NHL - Sharks Round Up - January 16-21, 2017

Jets @ Sharks 2-5 - Monday, January 16, 2017
Martin Jones made 26 saves and Joel Ward scored a shorthanded goal in the first period to help the San Jose Sharks defeat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 at SAP Center. Rookie forward Timo Meier and defenseman Brent Burns scored in the second period for the Sharks (26-16-2), who ended a two-game losing streak. Chris Tierney and Joe Thornton scored in the third. Jones made 11 saves in the first period when the Jets had numerous scoring chances. Backup goaltender Michael Hutchinson made his second straight start for the Jets (20-23-4) and allowed four goals on 31 shots. Josh Morrissey scored with 2:36 remaining, ending Jones' shutout bid. Forward Mark Scheifele scored with 19 seconds left from close range after Jones' failed attempt to score into an empty net. The Sharks took a 1-0 lead on Ward's goal at 11:54 of the first period. Ward won a faceoff in San Jose's defensive zone, tracked down a loose puck in the neutral zone and beat Hutchinson from the right circle. The goal was Ward's fourth of the season and second shorthanded. San Jose was coming off a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and hadn't scored since the first period of a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, a span of more than 100 minutes. Meier made it 2-0 at 2:45 of the second period when he beat Hutchinson on a breakaway. Ward ignited the play when he advanced the puck along the right sideboards in the neutral zone despite taking a big hit from Jets defenseman Mark Stuart. Ward went to the locker room but returned later in the period. Burns increased San Jose's lead to 3-0 at 7:08 of the second with a power-play goal, and Tierney scored at 11:41 of the third on a wrist shot. Thornton scored into an empty net with 9.3 seconds left.

* Meier beat Hutchinson from the slot on a breakaway for his second goal of the season.

* With 14:14 left in the first period, Jets forward Nic Petan skated left-to-right behind the Sharks' net and tried to score on a wraparound, but Jones stopped him and covered the puck.

* Defenseman Justin Braun led the Sharks with six hits and assisted on Ward's goal. He also blocked a shot and had a takeaway.
* Ward scored his second shorthanded goal of the season in the first period, snapping a shot over Hutchinson's glove from the right circle.
* Jets forward Patrik Laine (concussion) missed his fifth straight game. ... Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi (upper body) missed his second straight game and remains day to day.

Sharks Bites

"They came out ready to play. The first five minutes [Jones] made some big saves, allowed us to kind of get our legs going. And then I thought we really started to play. I really liked our game from then on. It's just a commitment to be the harder team. This is a league where there's so much parity that if you're not the more committed team or at least as committed as the other team you're not going to win." Peter DeBoer said
"I looked up and nobody was there, went to play the puck, and turned around and just saw a big white jersey in front of me. It was a hockey play. It was a good hit. I tried to get the puck out obviously, and next thing I knew I was on my back and heard the horn go off. I wasn't too sure what happened after that." Ward said.
"We weren't real thrilled with the way we played last game, so it was a really good effort for us. We need to make sure we stay hungry and compete like that every night." Martin Jones

Jets Quotes

"We just gave up a little too much in the second period. If we could have gotten one then we would have tied it up and it would have been a different game. We were trying to do too much out there. When things aren't going your way, sometimes you just try to do a little too much and it ends up costing you the game." Blake Wheeler said.


"They dominated. [The first two periods] You can't let guys like Thornton and [Joe] Pavelski have that much time with the puck, and they made us pay. We started off well tonight. We were getting the puck behind their net and creating some offense, but we couldn't capitalize and then they started to take over the game and we never got it back." Mark Scheifele

Sharks @ Los Angeles Kings 3-2 - Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Brent Burns and Tommy Wingels scored in the first period, and Joe Pavelski's power-play goal in the second helped the San Jose Sharks defeat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at Staples Center. Martin Jones, who started his NHL career with the Kings, made 22 saves for the Sharks (27-16-2). He has 23 wins this season and is 6-2-2 against the Kings in his career. Tanner Pearson and Marian Gaborik scored, and Dustin Brown had two assists for the Kings (22-19-4).

Burns scored his Sharks-leading 19th goal at 3:31 for a 1-0 lead. His shot from the left point changed direction when it went off Anze Kopitar. Pearson tied it 1-1 at 5:46 when he redirected Derek Forbort's shot. Wingels made it 2-1 at 15:42. With Kings center Jeff Carter off for high sticking, the Sharks needed nine seconds to take a 3-1 lead on Pavelski's goal at 10:00. Gaborik pulled the Kings within 3-2 at 15:19. The Kings had five shots on goal in the third period. The Kings went 3-4-0 on their homestand, losing the last two. They are eight points behind the Sharks for third place in the Pacific Division.

* Wingels converted a 2-on-1 off a Micheal Haley pass.

* Jones extended his right leg to deny Dwight King at 5:25 of the third period.

* Pavelski played the puck off the end boards and banked it off goalie Peter Budaj to score.

* The Sharks penalty kill went 4-for-4 and held the Kings to one shot on goal.

* Sharks forward Joe Thornton had two assists and with 1,370 points moved past Johnny Bucyk (1,369) into 24th place on the NHL list. … The Sharks went 3-1-1 against the Kings in their completed season series. "I am glad to be done with them," DeBoer said. "If we don't see them again, I'll be all right with that." … Sharks center Logan Couture was scratched (illness).

"I'm real proud of our effort. We had a bit of a thin lineup and I thought we competed our (butts) off and played hard. It isn't an easy building to win in. They play a physical game." Peter DeBoer
"He was great. He's great every night for us. It's no different than any other night. He's a stud every night for us. Huge save in the third there, an amazing leg save." Burns said.

