DALLAS (Ticker) -- Evgeni Nabokov was perfect, even if he did
not believe that he was.
Devin Setoguchi scored nearly eight minutes into the third
period to snap a scoreless tie and Nabokov turned aside all 29
shots he faced as the San Jose Sharks recorded a 1-0 triumph
over the Dallas Stars on Monday in a battle of Pacific Division
rivals.
Ryane Clowe and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff were credited with
an assist apiece for San Jose, which has won four in a row.
Nabokov stopped 11 shots in the first period, eight in the
second and 10 in the third to notch his fifth shutout of the
season and 45th career.
"It wasn't an easy game, it wasn't a perfect game, but it was
good enough to win," Nabokov said.
"(Nabokov was) fabulous. He was the first, second and third
star in my opinion," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "He
allowed us to escape with the point."
With the victory, the 33-year-old Russian claimed his seven
straight regular-season triumph in Dallas.
"Nabby was playing great," Clowe said. "They had six or seven
scoring chances in the first period. He did a good job making
some plays with the puck, especially when they were coming hard
on the forecheck.
"We don't want to have to make him work that much."
The Sharks have outscored the Stars, 12-4, en route to winning
all four games between the teams this season.
Marty Turco made his 30th consecutive start and turned aside 23
shots for Dallas, which fell to 9-3-1 in its last 13 at the
American Airlines Center.
"You deserve a better fate, you walk away understanding that
this style of play is just necessary," Turco said. "Hopefully,
we can build momentum, despite losing."
"The effort was what we need every night, a complete effort from
everyone," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We did some real
good things, but we didn't execute well enough. We didn't score
a goal and you can't win without goals."
Setoguchi netted the game's lone goal 7:55 into the third
period.
The eighth overall pick of the 2005 draft, Setoguchi accepted a
brilliant feed from Clowe and wristed a shot from the right
faceoff circle past Turco for his 25th goal of the season.
"I saw 'Seto' up the middle. I thought he caught (defenseman
Darryl) Sydor kind of flat-footed," Clowe said.
"I saw (Sydor). He kind of stopped at the blue line," Setoguchi
said. "I had to make a quick move, and once I did, I could get
by him. He could see one of my teammates coming, and that made
him indecisive on the blue line."
McLellan credited Setoguchi's work ethic as to why he is having
so much success this season.
"Devin's been a very effective player for us," McLellan said.
"It's not just his goal scoring. He's worked as hard as anybody
coming back on the backcheck. It's physical attention to scrums
that allow him to be good."
Defenseman Stephane Robidas attempted to level the contest
nearly three minutes later, but his wrist shot caromed off the
goalpost.