San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Sharks: S.J. hits bump in road with loss to Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets are ecstatic and full of renewed energy after trading for center Matt Duchene.
Not even the surging Sharks could dampen their mood.
Duchene, acquired from Ottawa on Friday, had a goal and an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky picked up his second shutout in two nights as Columbus beat San Jose 4-0 on Saturday.
Duchene tallied 59 seconds into the second period. Then later in the second, with Sharks forward Micheal Haley in the penalty box for interference, Cam Atkinson poked in a puck that got loose behind goalie Martin Jones, snapping a six-game power-play drought for Columbus and giving the Blue Jackets a 3-0 edge.
The Sharks, who lost for only the second time in regulation in their last 11 and are in second place behind Calgary in the Pacific Division, couldn’t make much sense of it.
“We have a few of those games a year,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “I don’t know why. We didn’t execute. They were hungrier, they were more desperate, they deserved to win. We got what we deserved tonight.”
Jones had 19 saves before being replaced by Aaron Dell halfway through the third period after Columbus scored for the fourth time. Dell had three more stops.
“They were better than us,” San Jose forward Joe Pavelski said. “There wasn’t much else to it. On our side of the puck, we didn’t really put two passes together, we didn’t generate much speed.” Bobrovsky — who has declined to sign a contract extension and may be traded before Monday’s deadline — had 26 saves while recording a shutout on two consecutive days for the first time in his career. He was in the net for the Blue Jackets’ 3-0 win over Ottawa on Friday. “When you play a team sport, there are so many things happening in front of you,” Bobrovsky said. “You play against the best players in the world, too, so obviously it’s tough to get the shutout. Lots of things have to come together, and it’s nice to have it.”
Atkinson had a goal and an assist, and Boone Jenner and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have won seven of their past 10. They started the day in third place in the Metropolitan Division.
“Yesterday walking in the room before I got traded and looking at the board and seeing all the names, I said, ‘Wow, that’s a hell of a team,’ ” Duchene said. “So hopefully, I can bring another element to that and fit in. So far, so good. Two good ones.”
After the game, the Blue Jackets announced the acquisition of Duchene’s former Ottawa teammate Ryan Dzingel, who played college hockey for Ohio State. Columbus got Dzingel and a 2019 seventh-round draft pick from the Senators for forward Anthony Duclair and secondround picks in the 2020 and 2021 draft picks.
Briefly: San Jose lost on the road for the first time in seven games . ... ... John Tortorella coached his 300th game for the Blue Jackets.