Thanks to solid start, San Jose adds to its early season success
NEWARK, N.J. — Though they have gotten off to a strong start this season, the Sharks believe they can be better.
Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski each had a goal and two assists and Antti Niemi made 35 saves as the Sharks spoiled New Jersey’s home opener with a 4-2 victory over the Devils on Saturday night.
The win was the fourth in five games for the Sharks, but they had to sweat it out as their 3-0 lead shrank to a goal with about eight minutes to play before Joe Thornton iced it with an empty-netter.
“We’re winning games, but we’re not playing well,” Couture said. “We end up scrambling around at the end. I won’t say panic, but we have to do a better job. We’re giving up goals late. But wins in this league are hard to come by. ... It’s good to win on the road and it’s good to have this kind of start.”
Patrick Marleau also scored for San Jose, which has picked up nine of a possible 10 points, losing only in a shootout to the Islanders on Thursday.
“We (had) a couple of good power plays and made them stand up,” Thornton said. “Things are good. A lot of teams are trying to find themselves early on. We’re still looking for our identity as a team right now. We’ve been on the road a lot of games and doing a real good job.”
The Sharks, who are playing 16 of their first 21 games on the road, were cruising with a three-goal lead when Mike Cammalleri and Adam Henrique scored in a 4:10 span of the third period.
Niemi made the lead stand with excellent stops on Cammalleri, Henrique and Damien Brunner before Thornton scored his first goal of the sea- son with 1:14 remaining.
“We had our chances, even in the second period we had our chances,” Devils forward Jaromir Jagr said. “They scored twice on the power play and we didn’t. I don’t think they outplayed us.”
Cory Schneider made 28 saves for the Devils, including a glove stop on a penalty shot by Tommy Wingels with 3:44 to play.