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  Thursday, Dec. 2 7:30pm ET
Sharks stop Penguins' home winning streak at 5
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- San Jose coach Darryl Sutter highlighted one fact to point out how well the Sharks played in a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

Jaromir Jagr
Marcus Ragnarsson, right, and the Sharks kept Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr off the scoresheet.

"They have the best player in the game over there. Did he score?" Sutter asked, referring to Jaromir Jagr, the NHL's leading scorer who was shut out for just the third time in 22 games.

"He's averaging just about a goal a game and the two great chances he had tonight were because they had the last (line) change. So we did a pretty good job on him."

Jagr had six shots on goal, but those all became part of Steve Shields' 31 saves as the Sharks ended Pittsburgh's five-game home winning streak.

"We didn't play well but we still had some chances," Penguins forward Martin Straka said.

Jagr, Pittsburgh's captain, declined comment after the game, saying he didn't feel like talking.

Owen Nolan scored his 17th goal and Tony Granato got his first as the Sharks, who had been on a 2-5-2 road skid, won one night after losing 4-2 in Detroit.

They started quickly, with Nolan getting a shot past Tom Barrasso just 37 seconds into the game.

"We've been having trouble with our starts," Nolan said. "It's nice to make the other team play catch-up."

However, Nolan thinks catching up to Jagr in the NHL's scoring race might be near impossible. With Thursday's goal, Nolan has 36 points, five behind Jagr.

Asked if he thought he could catch Jagr, Nolan laughed and said, "That's like trying to win the lottery, isn't it?"

The Penguins tied the game late in the first on the first of two goals by Alexei Kovalev.

After failing to get a point in eight games, Granato scored at 4:01 of the second period to break a 1-1 tie. Pittsburgh's Matthew Barnaby gave the puck away behind the net and Patrick Marleau centered to Granato.

Brad Stuart made it 3-1 at 13:59 when he came off the bench and joined the play in time to take Niklas Sundstrom's pass and put a shot over Barrasso's glove.

The Penguins got a goal back near the end of the second period. Kovalev scored his second of the game at 18:58, firing in a long shot after Jan Hrdina won a faceoff.

Ronnie Stern scored for the Sharks at 10:28 of the third period. He faked a pass to Ron Sutter, then beat Barrasso on the short side for his second goal in 24 games.

The Penguins pulled Barrasso for an extra attacker with 2:11 left, but managed just one shot before Vincent Damphousse scored into the empty net with 30 seconds remaining.

Sharks forward Alexander Korolyuk was cut under an eye by a stick with six minutes left in the second period. He left for stitches and did not return to the game. San Jose left wing Marco Sturm had his playing time limited after taking an elbow to the head in the first period.

With the NFL Steelers playing in Jacksonville, the Penguins had their smallest crowd of the season, 11,485.

"It was quiet, but that shouldn't matter," Barnaby said. "We're paid to do a job whether there's one person here or the building is full."

 


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NHL Scoreboard

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Pittsburgh Clubhouse


RECAPS
Philadelphia 4
Buffalo 2

Boston 2
Washington 2

Toronto 2
Carolina 2

Calgary 5
NY Islanders 0

San Jose 5
Pittsburgh 2

St. Louis 3
Nashville 1

Phoenix 3
Tampa Bay 1

Vancouver 3
Edmonton 2

AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Alexei Kovalev shows some "nifty" moves.
avi: 639 k
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