With 4 goals in 1st, an easy win for San Jose
Head coach Peter DeBoer called it one of the Sharks’ better games of the season. And it couldn’t have come at a more pivotal juncture.
The Sharks scored four times in the first period and zipped to a five-goal lead on the strength of Joe Pavelski’s line and Mikkel Boedker’s recent goal streak. Goalie Martin Jones was solid when needed as San Jose rolled to a 5-2 victory over the Stars on Sunday night at SAP Center.
“We had a couple of days of rest and we had great energy to start,” DeBoer said. “We got our legs and were executing. We took our foot off the gas a little bit in third, which is natural with a big lead, but there wasn’t much to complain about. It was pretty solid.”
The only downer for the Sharks was the conspicuous absence of defenseman Brent Burns for the final 16:13 of the game. After skating two shifts in the third period, Burns retired to the dressing room for an undisclosed reason. Fellow blue liner Dylan DeMelo left a minute early, too.
Burns is “dealing with something, but he’s going to be fine,” defenseman Justin Braun said. “He’s not going to miss any games.”
DeBoer said he thought Burns would accompany the team on the fourgame trip that starts Tuesday in St. Louis.
But back to Sunday. Boedker scored twice to become the team’s ninth double-figure goal-scorer, and the Pavelski line accounted for seven points. That was plenty of offense to support Jones, who stopped 26 shots.
The Sharks’ onslaught began 27 seconds after the opening face-off when Pavelski shrugged off a center-ice collision to toss a spinning backhand shot past goalie Ben Bishop for his 15th goal.
San Jose did not convert an early power play, but it did strike 38 seconds after the man advantage ended on Melker Karlsson’s eighth goal at 5:59.
“They’re a high-scoring team, so you want to come out strong, and getting those two early goals helped,” Braun said.
Boedker got into the act at 15:08 of the first when his attempted feed from the right wing toward Chris Tierney in the slot was accidentally redirected by Dallas’ Alexander Radulov past Bishop. That made it three goals on four San Jose shots.
A tripping penalty by Stars defenseman Marc Methot put San Jose on the power play again, and Boedker converted exactly as the 5-on-4 expired at 17:23. His one-timer from the slot set up by Tierney was not only his 11th goal but also the last shot Bishop would face.
“Maybe the mind-set of being a little more aggressive and a little more direct,” Boedker explained for his recent uptick in production that includes four goals in the past three games. “It was real nice to get those two goals.”
Braun scored his second goal at 5:00 of the second when his wrist shot from the right point made it through a maze of sticks and bodies to beat goalie Kari Lehtonen.
“We were actually moving this game instead of the game in Dallas where everyone left their legs somewhere else,” Braun said.
The Stars dashed Jones’ shutout bid when Gemel Smith scored at 5:35 of the third, which was followed quickly by Tyler Pitlick’s backhand strike at 8:57.