San Jose, Calif. – Vesa Toskala knows goalies can go years between assists, so he didn’t attach too much significance to his two-point performance for the San Jose Sharks.
He was more pleased with his 20 saves in San Jose’s revitalizing 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Marcel Goc and Curtis Brown scored on plays initiated by Toskala, who backstopped San Jose to just its second victory in six games with the Sharks’ first multipoint game by a goalie. Patrick Marleau and Milan Michalek also scored for the Sharks, who still haven’t fixed their once-vaunted power play but made enough hustle plays to win.
And though Toskala was one point away from tying the NHL record for points by a goalie, he wasn’t about to take a shot at the Blackhawks’ empty net in the final seconds.
That has already been done in teal by teammate Evgeni Nabokov – and Toskala also found the net before.
“I got my goal in Europe,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t have to worry about that anymore. … (Assists) are just leaving the puck behind the net a couple of times. That doesn’t happen very often.”
After earning just one point from back-to-back home losses to Dallas earlier last week, San Jose got back on track with what coach Ron Wilson described as a “workmanlike effort.”
Just in time, too: The Sharks have a home-and-home series with Anaheim starting Tuesday to kick off a season-high eight-game road trip.
Tuomo Ruutu had a goal and an assist, and Martin Havlat also scored for the Blackhawks, who had won two straight following a 10-game losing streak.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 27 shots, but lost for the 11th time in 14 appearances. Nothing gets easier for the struggling Blackhawks, whose next three games are in western Canada during a seven-game road trip stretching from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh.
San Jose still has the NHL’s most efficient power play despite a 1-for-38 slump that included six fruitless attempts against Chicago.
