NHL Goalie Nabokov sparkles in Sharks' shutout win over Kings

He stopped 15 shots as the Sharks padded their unbeaten home streak to a record 10.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Evgeni Nabokov got plenty of help, even if he didn't need it.
Patrick Marleau scored two goals 29 seconds apart late in the second period, and the surging Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-0 Friday night.
Jonathan Cheechoo also scored twice and Nils Ekman added a goal for the Sharks, unbeaten in a franchise-record 10 straight home games.
Nabokov stopped 25 shots for his third shutout this season and the 20th of his career, as San Jose moved into a first-place tie with the Kings in the Pacific Division. The teams met again Saturday in Los Angeles.
Nobokov 3-1-1 lately
The Sharks scored 10 goals in Nabokov's last five starts, in which he was 3-1-1.
"The whole team was great because guys were sacrificing their bodies," Nabokov said. "These were big points for us. But we have to forget about this win or we'll get beat in Los Angeles."
Ziggy Palffy had a seven-game point streak snapped as the Kings lost for the first time in five games.
"We weren't good enough," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "They just played better than us."
The Sharks had scored exactly two goals in their previous nine games -- and two or fewer in their last 12. But Marleau, who has eight goals in his past nine games, sparked the offense.
He gave San Jose a 3-0 lead with 2:38 left in the second period after picking off an errant pass and firing between the legs of Los Angeles goaltender Cristobel Huet, who was making his season-high eighth straight appearance in place of the injured Roman Cechmanek.
"That was frustrating but they had the momentum," Huet said. "We didn't play the game we wanted to play. They played very hard and now we have a chance to get back against them and change the way this game went."
Damphousse sets up goal
Vincent Damphousse's centering pass less than 30 seconds later set up Marleau's one-timer to make it 4-0.
The Sharks scored a pair of goals within 27 seconds in the first period to take the lead.
Ekman redirected a long shot from Kyle McLaren with 8:30 left in the first to put San Jose up 1-0. Cheechoo scored from the top of the crease after Wayne Primeau won a battle for the puck behind the net.
"We didn't give them too many chances," Cheechoo said. "Nabby played well and held the fort."
Cheechoo made it 5-0 with 3:43 remaining, and a flurry of fights led to 50 penalty minutes in the final 1:41.
Notes
Cechmanek was placed on the injured list with a bruised hip before the game and the Kings recalled G Milan Hnilicka, D Bryan Muir and RW John Tripp from Manchester of the AHL. ... Damphousse played in his 200th consecutive game for the Sharks, second-longest in franchise history. ... Sharks D Rob Davison got his first points in 19 games. ... The Sharks had just their second sellout (17,496) of the season. San Jose sold out 26 games last year. ... The Sharks have outscored their opponents 32-14 in the first period.