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Sports

Sharks' Niemi blanks Red Wings for second straight shutout

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

San Jose, CA – Antti Niemi posted 27 saves to notch his second shutout in as many days, as the San Jose Sharks blanked the Detroit Red Wings, 2-0, on Thursday at HP Pavilion.

Niemi stopped 22 shots in Wednesday's 4-0 win against Anaheim, becoming the first goaltender in Sharks history to record back-to-back shutouts on consecutive days.

"I felt good after last night," Niemi said. "I thought I was able to be real patient and wait for the pucks and then react. I wasn't cheating or expecting anything else. I was just reading the play."

Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns each scored once for the Sharks, who have won three straight and four of their last five to move two points ahead of the St. Louis Blues for the seventh spot in the Western Conference.

Jimmy Howard allowed both goals on 24 shots, as the Red Wings saw their three- game winning streak come to an end.

Pavelski got the Sharks on the board late in the opening stanza, as he won a scrum behind the net and threw a puck in front that deflected off the skate of Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall and sailed past Howard for a 1-0 lead with 1:01 left in the first.

After a scoreless second period, San Jose added an insurance goal just over two minutes into the third when Joe Thornton came up with a steal in the Detroit zone before feeding Burns, who beat Howard high to the glove side from the low right side to make it 2-0 at the 2:07 mark.

Niemi put the finishing touches on his 22nd career shutout by stopping all 11 shots he faced over the final 20 minutes.

"We did a lot of good things tonight," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "There wasn't a lot to choose between the teams, we just had a tough break."

Game Notes

San Jose improved to 10-1-4 at home this season, while Detroit dropped to 8-7-2 on the road ... Thornton extended his point streak to 12 games against Detroit. He has eight goals and nine assists during the stretch ... Detroit failed on the only power play of the contest ... Niemi's shutout was his third of the season.