Khabibulin hurt as Hawks lose in overtime

SAN JOSE, Calif. - For most of two periods Wednesday night, Nikolai Khabibulin was the star of the show at HP Pavilion.

But with 26 seconds to play in the second period, Khabibulin sprawled on his stomach to make a save and couldn't get up. At that point Khabibulin had stopped 24 of 25 shots in a 1-1 game that could have been long over without him.

The Hawks took a 2-1 lead in the third period but wound up losing 3-2 in overtime on Joe Thornton's goal 45 seconds into the extra period.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said Khabibulin and defenseman Aaron Johnson would have their injuries re-evaluated either today or Friday.

Khabibulin's undisclosed injury, possibly to either his hamstring or groin, came minutes after Johnson left with a problem to his left arm or shoulder.

Johnson was creamed by Sharks winger Mike Grier, who earned a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding.

"Hopefully they're not severe," Quenneville said of the injuries.

Thornton's winner came after a turnover by Brent Seabrook, who tried to pass to Duncan Keith in the middle of his own zone. Keith lost the battle to Thornton, who gave it to Ryane Clowe, then scored on the return feed.

"We had good possession there on the goal," Quenneville said. "We're usually good with it in that situation. It was a tough turnover."

Cristobal Huet allowed 2 goals on 15 shots in relief of Khabibulin.

"It's tough for him to come in cold like that," Patrick Kane said. "He pretty much had no chance to stop that (winning) goal."

The Hawks stayed out of the box for most of the game, but an interference penalty on Johnson late in the first period was followed by a high-sticking penalty to Seabrook. Rob Blake's 5-on-3 goal at 19:43 gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead.

A goal by Jonathan Toews at 12:43 of the second period made it 1-1. Toews then put the Hawks ahead 23 seconds into the third period on a 5-on-3 power play, redirecting in a pass from Kane.

The Sharks (18-3-1) regained momentum and got the tying goal from Patrick Marleau at 8:16 when he beat Huet to the right post for a stuff from behind the net.

"It stinks that we went down again, but I think we can be happy about coming back and holding that team to 2 goals in regulation," Toews said.

It was the 10th time in 20 games the Hawks went into overtime.

"We got a point in a tough building," Quenneville said.

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