SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Vesa Toskala couldn't help staring in awe when the Detroit Red Wings took the ice.
By the end of the night, the Red Wings were every bit as
impressed by Toskala as he was by their collection of stars.
Toskala made 25 saves for his first career shutout as the San Jose Sharks interrupted the Red Wings' late-season surge with a 3-0 victory Thursday night.
Patrick Marleau, Mark Smith and rookie Lynn Loyns scored as San
Jose won for just the fourth time in 14 games. The Red Wings, still
jockeying for home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, lost for
just the third time in 22 games since Feb. 8 -- and Toskala's
inspired performance was the biggest reason.
"I was much more nervous than ever before,'' Toskala said. "(Detroit) has future Hall of Famers on their fourth lines. ... They're such good passers. It was a big game for me. I didn't watch the clock, and I stayed focused. I only started to watch the clock after we scored that third goal.''
Toskala, who apparently has passed Miikka Kiprusoff as Evgeni
Nabokov's backup of the future, earned just his fourth career NHL
victory. The Finnish goalie spent most of the season at the Sharks'
AHL affiliate in Cleveland.
The high point came when Toskala closed his pads to stop a
short-handed breakaway chance by Sergei Fedorov. Toskala's
teammates mobbed him at the final buzzer.
"I couldn't call my parents -- they're asleep still,'' he said with a grin. "I'll wait until tomorrow morning.''
The Sharks lost their first three games against the Red Wings
this season, but they avoided the sweep with a solid defensive
effort -- and what's more, they did it with seven rookies or
minor-leaguers among their 18 skaters.
"The win was a massive pickup for this team,'' said rookie
forward Jonathan Cheechoo, who played an outstanding forechecking
game. "We just beat a great team. It gives us something to build
on. Everyone knows how good they are. They're a puck-control team,
and we broke that up.''
Curtis Joseph stopped 14 shots for the Red Wings, who had earned
a point in 19 of 21 games, winning 18 of them to streak to the top
of the Western Conference.
But with five games left in its regular season, Detroit missed a
chance to take the lead in its race with Dallas for the
conference's best record. Both teams had 102 points entering the
night, but the Stars earned a point in an overtime loss to Calgary.
Detroit has a game in hand on Dallas.
It was the Red Wings' fourth game in six nights, but their
veterans didn't consider road weariness to be a legitimate excuse.
"We played terrible -- just floated through it, trying to get an
easy game,'' captain Steve Yzerman said. "We were sluggish a bit
early, and it went on from there. Regardless of the team you're
playing or the situation they're in, if you don't play hard, even a
talented team won't win.''
Marleau got his career-best 27th goal midway through the first
period when he skated through a huge hole in the Red Wings' defense
and beat Joseph.
San Jose went up 2-0 when Smith tipped Adam Graves' pass into
the net at the end of a long cycle. Loyns scored his third career
NHL goal into an empty net.
The Red Wings killed a two-man disadvantage that lasted 1:48
early in the first period, holding the Sharks to just one shot. But
San Jose -- the NHL's worst penalty-killing team -- killed Detroit's
four-minute power play later in the period, setting the tone for a
hard-hitting effort against the Red Wings.
"They had a young lineup that was excited about the game, and I
don't think early on, we matched their battle,'' Brendan Shanahan
said. "Their goaltender started to get more confidence as the game
went on, and we got what we deserved.''
As usual, thousands of jersey-wearing Red Wings fans turned the
Shark Tank into Joe Louis Arena West, with chants of "Let's go,
Red Wings!'' piping up throughout the game.
"It was an outstanding effort,'' San Jose coach Ron Wilson
said. "We were energized by them and the crowd. I think this was
as close as we're going to get to a playoff atmosphere this
season.''
Game notes
Detroit made its first trip to San Jose since the season
opener. The Wings won that one 6-3 in coach Dave Lewis' debut. ...
Teemu Selanne hasn't scored a goal in 15 games -- the longest
drought of the San Jose star's career.