NHL - Sharks Round Up - February 02-09, 2017

Sharks @ Vancouver Canucks 4-1 - Thursday, February 02, 2017

Patrick Marleau said that he didn't want to wait long to score his 500th NHL goal, and he didn't. Marleau reached the milestone with a power-play goal 9:30 into the game to help the San Jose Sharks defeat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 at Rogers Arena. Marleau took a cross-ice pass from Joe Pavelski and beat goalie Ryan Miller from the left faceoff dot to become the 45th player in NHL history to score 500 goals, all with the Sharks. Chris Tierney scored twice, Brent Burns had a goal and an assist, and Martin Jones made 33 saves for the Sharks (33-17-2), who are 8-1-0 in their past nine games and have won nine straight in Vancouver. Getting contributions from everyone has been a big part of San Jose's recent success. Philip Larsen scored, and Miller made 28 saves for the Canucks (23-22-6), who lost in regulation for the first time in nine games at Rogers Arena (7-1-1), dating to Dec. 22. After falling behind 2-0 on Tierney's goal with 4:01 left in the first period, the Canucks created lots of good chances in the second, forcing Jones to make a couple great saves to keep it 2-0. Burns scored 53 seconds into the third period to make it 3-0. Larsen scored his first goal of the season 6:35 into the third period on a slap shot that bounced in off Sharks defenseman Paul Martin, cutting the San Jose lead to 3-1. Tierney scored his sixth of the season on the power play with 5:19 left to make it 4-1.

* Burns came out from behind his own net and spotted Pavelski at the far blue line for a 2-on-1 with Marleau, and there seemed to be little doubt he would score the milestone goal when Pavelski's pass came across the ice.

"We had a really good view from the bench," Tierney said. "When [Pavelski] passed it over, you could kind of see it was going to be a goal; he had the whole net and he's been so hot lately, he's been burying those every chance he gets."

* Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows was all alone in front of the Sharks net, but Jones stopped his wrist shot on a spin move with 1:38 left in the second period, and then denied his rebound attempt. "We got a little sloppy in the second and third, and Jones was our best player," DeBoer said.

* Defenseman Justin Braun had five of the Sharks' 21 blocked shots in 20:01 of ice time.

* Burns pinched down toward the net to one-touch a pass from Tomas Hertl from below the goal line over Miller from in close. "He's got a knack for that. He's always up in the play, always looking for a hole, and he's a hard guy to contain because he's all over the ice," DeBoer said.
* Marleau is the first player to score 500 goals for the Sharks, 17th in NHL history to score his first 500 with one team. ... San Jose forward Joonas Donskoi missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. DeBoer said he's likely a week away from returning to the lineup. … Canucks forward Jannik Hansen, who has missed 16 games with a sprained knee, hopes to return against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. … Burns' 22 goals and 55 points lead NHL defensemen.

"Yeah, that'll do, getting it right away. It was good to get it out of the way. When you hit a mark like this, you just start thinking about everybody who's kind of helped you along the way. Playing with one club and playing with a lot of guys for a lot of years on this team, it means a lot to share that with them and see how happy they are for you. Things are going good now. We're on a roll. It couldn't come at a better time."
"The biggest thing for me is just seeing all my teammates and even getting congratulated by some of the guys on the other team. It's pretty special." Patrick Marleau on his 500th NHL goal.
"Most guys won't get to 500 games, [so] to get 500 goals, it's just an incredible feat." Brent Burns

"We got so many superstars, Hall of Famers. It kind of raises everybody's game and all four lines want to live up to those expectations and standard they set." Tierney said.
"It was a big goal for us. We were reeling a little bit." Peter DeBoer said.

