraulic fluid at center ice during pregame warmups.

The contest turned into a goaltender's duel between Conklin and Nabokov.

Conklin, who was playing in the minors until his December recall after starter Marc-Andre Fleury injured his ankle, has been a sensation this season. He entered the game leading the league in save percentage at .929 and eighth in goals-against average (2.25).

Conklin finished with 36 saves while Nabokov stopped 20 shots for the Sharks.

"We played a good game today," Nabokov said. "They were a bit fatigued after playing an emotional game yesterday. We just couldn't capitalize as much as we could have, but we got the two points, so that's all that matters."