The Sharks had lost three out of five games and seen their lead in the Western Conference over Detroit dwindle to two points.
Nabokov, however, was sharp after being removed from goal during a 5-2 loss to Calgary Tuesday. He gave up a game-tying goal to Denis Grebeshkov on the power play with 8:45 to play in the first period, but was perfect the rest of the way.
Brad Staubitz, recalled this week from Worcester of the American Hockey League, scored his first goal of the season with 5:44 to go in the first and that turned out to be the game-winner.
Patrick Marleau then added two goals to seal the victory, running his total for the season to 21. He beat Dwayne Roloson with a wrist shot just 36 seconds from the end of the period, causing Roloson to be replaced by Mathieu Garon.
Marleau added a power-play goal with 2:55 to go in the second period.
Edmonton fell to 2-2 on a five-game homestand.