Evgeni Nabokov: Change in Defense, Coach and Tactics the Difference in San Jose

Filed under: Ducks, Sharks, Russian Hockey

Thanks once again to our friend Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport for passing along yet another translation of an interview from the pages of his newspaper. Today, we have a conversation between Sovetsky's Bay Area correspondent, Mikhail Bykov and San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov. The following conversation took place immediately following last Thursday night's game between the Sharks and the Ducks in San Jose that the Sharks won, 2-0. Nabokov had the shutout.

Evgeni Nabokov (EN): "Anaheim is a very difficult opponent for us. We have a constant struggle with them. The second goal helped us a lot, after that we secured the victory."

Mikhail Bykov (MB): Before the game I was listening to a radio broadcast where hosts talked said they were expecting lots of fights. Do you and Anaheim players plan them well ahead?

EN: "Of course not. But everyone knows that the Ducks play on the brink of foul showing a very physical and rough game. That's why fights are almost impossible to avoid. Here we had our tough guy Jody Shelley fight their tough guy George Parros."

MB: What's the Sharks' secret? 24 wins in 29 games. This is a phenomenal result.

EN: "We really got our defense a lot stronger during the offseason. Also, we changed our game tactics with the new coach, and wins give us confidence. We can control the flow of every game, even when we are losing."