Sharks' Stalock blanks Panthers for first shutout

[January 17, 2014]  SUNRISE, Fla. — Sharks 3, Panthers 0: Alex Stalock turned aside 24 shots for his first career shutout and captain Joe Thornton scored to snap a 20-game goalless drought as visiting San Jose ended a four-game losing skid to Florida.

Joe Pavelski collected a goal and an assist and Matt Nieto also tallied for the Sharks, who won consecutive games for the first time since seizing four in a row from Dec. 21-29. Brent Burns notched a pair of assists in the victory.

Tim Thomas finished with 36 saves while making his seventh consecutive start for the Panthers, who have dropped seven of their last 11 contests (4-5-2).

Making his seventh career start, Stalock highlighted his milestone night by stopping 11 shots in the second period while the game was locked in a scoreless draw.

San Jose drew first blood with 51 seconds remaining in the second as Thornton gained a step on defenseman Mike Weaver and breezed in on a breakaway. The 34-year-old deked to his backhand before chipping the puck over Thomas' left shoulder for his sixth goal — and first since Dec. 3 at Toronto.

Stalock denied Upshall from in close and the Sharks turned up ice before Tyler Kennedy's bid was thwarted by a poke check from Thomas. Nieto tapped home the loose puck to double the advantage at 4:44 before Pavelski cleaned up a rebound of defenseman Brad Stuart's shot just over seven minutes later.

The Sharks threatened to open the scoring in the first period and unleashed 21 shots on Thomas, but the veteran netminder kept the Sharks at bay. Thomas' best save in the opening 20 minutes was after he denied defenseman Matt Irwin's redirect of Kennedy's feed on a 2-on-1 rush.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Thornton sits one point shy of Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull (1,170) for 48th place on the all-time list. ... Burns has recorded 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games. ... San Jose won consecutive road contests for the first time since winning three straight from Nov. 12-15.... Florida failed on all three power-play opportunities to extend its run of futility to 0-for-25 over the past eight contests. ... Panthers C Jonathan Huberdeau, who is the reigning Calder Trophy winner, saw his goalless drought extend to 15 games.

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