Martin Jones made 33 saves, and the San Jose Sharks were perfect on four special-teams opportunities in a 2-0 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center. Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks on their only power play, and the San Jose penalty kill was 3-for-3. Joe Thornton, who got the secondary assist on Marleau's goal, scored into an empty net with 1:42 remaining.
San Jose, who lost 6-2 at the Nashville Predators on Saturday, went 2-2-0 on a four-game road trip. Jones, in his eighth straight start and fourth since the All-Star break, made 10 saves in the first, 12 in the second and 11 in the third for his fifth shutout of the season and the 12th of his NHL career. His performance helped the Sharks improve to 18-8-2 on the road, 23-2-1 when scoring first and 20-0-2 when leading at the end of the second period. Corey Crawford made 25 saves for Chicago, which lost for the first time in four games.
The Blackhawks, playing their first home game since Jan. 24, were without rookie left wing Artemi Panarin, who was sick and missed his first game. Teuvo Teravainen filled Panarin's role on the second line, and forward Jiri Sekac entered the lineup as right wing on the fourth line. As the game progressed, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville used a rotation of forwards in Panarin's spot.
A pivotal moment came at 17:23 of the first period, when Blackhawks forward Brandon Mashinter appeared to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. After a rebound deflected off Mashinter's right leg and past Jones, Sharks coach Peter DeBoer used his coach's challenge, and the goal was overturned after video review determined rookie center Dennis Rasmussen interfered with Jones.
Rather than Chicago holding a 1-0 lead at the end of the first, it remained scoreless and gave Marleau the opportunity to put the Sharks up 1-0 on the power play at 9:09 of the second. His slap shot from the right point hit Chicago center Jonathan Toews in the slot and redirected past Crawford. It was Marleau's first goal since Jan. 21 and his third in the past 21 games. The Sharks finished the season series 1-1-0 against the Blackhawks. They will head back to San Jose for two games before leaving again for a five-game road trip.
Sharks Bites
Joe Pavelski: "The guys played hard and gave them, really, nothing. The PK was great [and] the power play. The special teams were there for us. [Jones] was solid. [We're] playing a good team game right now.""That was the last chance we got to play [the Blackhawks], and they're a great team. They really are. They're good, and you expect a good game out of them. They had the puck at times. They were good, but if there was a breakdown, we seemed to have somebody there recovering. It was good to see."
Martin Jones: "We've been good with the lead all year, so it's important for us to get the first goal. With a team like [the Blackhawks], they can score goals pretty well. You never know what can happen, but we were really good all night."
Peter DeBoer: "I didn't see [Rasmussen in the crease] from the bench. Dan Darrow, our coach behind the scenes here, caught it from an overhead view. Great call by him. Key call at that time of the game, and really changed the game for us."
Hawks Quotes
Brandon Mashinter: "I can't blame [Rasmussen]. The puck was there. It's unfortunate. That's it."Joel Quenneville: "I don't know the rules anymore, or something's changed. My understanding, I've played a lot of hockey - I don't know. I think everybody has an interpretation of what's a good goal and what's a bad goal. But I can't believe it."Corey Crawford: "They move the puck pretty quick. They have a lot of movement with their players, too, around the [offensive] zone. I thought we played pretty well too. [We] just got an unlucky bounce there, pretty much."
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