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Sharks circle in on first With victory over Colorado, San Jose trails Phoenix by one point
Posted: Thursday December 09, 1999 01:49 AM SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Owen Nolan scored a pair of goals to extend his goal-scoring streak to a team-record sixth game and assisted on another as the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 Wednesday night. Nolan, who leads the league with 22 goals, helped the Sharks win for just the fifth time in 15 games while beating the Avalanche in their first meeting since Colorado ousted San Jose from the playoffs last season. He got his 42nd career multi-goal game and second in a row with an empty-net score with 1:09 remaining. The Sharks also got power-play goals from Brad Stuart and Mike Ricci, converting two of five opportunities with the man advantage after going a season-worst 0-8 in a 3-3 tie to Tampa Bay on Monday. Goaltender Mike Vernon stopped 30 of 32 shots, and twice smothered point-blank shots by Adam Deadmarsh in the final two minutes of play. Stephane Yelle and Adam Foote scored for Colorado but the Avalanche went 0-for-5 on the power play. The Avalanche entered the game leading the league in power-play efficiency with a 27.2 percent conversion rate and had at least one power-play score in six of their previous eight games. Goaltender Patrick Roy, who came in with a 15-3-1 career record against the Sharks, was denied in his bid for his 423rd career victory. He remains one win shy of tying Phil Esposito for third place on the NHL's all-time list. Nolan, who has 20 points in his last 15 games and five game-winning goals on the year, broke a 1-1 tie midway through the second period. Jeff Friesen set up the play with his defense, hounding Martin Skoula into a bad pass that Nolan intercepted before winding up and unleashing a slapshot that sent the puck whizzing into the net past the startled Roy. San Jose added to its lead with 1:39 left in the second on Stuart's fifth goal of the season. Nolan sent a pass to Vincent Damphousse, whose shot was turned away by Roy. But the rebound came out to Stuart, positioned near the net, and he put it in for the score. For just the fourth time in the last 16 games, San Jose scored first, taking the lead on Ricci's sixth goal of the season at 16:11 of the first period. Colorado tied it at 5:38 of the second when Shjon Podein sent a pass across the crease to Yelle, who wristed a shot past Vernon.
Foote narrowed the deficit when he scored his second goal of the season with 4:35 remaining, taking a cross-ice pass from Chris Drury and sending a shot rocketing past Vernon.
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