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Sharks 1-2 - Thursday, January 19, 2017
Backup goaltender Aaron Dell made 24 saves, and Logan Couture scored the game-winning goal 22 seconds into the third period, helping the San Jose Sharks defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 at SAP Center. Couture missed a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday because of an illness that caused him to lose 6 pounds. After forward Kevin Labanc won a battle for the puck along the end boards, Couture beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy through the five-hole with a wrist shot from the low right circle. Rookie Ryan Carpenter scored in the second period for the Sharks (28-16-2), who won their third straight game. Dell (5-2-0) made his seventh start of the season in place of Martin Jones, who made 22 saves against the Kings. Jonathan Drouin scored in the second period for Tampa Bay (21-21-5), and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves but lost his sixth straight start. Carpenter gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 5:01 of the second period when he beat Vasilevskiy with a slap shot from the right circle that deflected off Lightning defenseman Nikita Nesterov. Drouin tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 6:51.

* Drouin skated down the right circle past Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, cut sharply in front of the crease, and beat Dell with a wrist shot for his 14th goal of the season. It was Drouin's 23rd point in his past 22 games.

* With 6:49 left in the third period, Dell lost his stick but made a left-pad save on Valtteri Filppula's wraparound.

"The knob got caught in the net," Dell said. "I think the best thing I did there was just let it go."
* Lightning center Cedric Paquette paid a painful price to block a slap shot by Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon with 10:19 left in the first period. Paquette, who was hit in the foot, limped off the ice but quickly returned.
* Couture wasn't at full strength but had enough energy to score the game-winner, sneaking the puck through Vasilevskiy's pads.
* Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi (upper body) returned to the lineup after missing three games and had an assist on Couture's goal. The Sharks placed forward Michael Haley (lower body) on injured reserve and activated Donskoi from IR. ... Sharks rookie forward Timo Meier (upper body) was scratched. ... Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (illness) missed his third straight game. … Lightning forward Joel Vermin was in the lineup, replacing Erik Condra. ... Sharks forward Mikkel Boedker was benched in the third period.

"Gutsy effort by [Couture] coming back in. I had to give him a couple shifts here and there. I didn't ask, and he wasn't asking to stay out. We needed him. We needed a spark tonight after traveling and coming off that emotional win. I thought [Dell] and him really gave us that." Peter DeBoer said.

"We like playing in front of [Dell]. He's aggressive, he's into the game, he's attacking pucks. That's everything you want from your goalie. He's made all the saves that we can ask him to make." Joe Pavelski

Colorado Avalanche @ Sharks 2-3 OT - Saturday, January 21, 2017
Defenseman David Schlemko scored 1:18 into overtime, and the San Jose Sharks extended their winning streak to four games with a 3-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at SAP Center. Colorado goaltender Spencer Martin, who made his NHL debut, stopped Logan Couture's shot from the left circle but couldn't control the rebound. Schlemko scored his second goal of the season from close range. Joel Ward and Melker Karlsson also scored for the Sharks (29-16-2). Martin Jones made 31 saves. Mikhail Grigorenko and Francois Beauchemin scored for Colorado (13-29-2). The Sharks are 15-1-0 in their past 16 home games against the Avalanche. Colorado is 2-14-1 in its past 17 games this season. Martin made 27 saves and helped keep Colorado in the game. Ward gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 5:36 of the first period with a power-play goal. Ward took a cross-crease pass from Joe Thornton and tipped the puck past Martin inside the right post. The goal was Ward's fifth of season and third in his past nine games. Colorado made it 1-1 on Grigorenko's fifth goal of the season at 10:30 of the second period. Sharks defenseman Paul Martin deflected Nathan MacKinnon's shot from the right circle, but Grigorenko got to the loose puck and beat Jones with a wrist shot from close range. San Jose regained the lead at 15:01 of the second when Karlsson redirected Ryan Carpenter's shot from the right circle. The Avalanche tied it 2-2 on Beauchemin's unassisted goal at 10:24 of the third period when he beat Jones from the left circle with a slap shot inside the left post. It was his second goal of the season.

* Schlemko jumped over the boards and was in the right place at the right time to score his first NHL overtime goal on a rebound near the crease.

* With 1:37 left in the first period, MacKinnon broke wide open down the slot, took a pass and released a slap shot, but Jones made a pad save to preserve San Jose's 1-0 lead.

* Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov sent a point shot that deflected off of Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, snuck through Jones' pads and trickled toward the left post 1:26 into the game. Before the puck could cross the goal line, Burns reached back and cleared it away from the crease.

* The Sharks got a goal from their fourth line for the third straight game when Karlsson got his stick on Carpenter's shot and deflected the puck past Martin in the second period. "You need your depth guys on nights like this," DeBoer said. "We've ridden our big guys pretty hard."

* Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie missed his second straight game because of a lower-body injury. Forward Rene Borque (lower body), who was injured in the first period against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, was also out. ... Sharks rookie forward Timo Meier (upper body) missed his second straight game. ... Forward Matt Nieto faced the Sharks for the first time since Colorado claimed him off waivers from San Jose on Jan. 5.

"Just go to the net and good things happen I guess. The rebound came right to me, and I just had to tap it in. I'll take those any day." Schlemko said.
"I think you got a desperate team. They're better than their record. They're very skilled. And for us, this is a tough game. This was our fifth game in eight nights. It's been a long week. I feel the fatigue and I haven't played a game. I'm just coaching. We found a way to win. It was ugly, but we found a way." Peter DeBoer said
"It's the biggest thrill of my life so far. I'll never forget it. The first few minutes were tough, but after that I settled in." Martin said.
"When we're on our game, we're making it tough with grind time and traffic at the net, some chances. Tonight, we didn't have as many as we could have had. We'll try to find a little bit more for next game." Joe Pavelski