COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle scored the lone goal in a shootout, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped all three Columbus shooters to give the Sharks their sixth straight win, 3-2 victory over the Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.
Nabokov made 26 saves in regulation and overtime, then stopped attempts by Nikita Filatov, Anton Stralman and Rick Nash in the tiebreaker to improve to 10-3-1.
Joe Thornton scored and Dany Heatley added a power-play goal for San Jose. The Sharks have won eight of their last nine games.
Nash had a power-play goal and Jason Chimera also scored for the Blue Jackets. Stralman added two assists in his 100th NHL game, and Steve Mason made 36 saves.
Columbus, which twice rallied from one-goal deficits, has lost four of five and six of eight since starting the season 5-1.
In overtime, Mason gloved Patrick Marleau's shot alone in the slot, and Thornton rung the puck off the crossbar with a minute left.
Tied at 2 entering the third period, San Jose outshot Columbus 13-6 in the final frame. But the most dangerous shot was from the Blue Jackets' Samuel Pahlsson, who hit the right post midway through. Then with 2 minutes left, Columbus' Antoine Vermette nearly bull-rushed the puck over the line in a big scrum.
San Jose opened the scoring on Thornton's shot from a sharp angle near the goal line at 6:32 of the first period. Seconds before the play, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Thornton was pushed and fell on top of Mason, bending the goalie's head downward. The play seemed to daze Mason and he was slow to reposition himself. The goal was Thornton's fourth.
Chimera tied it 3 minutes later, redirecting Fedor Tyutin's shot from the left point after a nice combination of down-low and across-the-point passes by Columbus.
Heatley made it 2-1 at 4:17 of the second with his 10th of the season, scoring 8 seconds into Tyutin's tripping penalty. Heatley, acquired in a trade with Ottawa at the beginning of the season, had three goals and an assist in the first meeting between the clubs this season, the Sharks' 6-3 win Oct. 8 in San Jose.
Boyle's point shot hit Marleau in traffic screening Mason and trickled into the crease where Heatley jammed it home. Marleau stretched his points streak to nine games.
Nash scored from a tight angle shot from the right goal line to make it 2-2 at 16:45.
NOTES: Sharks D Rob Blake was injured during the second period and did not return. Blue Jackets RW Mike Blunden was injured early in the game and didn't come back. ... The Blue Jackets played without regulars C Derick Brassard (hand), D Mike Commodore (charley horse) and LW Kristian Huselius (upper body). The Sharks were minus key forwards Joe Pavelski, Torrey Mitchell, Ryan Vesce and Devin Setoguchi, all out with lower-body injuries. ... Columbus D Jan Hejda returned after missing three weeks because of a sprained knee.
(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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