Sharks 4, Stars 3, SO
DALLAS – The San Jose Sharks downed a resilient Dallas Stars club, 4-3, in a shootout at American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. Captain Patrick Marleau and Devin Setoguchi each scored in regulation, then again in the shootout, and Evgeni Nabokov was solid in his 19th consecutive start this year to give the Sharks their first shootout victory of the season.

Click here for pictures (PICS ) and video (WATCH ) from Wednesday night's game.

Dallas trailed San Jose 3-1 after two periods of play, but came up with a pair of goals in a 58-second span in the third to force overtime and a shootout.

Brenden Morrow batted a rebound out of the air and into the Sharks net to make it 3-2 with 14:27 to play in the third, then less than a minute later, Niklas Hagman tied the game at 3-3 when he jammed home another rebound past Nabokov. Though the Dallas pushed the play in the closing minutes of regulation, they were unable to come up with the go-ahead goal and the two teams went to overtime.

Curtis Brown nearly ended the game in overtime when Mike Grier found him with a perfect pass on a two-on-one, but Marty Turco made a game-saving stop with his left toe. Douglas Murray, who is a plus-7 in his last two games, was called for interfering with Mike Modano with 1:12 remaining in overtime, but the Sharks denied Dallas on the ensuing power play and forced the shootout.

The Sharks steadfast play on the road this season was evident in the early stages of the first period.

Torrey Mitchell opened the scoring at the midpoint of the first when Jeremy Roenick forced a turnover deep in the Dallas zone, then made a tape-to-tape pass to the rookie center. With the goal, Mitchell extended his point streak to four games (three goals, one assist), but more importantly he gave San Jose the early 1-0 lead.

A defensive lapse by the Sharks allowed Dallas to tie the game at 1-1 with 4:11 to play in the first. Dallas forward Jere Lehtinen capitalized on a bad line change by the Sharks with the assists going to Morrow and Mike Modano.

The Sharks responded two minutes after Dallas had tied the game when Setoguchi scored his sixth career goal in just his eighth career game. Joe Thornton, who extended a four-game point streak of his own (three goals, four assists), found the winger in space and Setoguchi wasted no time making a quick move and beating Marty Turco five-hole.

Captain Patrick Marleau scored his first goal in six games just 58 seconds after Setoguchi made it 2-1. Marleau forced a turnover in the Dallas zone and snapped a pinpoint shot past Turco giving San Jose the 3-1 lead after one period.

Neither team was able to generate much offense in the second period. San Jose earned the only power play of the stanza when Trevor Daley was whistled for hooking Christian Ehrhoff, but the Sharks were unable to extend their lead.

ON THE AIR IN GERMANY
In addition to San Jose and Dallas, Wednesday night’s game between the Sharks and the Stars was also broadcast in Germany. Hockey fans in Calw and Moers, the hometowns of Marcel Goc and Christian Ehrhoff respectively, stayed up for the 2:30 AM local start time to watch their countrymen take the ice. Goaltender Dimitri Patzold, though technically born in Kazakhstan, has also played for Team Germany in international competition, most recently in last year’s IIHF World Championships.

WORCESTER SCHEDULED FOR TILT ON NHL NETWORK
The NHL Network announced today that it will broadcast 20 AHL ‘Game of the Week’ match-ups airing on Thursdays throughout the American Hockey League’s (AHL) regular season. The AHL is the NHL’s top development affiliate.

The Worcester Sharks (San Jose’s affiliate) will be featured on the ‘Game of the Week’ when they take on the Portland Pirates (Anaheim’s affiliate) on Dec. 6, 2007 at 4:00 PM (Pacific). After launching in the U.S. earlier this year, NHL Network is now accessible in over 80 million homes in the U.S. For more information about the NHL Network, visit NHL.com.

LINEUP
Milan Michalek (elbow strain) was scratched from the lineup, creating a spot for Marcel Goc’s return. Michalek traveled with the team on the road trip and is listed as day-to-day.

Cheechoo – Thornton – Setoguchi
Grier – Mitchell – Roenick
Marleau – Pavelski – Bernier
Goc – Brown – Rissmiller

Ozolinsh – Vlasic
Ehrhoff – Rivet
Murray – McLaren

Nabokov – Patzold

NEXT GAME
The Sharks return to action on Thursday night, traveling to Phoenix for their meeting with the Coyotes. For San Jose, Thursday night will mark their fifth game in seven nights. The game is set for 6:00 PM (Pacific) and will be broadcast on FSN Bay Area, KFOX 98.5 FM, Sharks Radio Network Affiliates and SJSHARKS.com.