POSTED: Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006

Evgeni Nabokov and the San Jose Sharks gave the Dallas their first loss of the season, shutting down the Stars 2-0 last night.

Nabokov stopped 32 shots to pick up his second shutout of the season and moved his team to 5-1-0.

“You knew it was going to be a goaltender match tonight,” said Sharks’ rookie defenseman Matt Carle.

While Marty Turco shut down several Sharks’opportunities, he allowed a tip-in goal by forward Milan Michalek in the first period and a one-time slapshot by Mark Bell late in the second period.

The Stars offense had several chances of their own to light the lamp. However, Nabokov kept his cool under pressure and his shutout on the other end of the ice. Late in the third period, the Stars attacked the net aggressively with the rebound coming to the footsteps of Jeff Halpem’s stick. With almost an entire open net to shoot at, Nabokov’s left leg pad shut down Halpem’s shot.

“In a game like this, sometimes you got to be lucky,” said Nabokov.

But it’s not always about luck, rather skill.

In the second period, Nabokov stopped a breakaway opportunity by Matthew Barnaby. After Barnaby slipped through the defense and faked Nabokov to his right, he managed to get a shot on net that was stopped by aleg-splitting Nabokov.

“They are a fast team and they showed it tonight,” said Bell. “He made some huge saves for us and it build momentum and offense for us.”

That momentum carried over as Jonathan Cheechoo set Bell up for his second goal of the season. Coming off an injury that he sustained last week, Bell knocked in Cheechoo’s pass that beat Turco with 3:40 remaining in the second period.

“He’s dishing it real nice right now,” said Bell of Cheechoo’s assist.

San Jose will host the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild this Thursday and Saturday respectively, before heading out on a five-game road trip.