Cheechoo leads Sharks past Pens 2-1

San Jose Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov , left, of Kazakhstan, deflects a first period shot by Pittsburgh Penguins' Jordan Staal (11) in the first period of NHL hockey action in Pittsburgh Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH—Jeremy Roenick scored the game-winner as all three San Jose skaters were successful in the shootout and Jonathan Cheechoo had the Sharks' only goal in regulation, leading them to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

The Penguins lost in a shootout a day after they wasted a three-goal lead in a 4-3 overtime loss to Ottawa, even though Eric Christensen and Jarkko Ruutu beat Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov in the shootout. Kris Letang was the only skater who didn't score in the shootout, as Cheechoo and Joe Pavelski also beat Penguins goalie Ty Conklin.

All three Sharks shooters got the puck past Conklin on wrist shots, with Roenick putting his shot inside the post to Conklin's stick side. Roenick is 3-for-3 on shootout attempts this season, but Cheechoo had been 0-for-3.

The Sharks won their second in a row after dropping the first three games of an eight-game, 17-day trip. They ended a five-game overall losing streak by beating the Flyers 3-1 on Thursday, when Cheechoo also scored.

Against Pittsburgh, Cheechoo ended a 43-minute scoreless stretch at the start of the game by scoring early in the third, steering the puck around defenseman Ryan Whitney in the left circle before beating Conklin on a shot inside the near post.

Cheechoo nearly lost the puck while skating hard to the net only to regain it and score his 18th goal, his third in as many games and fourth in five games. He has nine points in eight games.

Until then, the Sharks had largely dominated play -- especially with their strong defensive play in front of Nabokov -- and had most of the scoring chances while outshooting Pittsburgh 37-21, but hurt themselves by going 0-for-5 on the power play.

Evgeni Malkin, who began the day as the NHL's leading scorer with 82 points, went scoreless for the second successive day as Pittsburgh dropped to 9-4-4 without injured star Sidney Crosby, who hasn't played since Jan. 18 because of an ankle injury. Washington's Alex Ovechkin picked up a point in a 2-1 loss to New Jersey and tied Malkin for the scoring lead.

The Sharks gave Pittsburgh a chance to get back into the game when Jody Shelley, who assisted on Cheechoo's goal, was called for hooking midway through the third. Christensen, back after missing five games with a sore shoulder, tied it by scoring from along the goal line after taking Sergei Gonchar's giveback pass from the right point.

The game was delayed about 25 minutes past the official start because of a Zamboni malfunction that left a trail of red hydraulic fluid on the ice. Maybe the offenses took a clue from the delay, because there were few scoring chances and not many offensive flurries until Cheechoo scored.

With a chance to rebound from Saturday's tough loss before beginning a stretch in which they play six of seven on the road, the Penguins did little offensively against the Sharks, who are 10-1-0 with one tie against them in their last 12.

Notes:@ Pavelski is 6-for-9 in shootouts. ... San Jose outshot Pittsburgh 5-0 in overtime, with Conklin making difficult saves on slap shots by Cheechoo and Christian Ehrhoff. ... With Mellon Arena down to one working Zamboni, the period breaks were extended by three minutes. ... San Jose played in Pittsburgh for their first time since November 2002. ... The Sharks are 19-8-3 on the road, a better record than Pittsburgh has at home (18-10-5) ... Nabokov is 4-1 against Pittsburgh.