No win, but Sharks still able to make their point
San Jose falls in overtime but still holds a five-point lead in Pacific Division
SAN JOSE — The Sharks have left some points on the table over the course of the past two-plus weeks, and they felt they could have easily picked up two more Sunday against the Boston Bruins.
But nobody inside the Sharks dressing room was complaining about where things stand as they begin their five-day break. Despite their 2-1 overtime loss to the Bruins at SAP Center, the Sharks still hold a five-point lead in the Pacific Division with 22 games to go.
The Sharks’ next game is Saturday in Vancouver against the Canucks. They’ll be no worse than one point out of first place when that game begins.
“It was a gutsy effort. Your focus, with a five-day break, can easily go in different directions,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “It didn’t, we kept it where it needed to be and found
a way to get a point.”
One of the Sharks’ errors came on the winning goal, as they were caught flatfooted after a faceoff deep inside the Bruins zone.
After Patrice Bergeron beat Joe Thornton on a draw to the right of Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, Torey Krug lifted a long pass over a stationary Sharks defense to Brad Marchand, who bolted toward the neutral zone right after the faceoff and beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones on a breakaway with 2:24 left in overtime.
It’s the Sharks’ fifth non-regulation-time loss this month, and the fourth straight time they’ve lost in overtime.
Prior to Sunday, the Sharks had lost in a shootout to Arizona on Feb. 4 and in overtime to Buffalo on Feb. 7, Philadelphia on Feb. 11 and most recently, Florida on Wednesday.
Still, the Sharks have picked up points in all but two of their past 17 games, a huge reason why they’re in an ideal position to capture their first division title since 2011. The Sharks were coming off a 4-1 win over the Coyotes on Saturday, and are now 10-2-5 since they beat Winnipeg 5-2 on Jan. 16.
“A lot of people thought we would have a Stanley Cup hangover, and I think we’ve handled it pretty well,” Sharks center Logan Couture said. “Obviously the top of the division is where we want to be. We’ve let some points slide recently, but I thought on a back-to-back, we played pretty hard.”
Patrick Marleau scored the Sharks’ only goal, netting his 21st this season and the 502nd of his NHL career with 2:23 to go in the second period.
On a 4-on-4 situation, a shot from Brent Burns inside the blue line went off the leg of Krug right to Marleau, who had a mostly open net as Rask was unable to get over in time.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work to be where we’re at,” Marleau said. “It’s a good spot coming into the break. We’re pretty happy with it. There’s some games you wish you could get back and get those points, but it’s still a good spot.”
The Sharks allowed the first goal on home ice for the third straight game as Ryan Spooner was left alone right beside Jones.
A shot by Adam McQuaid toward the Sharks net was collected by Jimmy Hayes, who spun around and put a shot wide. The puck came off the end boards right to an open Spooner, who tapped it in for his ninth goal of the season at the 11:05 mark of the first period.
Jones has been a workhorse for the Sharks, as Sunday’s game was his 50th of the season. His record is 28-15-5. His record after 50 games played last season was almost identical at 2916-4.
“Twenty games left,” Jones said. “We can come back with a fresh mindset with some energy for the stretch.”
Thornton remained on the cusp of perhaps his most historic achievement as he’s still just two assists away from 1,000 for his NHL career.
Thornton had 285 assists in seven-plus seasons with the Bruins from 1997-2005. Since coming to the Sharks on Nov. 30, 2005 in the biggest trade in team history, Thornton has 713 assists, including 34 this season.
Thornton entered Sunday on a five-game point streak. He had assists in four straight games and scored Feb. 9 against the Bruins at TD Garden.
The Sharks did not make any changes to their forward group from Saturday’s game, as Nikolay Goldobin dressed for his second straight game. Goldobin played 11:53 against the Coyotes and finished with four shots on goal, but was a spectator in the third period as DeBoer shortened his bench.