17-second spree keys win
After ending their first road trip with a dud in Detroit, the Sharks have looked more like the team that won the Western Conference last season once they returned home.
Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels scored 17 seconds apart and San Jose beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 at SAP Center on Saturday night in a rematch of last season’s sevengame, second-round playoff series won by the Sharks.
The Sharks rebounded from a 2-3 trip by going 3-0 on a homestand on which they allowed just three goals.
“That last game, I don’t know if it was just a last game on the road trip type of game, but we weren’t very good,” forward Logan Couture said. “I figured when we got home we’d play a little bit better.”
That didn’t happen last season when San Jose had the league’s top road record but lost more regular-season home games than any playoff team. The Sharks are changing that script early this season with a 4-0 home start.
“I know we’ve struggled in this building for whatever reason,” Wingels said. “No excuses. Is it nice to have a different effort and a different result this year? Absolutely. We’re going to build on it, and try to string five, six, or seven in a row.”
Joonas Donskoi also scored and Joe Thornton added an empty-netter as the Sharks picked up where they left off last spring from that all-home team series against the Predators. Martin Jones made 27 saves.
James Neal scored for the Predators, who have lost six of their past seven games and are 0-5 on the road. Pekka Rinne made 23 saves.
“We just feel like we’re just not playing up to our potential right now,” captain Mike Fisher said. “We know we’re a better team. When you’re not getting the results it’s frustrating.”
This game turned quickly early in the second period. Jones started it when he stopped Craig Smith on a breakaway after a defensive breakdown by teammate Melker Karlsson.
The Sharks then quickly drew the game’s first power play when Yannick Weber was called for cross checking. San Jose took just 6 seconds to cash that in for a goal when Thornton won the faceoff. Brent Burns’ point shot went wide off the back boards, but Pavelski knocked the rebound into the crease and it deflected off Rinne and into the net.
Before the fans were even done celebrating that goal, San Jose got another fortunate bounce when David Schlemko’s shot hit teammate Michael Haley and went straight to Wingels, who knocked it into the open net for his first goal of the season.