Phoenix Coyotes @ Sharks 3-2 SO - Saturday, February 04, 2017

Mike Smith made 38 saves, and stopped two of three shots in the shootout, to help the Coyotes defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 at SAP Center.
Coyotes forwards Brendan Perlini and Radim Vrbata scored in the shootout, and Smith stopped Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. Logan Couture scored San Jose's only goal in the shootout. Shane Doan and Ryan White scored for Phoenix (17-28-6), who ended their seven-game road losing streak and improved to 3-0-1 against the Sharks. Brenden Dillon and Couture scored for the Sharks (33-17-3), who lead the Pacific Division and remained three points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks went on a power play with 2:51 left in overtime when Doan tripped Tomas Hertl. San Jose had five shots with the man-advantage, but Smith stopped them all. The Sharks also came up empty on a 5-on-3 power play that began at 18:17 of the first period when defenseman Luke Schenn and Smith received roughing penalties. San Jose went 0-for-4 on the power play while Phoenix went 1-for-4. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 26 saves. Doan gave Phoenix a 1-0 lead at 12:23 of the second period with a power-play goal. Doan, who hadn't scored in 16 games, beat Jones with a wrist shot from the high slot. The Sharks tied it at 17:15 when Dillon scored his first goal of the season and first since March 12, 2016 against the Washington Capitals. Dillon poked his own rebound through Smith's pads. San Jose took a 2-1 lead at 2:18 of the third period on Couture's 18th goal of the season. He took a pass from Marleau in the slot and beat Smith with a wrist shot. Phoenix answered 26 seconds later when White scored on a wrist shot. The puck hit Dillon's skate and deflected over Jones' glove. It was White's fifth goal of the season.

* Couture's goal was the result of a nice passing sequence. Mikkel Boedker picked up a loose puck and sent a pass to Marleau on the left. Marleau dropped a pass back to Couture, who beat Jones from between the circles.

* Smith made a lunging save with his stick at 3:15 of the first period, denying Boedker, who had most of the net open on a rebound.

* Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal, playing his 600th NHL game, had a game-high eight shots and four hits. He also won 14 of 22 faceoffs (64 percent).

* Jones made a spectacular sliding glove save of Tobias Rieder's wrist shot while on his back with 36 seconds remaining in overtime. "Fantastic save," DeBoer said. "Got us a point. That's a breakdown that we can't or shouldn't let happen that late. He's come up big for us a lot lately."

* Sharks forward Micheal Haley was in the lineup after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. He centered the fourth line. ... Marleau, who scored his 500th NHL goal on Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, was honored before the game. He had two assists against Phoenix.

"They're a young team with a lot of energy. I think they probably felt if they could come in here and play a physical game they'd be able to compete. We did the same. We're not going to get pushed out of a game. I think you got to make them pay on the power play and we didn't tonight. That's the story." Peter DeBoer said.
"They always play us tough. That was a fun game tonight. That was two teams playing really hard. It was an emotional game." Martin Jones

Sharks @ Buffalo Sabres 4-5 OT - Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Evander Kane scored his second goal of the game with 3:55 left in overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a comeback 5-4 win against the Sharks at KeyBank Center. Kane received a pass from Jack Eichel on a 2-on-1 and beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones for his 16th of the season. The Sabres (22-21-10) trailed 4-1 in the third period before scoring three goals in 3:28 to tie the game. Buffalo is 6-0-1 in its past seven home games and 17-1-1 against the Sharks all-time at home. The Sharks (33-17-4) ended a four-game road win streak. Ryan O'Reilly made it 4-2 with a power-play goal 9:03 into the third. Kane followed that 2:33 later with his 15th of the season on a wraparound goal past Jones. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer challenged the goal saying Sabres forward Tyler Ennis was offside, but video review was inconclusive and the goal stood.

Okposo's 17th goal came 55 seconds after Kane's goal to tie the game. The Sabres took a 1-0 lead in the first period after Matt Moulson scored his 11th goal and ninth on the power play, but the Sharks scored four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead. Joel Ward scored his sixth and Logan Couture scored his 19th in the first period followed by Melker Karlsson's seventh goal in the second. Joe Pavelski scored a power-play goal 6:07 into the third, his 18th of the season, to make it 4-1.

* Pavelski scored on a shot from a bad angle on a pass from Burns.

* Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson made a sprawling glove save against Pavelski 2:47 into the third period.

* Okposo scored to force overtime after receiving a cross-ice pass from Sam Reinhart on a 3-on-2 rush.

* Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen played a game-high 28:56, including 4:12 on the penalty kill, and had an assist with three blocks.

* Buffalo is 12-1-3 in its past 16 home games against Western Conference opponents and 10-4-2 against the Western Conference this season. … Kane had his right hand wrapped in a towel after he crashed into the boards after scoring the game-winning goal. He said he was fine afterwards. … Forward Marcus Sorensen made his NHL debut for the Sharks and had an assist on Karlsson's goal for his first NHL point.

"I felt like [Atlanta Falcons coach] Dan Quinn in the Super Bowl [on] Sunday. It was one of those games. Thank God it wasn't the Finals; it was a game in the middle of February. We found a way to get a point, but we couldn't have played a better road game for 45-50 minutes. We've got to learn a lesson there. We didn't manage the puck, we took some penalties, we gave up some odd-man attacks, all the things you don't want to do with the lead and it burned us." Peter DeBoer

Sharks @ Boston Bruins 3-6 - Thursday, February 09, 2017

Bruce Cassidy got a win in his coaching debut, and Patrice Bergeron had a goal and three assists when the Boston Bruins defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-3 at TD Garden. The Bruins (27-23-6), who promoted Cassidy from assistant coach after firing Claude Julien two days earlier, ended a two-game skid despite playing without defenseman Zdeno Chara because of illness. Bruins forward David Pastrnak scored twice for the second straight game, David Backes had a goal and two assists, and Tuukka Rask made 23 saves. Joe Thornton, Justin Braun and Timo Meier scored for the Sharks (33-18-4), who have lost their past three games (0-1-2). Martin Jones allowed three goals on 12 shots before he was pulled at the start of the second period. Aaron Dell made 18 saves in relief.

Backes scored his first goal in 13 games 52 seconds into the game. Thornton tied it 1-1 with a wrist shot from the left dot at 7:51. Bergeron scored at 15:52 to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead after Backes tipped Brandon Carlo's shot through Jones. Bergeron stuffed in the loose puck behind the goaltender. The Bruins took a 3-1 lead when Bergeron set up Pastrnak's power-play goal at 17:31. Braun's shot from the top of the left circle got past Rask 1:08 into the second period to cut the lead to 3-2. Bruins forward Tim Schaller scored on a rebound at 13:04, and Pastrnak's goal with 48.4 seconds left gave the Bruins a 5-2 lead. Meier cut the Boston lead to 5-3 at 17:23 of the third period. Brad Marchand hit an empty net with 29.3 remaining for a 6-3 lead.

* Backes started Cassidy's tenure off right with a one-timer from the high slot past Jones. Defenseman Torey Krug made a pass out of the corner after a heavy forecheck by David Krejci forced a San Jose giveaway below the goal line.

* With the Bruins on the power play and leading 3-2 Rask denied Joel Ward on a 2-on-1 at 11:22 of the second period.

* Pastrnak scored his first goal of the game on a one-timer, beating Jones from the left hash mark.

* The line of Schaller, Dominic Moore and Riley Nash got rewarded when Schaller scored but the importance of that line couldn't be understated. Schaller's goal came after a Sharks penalty kill could've shifted momentum. The Bruins fourth line did yeoman's work on the forecheck and the cycle before the goal and throughout the game. All three forwards contributed to Boston's 2-for-2 penalty kill performance.

* Thornton has 1,375 points in his NHL career, passing Mike Modano for 23rd on the all-time list. ... Braun's goal was the 100th point of his NHL career. ... Jones has been pulled twice this season. The last time was Nov. 5, when he allowed three goals on seven shots in a 5-0 loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins. ... Sharks defenseman Brent Burns had his 14-game road point streak end. He had 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) during the streak. ... Bergeron has a six-game point streak with 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in that span.

"You knew they would have a little wakeup call over there and they would come out ready to play. You know what, as players you understand that, you have to match the effort. That's the bottom line and the puck was going in the net different ways early on and they found a way to keep it going." Joe Pavelski
"We weren't strong anywhere. Special teams, in front of our own net, in front of their net. So that's what you get when you play like that." Peter DeBoer said.