Is Burns playing differently this year?

SAN JOSE – Sharks defenseman Brent Burns is riding a four-game point streak going into Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders after he was held off the scoresheet in San Jose’s first three outings.

Burns said he’s not doing anything different, and Sharks coach Pete Deboer agrees.

But some Sharks players have noticed a slight change in Burns’ game. They feel of late he’s been paying greater attention to detail and been more direct in his approach.

“He just seems like himself, he really does,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “He’s really kind of settled in. Moving with the puck, skating, moving well.

“I think he’s been really good and wherever that leads to. But he’s been direct, he’s been shooting the puck, he’s been moving, roaming around a little bit at times and creating that space that he does.”

Burns is also among three Sharks players with a team-best plusfive rating, and tops the list with six assists in San Jose’s last four games, including two in Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

“He’s kind of had a little more attention to detail with things,” Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said of Burns. “For him, he’s a pretty highrisk, high-reward guy who is very creative and very gifted offensively. With our back end, it’s kind of allowed him to be in different scenarios that he hasn’t been in the past.

“I think Burnzie, he’s a guy that maybe (opposing teams) sometimes don’t realize how big he is, how good of a stick he has, and how physical he can be. We’ve all known that in this room.” Sharks defenseman Brent Burns is riding a four-game point

Burns had a team-high 25:06 of ice time Thursday, collecting an assist on Logan Couture’s power play goal in the first period streak going into Saturday’s game.

and another on Pavelski’s goal with the man advantage in the third. The Sharks’ power play was 3-for-7 against the

Sabres, a welcome breakthrough after they were 2-for-21 with the man advantage in the first six games.

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