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Sharks continue dominance at home, defeat Wild

Nov 5, 2008 - 7:52 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks are showing no signs of slowing down and currently have the best record in the NHL to prove it.

Ryane Clowe and Mike Grier each recorded a goal and an assist as the Sharks continued their dominance at home with a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

Rookie Jamie McGinn snapped a 1-1 tie early in the third period for the Sharks (11-2-0), who improved to 7-0-0 at HP Pavilion and remain the only unbeaten team in the NHL at home.

"We take it one game at a time, and a lot of it has to do with us as coaches holding the players accountable," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "(On Wednesday), we'll have a practice, and there's obviously some parts of the game we need to work on. If we allow them to bask in the success they've had as far as wins go, we'll get nipped in the bud quickly."

Krys Kolanos tallied for Minnesota, but San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov turned aside the other 23 shots he faced as the Sharks notched their 12th straight victory at home dating back to March 19.

"Well, I think we all knew we could play better," Grier said. "So we were still tied, and sometimes when you're not playing your best or you have kind of a down period, you still have the third period to redeem yourself. And as a group, we knew we could go better and we had a good start to the (third) starting with (Joe Thornton's) line, and everyone just kind of followed in."

Falling one shot shy of tying the franchise record, the Sharks outshot the Wild, 49-24, overall and by a 22-5 margin in the third period.

"I know they had a lot of shots on net and good chances, but overall, I felt the guys played really hard and we wanted to stay in the game, which we did," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said.

The Wild took the lead 4:49 into the first period, when defenseman Kim Johnsson took a shot from above the right faceoff circle. Nabokov made the save, but the puck bounced right to Kolanos, who buried a backhander from the doorstep.

"That's a very good feeling, something I've worked very hard for," said Kolanos, who scored his first NHL goal in over three years. "I was pretty calm. I felt prepared. There was a good feeling in the stomach, an exciting feeling."

Kolanos was recalled from the American Hockey League on Monday to replace former Sharks captain Owen Nolan, who was placed on injured reserve.

The Sharks pulled even with 2:39 left in the session on Grier's second goal of the season, and McGinn made it 2-1 at 3:11 of the third, beating sprawling goaltender Niklas Backstrom with a wrist shot from the doorstep for his second tally.

Clowe added insurance 2:14 later with his seventh goal.

"When you're kind of off and on, you don't know when your next shift's going to be," Clowe said. "It was a good effort for our line and (I) played real well with (Tomas) Plihal and Grier. We've been trying to, but it seems like we've been playing a lot in the neutral zone. We wanted to play down low and get behind our (defense), and we did a great job tonight."

Lemaire was able to pinpoint when things went south for his team.

"What changed the dynamic of the game is the second goal," Lemaire said. "(McGinn) shoots, hits one leg and came back to their player. Then Backstrom made the save and then the puck went back to another of their players. Then they scored, but after that, it seemed like the guys felt that there was very little chance to come back there."

The game got chippy midway through the second as Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck got tangled up with San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle. Boyle was emphatically pushed into the corner boards and Clowe took exception to the hit, grabbing Clutterbuck from behind and pulling him down to create a minor melee.

"I didn't really know why he was coming after me at the time," Clutterbuck said. "I just assumed it was because I had hit the guy in the corner and he was still down. But he grabbed me from behind and he wasn't saying anything, and I wasn't going to let me (sucker-punch) me or whatever, so I went down and covered my head because I didn't know who it was."

Clowe completed his "Gordie Howe hat trick" in the third, when he was involved in a fight with Wild defenseman Erik Reitz midway through the period.

"I think it might be my second or third in the NHL, but it's a work day to get one of those when you have one. It's tiring," Clowe said.