SAN JOSE – Joe Pavelski had one goal and one assist in his first game back from the injured list, and Evgeni Nabokov made 27 saves Saturday night as the Sharks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins for the seventh consecutive time at home, 5-0.
Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby was held pointless for a fourth consecutive game for the fourth time in his career. He hit the post with a shot early in the second period.
Dan Boyle, Dany Heatley, Jamie McGinn and Manny Malhotra also scored for San Jose, which has eight wins and a tie at home against Pittsburgh since last losing to the Penguins at the Shark Tank 5-2 on Oct. 22, 1997.
The Sharks led 4-0 less than four minutes into the second period, outshooting the defending champions 17-3 at one point.
Pittsburgh had tied a team record with seven consecutive road wins before losing 5-2 to Los Angeles on Thursday. With the loss to the Sharks, the Penguins have gone consecutive games without a point for the first time in 42 regular-season games under coach Dan Bylsma.
Nabokov stopped 12 shots in the second on the way to his 49th career shutout and second this season.
San Jose knocked out goalie Marc-Andre Fleury 1:41 into the second period when Boyle wove through the defense on a long rush up the ice before beating Fleury with a wrist shot that made it 3-0.
Backup Brent Johnson didn't fare much better, allowing a quick goal to Heatley. Joe Thornton made a perfect pass to Pavelski, who was coming out of the penalty box. Johnson stopped Pavelski's shot, but Heatley tipped in the rebound for a 4-0 lead.
Sharks enforcer Jody Shelley got into two third-period fights, getting the best of Jay McKee and Eric Godard.
The Sharks dominated the opening period, outshooting the Penguins 13-3.
San Jose took a 1-0 lead after Jed Ortmeyer forced a turnover at the blue line and found McGinn up the ice with a blind pass. McGinn's second-effort shot from a bad angle got past Fleury.
The Sharks then came through on the power play for just the second time in six home games this season. Boyle fired a pass from the point that Pavelski redirected past a helpless Fleury. Pavelski had missed the previous five weeks after breaking his foot while blocking a shot against Anaheim on Oct. 3.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.