Stingy Nabokov derails Colorado

Solid performance by Sharks goalie dooms Avalanche

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 4, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

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Photo by Evan Semon / The The Rocky

Avalanche left wing Ryan Smyth, right, battles San Jose's Marc-Edouard Vlasic for the puck during the second period Monday.

Goals have been especially difficult for the Avalanche to manufacture in recent weeks, and the task didn't promise to get any easier against a stingy goaltender such as the San Jose Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov.

That proved to be the case Monday night at the Pepsi Center, where an announced crowd of 15,213 watched the Avalanche drop a 3-2 decision in frustrating fashion.

The decisive goal came off the stick of forward Mike Grier, who doesn't score often but has made a habit of collecting big goals.

Grier put the Sharks ahead 3-1 at 8:30 of the third period with a shot from near the right-wing boards that deflected off Avalanche defenseman John-

Michael Liles, continued toward the net and bounced over the left pad of goalie Jose Theodore.

"It bounced in front of me . . . ," said Theodore, who had 25 saves while making consecutive starts for the first time this season. "It kind of just hit (Liles). That was fine - I saw it. Then, right in front of me, it bounced right over my pad.

"Obviously, it's a bad break, a bad goal."

Liles was upset with himself, though he merely was trying to block the shot.

"I closed my legs and it just went off my shin guard," he said. "Beyond that, I didn't see anything. It's one of those things. You do what you can, and it's unfortunate that it ended up being the winner. It's one of those crazy things where it goes off my shin guard and takes a funny hop."

Grier's fourth goal of the season turned out to be his third winner.

Colorado pulled to 3-2 when Andrew Brunette, who is battling a flu bug, fired the puck over Nabokov's right shoulder with 3:05 remaining after Brad Richardson won a faceoff in the left circle.

It was a rare mistake by Nabokov, who has started all 25 of the Sharks' games and, not counting shootouts, has allowed two goals or fewer in nine of the past 10.

"We started testing him a little more (in the third period)," forward Ryan Smyth said of Nabokov, who stopped 15 shots in the final 20 minutes and finished with 33 saves. "He held his ground."

The loss was the Avalanche's second in its past three games at home and kept it in third place in the jam-packed Northwest Division, three points behind first-place Minnesota.

The Avalanche hasn't won two games in a row since Nov. 5-7 against Calgary and Edmonton, has gone 4-6-1 since then and totaled only 10 goals in the seven losses.

Coach Joel Quenneville has said his team's offense generally feeds off the power play, which fizzled again Monday and is in a 2-for-39 funk during the past nine games.

"We still need a spark from our power play," Quenneville said. "That's a key area for us. We've been behind in a lot of games or we've been tied, and you're looking to get the lead and the offense hasn't been as consistent."

Sharks center Joe Thornton continued to be a thorn in the Avalanche's side. The 6-foot-4 center, who had two goals and an assist in Friday's 3-2 win in San Jose, collected assists on the Sharks' first two goals Monday.

Thornton set up the second-

period goal by Steve Bernier that broke a 1-1 tie at 9:20 with a pass from the corner.

Bernier's initial shot was blocked by defenseman Brett Clark, but Bernier retrieved the puck and launched a second shot, just as teammate Jeremy Roenick was skating through the goalmouth, screening Theodore. The puck skimmed between the goalie's pads.

Earlier in the period, Theodore thwarted Joe Pavelski on a clean breakaway after Liles lost the puck while each team was down a skater.

"Jose, discounting the third goal, was fine," Quenneville said. "I thought he was challenging. He was out at the top of his crease, and I thought he handled himself well and gave us a chance."

The teams traded goals 12 seconds apart in the first period.

Milan Michalek scored for San Jose at 3:14 while several players battled for the puck near the base of the left circle.

The Avalanche tied the score at 3:26 with its first shot of the game, when Milan Hejduk skated into the right circle and beat Nabokov to the glove side.

Hejduk is the rare Avalanche player on a hot streak. He has collected a point in four consecutive games with three goals and three assists.

Sharks 3, Avalanche 2

San Jose1 1 1 - 3

Colorado1 0 1 - 2

First period - 1, SJ, Michalek 8 (Cheechoo, Thornton), 3:14. 2, Col, Hejduk 9 (Cumiskey, Skrastins), 3:26. Penalties - Hensick, Col, (high-sticking), 3:36; Setoguchi, SJ (tripping), 12:07.

Second period - 3, SJ, Bernier 5 (Thornton, Semenov), 9:20. Penalties - Col bench, served by Hlinka (too many men), 1:19; Cheechoo, SJ (tripping), 2:36; Smyth, Col, (hooking), 12:52.

Third period - 4, SJ, Grier 4 (Mitchell, Rivet), 8:30. 5, Col, Brunette 5 (Richardson), 16:55. Penalty - Clark, Col, (tripping), 11:44.

Shots - SJ 11-10-7 - 28. Col 9-10-16 - 35. Power plays - SJ 0 of 4; Col 0 of 2. Goalies - SJ, Nabokov 13-8-4 (35 shots-33 saves). Col, Theodore 5-6-1 (28-25). A - 15,213 (18,007). T - 2:14. Referees - Gord Dwyer, Wes McCauley. Linesmen - Miki Civik, Ryan Galloway

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