Devin Setoguchi and Milan Michalek each scored two goals and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov had 33 saves and the San Jose Sharks held off the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 Sunday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
The Pacific Division leading Sharks improved their conference-best mark to 10-2, including a 4-2 road record. Colorado lost its third in a row after winning the previous five.
Colorado was down 2-0 before getting on the board 14:24 into the first on a goal by Jordan Leopold, who fired in a shot from the right point after Paul Stastny got the puck out to him following a faceoff.
But the Sharks rebuilt their advantage on Setoguchi's second goal with 7:17 remaining in the second period. Passes from Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton got the puck in front of the net to Setoguchi, who wristed it past goaltender Peter Budaj.
The Avalanche got back to within a goal 90 seconds into the third period when Milan Hejduk got his stick on a loose puck in the slot and backhanded it into the net. Again, though, the Sharks responded. Taking advantage of an Avalanche turnover, Rob Blake passed the puck to Michalek, who shot from inside the right circle before putting back his own rebound to join Setoguchi in scoring multiple goals.
Colorado scored again with 6:19 remaining on a wrist shot by John-Michael Lilies from the left circle only to see San Jose secure the victory on Ryane Clowe's rebound shot with 1:44 left.
San Jose opened the scoring at 7:02 when Michalek's slapshot from the top of the left circle got past Budaj. Joe Pavelski set it up with a cross-ice pass.
Two minutes later, Setoguchi beat Budaj from up close with an assist from Christian Erhoff. Budaj was drawn to the left side of the net by Erhoff's rush before the San Jose defenseman dished the puck across the crease to Setoguchi, who knocked it in for his sixth goal of the season.
Notes: Erhoff's assist on Setoguchi's first goal represented his 100th career point. ... Pavelski has contributed an assist or goal in each of his last four games for the Sharks... Colorado headed to Chicago to play the Blackhawks on Monday night, where the Avalanche will complete the first of its four back-to-back sets this season. ... The setback marked Colorado's first loss in its last 12 Sunday home games. Minnesota was the last team to beat the Avalanche on a Sunday home date on April 9, 2006.
