Where would the Sharks be without Brian Boucher, their veteran backup goalie? Well, probably not on top of the NHL standings, for starters.

Boucher continued his splendid work in relief of injured starter Evgeni Nabokov on Monday night at Nashville as he stopped 32 of 33 shots to enable the Sharks to win 4-1 and sweep two games played in as many nights.

Boucher, who had 60 saves between the victories in Chicago on Sunday and in Nashville, probably will be back on the bench when the Sharks next play Saturday night against visiting Washington, if Nabokov is ready to go.

For now, Boucher can smile about the fact that he rebounded nicely Monday after a rough yet victorious outing in Chicago.

"(Sunday) night was not the best of games, but it's nice to win...

Devin Setoguchi and the San Jose Sharks managed to grind out a quality road win Monday night. That kind of toughness is a big reason they lead the NHL with 33 points. Setoguchi had a power-play goal and an assist to help San Jose beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 in a physical game. "The emotions swung all over the place," Sharks coach Todd McClellan said.

The San Jose Sharks' power play is starting to show some bite. Devin Setoguchi's power-play goal with 4:15 left gave San Jose a 6-5 victory over Chicago on Sunday night, the Blackhawks' first home loss in regulation this season. Setoguchi scored on a screened shot from the high slot. "As soon as I got the puck I took a quick look at the net and saw traffic there," said Setoguchi, who also had an...

Last time out, the San Jose Sharks took 57 shots and still lost in overtime. Two nights later, they scored four times in the first period of a blowout win over Calgary. Joe Pavelski can't figure it out. He's just happy to see the Sharks putting in the same effort every night during the NHL's most impressive start.

The Nashville Predators dressed and packed with noticeable speed Tuesday night, slamming sticks and pads into their bags and rushing to the idling team bus. Although many visiting teams at the Shark Tank are eager to get to the airport to beat San Jose's curfew on late-night flights, the Predators said they were just making a clean getaway after goalie Dan Ellis' absolute heist of a victory.

Olli Jokinen and the Phoenix Coyotes overcame a rough start to stop the NHL's top team. Jokinen had two goals and an assist Sunday night and the Coyotes came back from an early two-goal deficit to beat San Jose 4-2, snapping the Sharks' seven-game winning streak. "We believe 5-on-5 we can play against any team in this league," Jokinen said.

Patrick Marleau scored with 28.3 seconds to play when Marty Turco misplayed the puck in front of his own net, and the San Jose Sharks remained unbeaten in nine home games with a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Dan Boyle also scored and backup goalie Brian Boucher made 23 saves to stay perfect as a starter with San Jose, but the NHL-leading Sharks' seventh consecutive victory...