The San Jose Sharks were 5-0-0 when scoring first at home and 0-12-0 when allowing the first goal entering their game at SAP Center. Brent Burns scored the all-important first goal early in the second period of San Jose's 7-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. After taking a pass at center ice, Burns skated around Nazem Kadri, moved past Dion Phaneuf in the left circle, angled toward the crease and beat goalie Jonathan Bernier with a wrist shot.
Tomas Hertl had two goals and an assist, and Matt Nieto, Joe Pavelski, Melker Karlsson, and Joonas Donskoi each scored. Justin Braun had three assists.
Nieto made it 2-0 at 8:09 of the second with a shorthanded goal, capitalizing on a bad change by the Maple Leafs. Burns cleared the puck down the right boards, and Tommy Wingels tracked it down to start a 2-on-1 rush. Wingels zipped a pass to Nieto, who put a wrist shot past Bernier for his fifth goal, ending an eight-game drought. Wingels was one of three Sharks with two assists (Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Joe Thornton).
Bernier allowed seven goals on 31 shots for the Maple Leafs, who went 1-2-0 on their three-game California road trip. He was coming off a 39-save shutout against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday and had not allowed a goal in 115:50 before Burns scored. San Jose is 10-1-0 in its past 11 games against Toronto, which hasn't won at SAP Center since Jan. 11, 2011.
DeBoer shuffled his lines before the game. Hertl moved from third-line center to top-line left wing, skating with Pavelski and Thornton. Patrick Marleau centered the second line, bumping Logan Couture to the third. The Sharks responded by setting a season high for goals in a game.
The Sharks scored four goals on 12 shots in the second period, matching their season high for goals in a period; they had four in the third period at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 22.
Pavelski made it 3-0 at 15:33 of the second with his 21st goal, which leads the Sharks. Hertl hit Pavelski in the slot with a pass from the right corner, and the Sharks captain sent a wrist shot past Bernier. Hertl made it 4-0 at 17:29 of the second, hammering a rebound home from close range.
Karlsson scored on a breakaway at 4:10 of the third period, extending San Jose's lead to 5-0, and Donskoi scored on a wraparound at 9:38. Hertl scored his sixth of the season and third in five games on a rebound at 11:22 to make it 7-0.
The Sharks matched the Nashville Predators for the largest margin of victory in the NHL this season; the Predators defeated the Winnipeg Jets 7-0 on Nov. 14.
Sharks Bites
Peter DeBoer: "That was huge, because I thought we were a little tentative. We were almost in that waiting-for-something-to-go-wrong mindset. He just said, 'Screw it,' and took the puck. That changed the game for us; it really did. That play changed the game. That's how we have to play. That was a world-class play by a world-class player.""I don't think the line shuffles changed it. I think we got a proud group in there. They weren't happy about where we were sitting. I think they were smart enough to recognize we were doing a lot of good things, but we needed a little bit more out of everybody. They fixed that themselves. Now again, we have to build on that."
Brent Burns: "Obviously, the stats show for every team, if you score first, it can change a game. I think it's important for us to jump ahead at home here and start getting some bounces. That was key. We feel good about our team, we feel good at home. This is a place we've always loved to play. Just been some tough bounces."
Tomas Hertl: "I'm so happy tonight. This was a great game for the team. I'm not just happy for me. I'm happy for Donskoi, Nieto and Melker. Everybody needs to score, and all four guys scored. It was a great game for everybody. I'm so happy we scored on our line with [Thornton] and [Pavelski]. It was so fun today. I thank those guys for helping me."
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