Sharks   Team Page   Schedule   Stats

Avalanche   Team Page   Schedule   Stats

DENVER (Ticker) -- In the thin air of the Mile High City, the San Jose Sharks gave the Colorado Avalanche little room to breathe.

Evgeni Nabokov made 33 saves for his second playoff shutout and Vincent Damphousse scored midway through the third period as the Sharks suffocated the Avalanche, 1-0, to grab a three games to none lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

San Jose yielded just three goals in winning the first two games at home but allowed even fewer scoring chances as the series shifted to the Pepsi Center. The few times Colorado threatened, Nabokov was there.

"We needed some huge saves and we got them," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "I guess when we realized we had a short bench, we had to switch our mentality ... get away from the speed game because you can't roll four lines. We kind of slowed things down and tried to muddy up the game."

San Jose lost left wing Scott Thornton early in the first period and played much of the night without center Mike Ricci , who was taken into the boards by Steve Konowalchuk on the game's initial shift.

Nabokov improved to 7-1 in the postseason while extending his shutout streak to 112 minutes, 59 seconds.

"I never look at the numbers, I look at one game at a time," he said. "It doesn't matter in the playoffs. The numbers don't matter. The 'W' is all that matters, and we got the 'W' today."

During a power play with 14 1/2 minutes left in the first period, Milan Hejduk 's blast from the top of the left faceoff circle tipped off Nabokov's glove and got a piece of the right goalpost. Moments earlier, Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles hit the post with a point shot through traffic.

Colorado's best chance came with 5:14 to go in the third, when Teemu Selanne - a healthy scratch in Game Two - got past defenseman Jason Marshall and broke in alone on the left side. Nabokov tried to make a pokecheck, then sprawled and smothered the shot.

"We had all kinds of chances. Nabokov was good this time," Selanne said. "If we keep playing like this, we will for sure get a couple of goals and go from there. With all the chances we had, the game could've easily been 5-1. We just have to keep pushing."

Just under six minutes earlier, Damphousse scored the only goal Nabokov needed. After getting a carom off the end boards, Damphousse had his first shot stopped by Aebischer but banked a second off the goaltender's back for his third playoff goal.

"When I can get the puck behind (Aebischer) and shoot it, he's trying to cover his post and there's a little gap there," Damphousse explained. "I shot it off his back."

The Sharks have won five straight games and can complete the first sweep in team history on Wednesday in Denver. San Jose never has gotten past the conference semifinals in seven previous playoff appearances.

"We want to be careful and we don't want to be overconfident and start taking things for granted," Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart said. "We've just got to take it like we've taken the first three games and I think we'll be all right."

Aebischer made just 15 saves for the Avalanche, who have not been swept in a seven-game series since 1982, when the franchise played in Quebec.

"We have to play much better than we have and get a couple of breaks if we're going to turn this around," said Colorado center Peter Forsberg , who had a 13-game playoff points streak snapped. "Four games sounds like a big hole. We just have to make sure we take one game at a time and hopefully, it can work."

The Avalanche could be without All-Star defenseman Rob Blake , who collided with San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo in the first period and did not return. He suffered an apparent "upper body" injury, although the team did not update his condition.

"You can't look ahead," Colorado defenseman Adam Foote said. "We have to stay focused, we have to stay composed."