| With 8:33 to play in the second, the Sharks extended their lead to 2-0 on a nifty goal by Ryane Clowe. Marcel Goc gathered the puck after the Sharks had pinned the puck deep in the Dallas zone. Goc fired a tape-to-tape backhand pass to Patrick Rissmiller who had gotten open in the slot. Rissmiller forced Turco to make a tough pad save, before Clowe scooped up the rebound with his skate, kicked to his stick, circled around Turco with the puck and buried the puck in the open net. At 4:03, San Jose made it a 3-0 game, scoring their even strength goal of the game. As they did on Clowe's goal, San Jose worked the puck down low in the Dallas zone. Matt Carle moved the puck from the point to Jonathan Cheechoo behind the net. Cheechoo slid away from the two Dallas defenders and nearly jammed home a wrap around attempt. Turco made the initial save on Cheechoo, but Joe Pavelski jammed home the loose puck making it 3-0 for the Sharks. Dallas goon Krys Barch was sent on by head coach Dave Tippett to stir things up at 2:51 and he did just that. Barch challenged Mark Bell who accepted and the two dropped the gloves. Barch landed a few body blows, but the two were seperated by the linesmen when Bell's jersey came over his head. Barch's bout with Bell, gave the Stars some life as Mike Modano drew a penalty on Goc on the ensuing faceoff. But San Jose quickly battled back, drawing two penalties on the Stars and closing out the second period on a five-on-three man advantage. Clowe nearly scored his second with two seconds remaining in the period on a brilliant feed by Guerin, but the puck sailed just wide. The period closed with San Jose leading 3-0 after 40 minutes of play. Dallas was given a chance to jump right back into the game when Brown was issued a double-minor for high-sticking Jussi Jokinen just 2:03 into the third. But the Sharks penalty killing unit rose to the occasion, blocking shots, clearing pucks and preserving the 3-0 lead. The Sharks continued their physical play throughout the third period, chipping pucks down low, forechecking hard and finishing their hits on the Dallas defenseman. Leading the charge was the League's reigning MVP, Joe Thornton, who was a force on the defensive side of the puck. In addition to his customary big minutes on the power play, Thornton was also called on to kill penalties on Sunday, collecting nearly three minutes of ice time while the Sharks were a man down. Though Thornton did not extend his five-game point streak (1-6=7), Big Joe registered two shots on goal, four hits, three takeaways, two blocked shots and won 10 of 18 draws in a valiant effort by the alternate captain. San Jose capped off the dominating performance with one final goal to make it a 4-0 game. Cheechoo created a turnover and then fought through a check at the Sharks blueline before moving the puck to Pavelski in the neutral zone. Clowe jumped up on the play and took the feed from Pavelski, Clowe moved into the Stars zone, faked a shot that drew the defenseman and Turco towards him, and dished it to Pavelski for the tap in goal. Nabokov made two saves in the final minute as the Sharks defeated the Stars 4-0, earning Nabokov his fith shutout on the year. LINEUP Scott Hannan (lower body) made his return to the lineup, but Captain Patrick Marleau (upper body) remained out of the lineup as both players missed Friday's game in Anaheim with day-to-day injuries. Goaltender Dimitri Patzold was recalled from Worcester and dressed as Evgeni Nabokov's backup as Vesa Toskala (groin) continues to recover. Michalek-Thornton-Bernier Clowe-Pavelski-Guerin Bell-Brown-Grier Rissmiller-Goc-Cheechoo Carle-Rivet Hannan-Vlasic McLaren-Ehrhoff Nabokov-Patzold |