NEXT GAME Sharks click on offense, net most goals in a game in two years in 7-2 rout WHAT A RUSH
SAN JOSE » Martin Jones stuck out his right pad and denied Anthony Duclair on a breakaway after Joakim Ryan coughed up the puck deep inside his own zone.
On the Sharks’ next rush up the ice, Joonas Donskoi broke in on a 2- on-1 and passed it to captain Joe Pavelski for a tap-in goal at the 12:14mark of the second period for what was then a four-goal San Jose lead.
It was that kind of night for the Sharks in their 7-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, where some key plays in one end led to a handful of scoring chances on oddman rushes at the other.
The victory marked the first time this season the Sharks had scored five goals or more in back-to- back games, after they topped Edmonton 5-2 on Tuesday.
“We talk about with Chicago, defending well and that we would get opportunities going the other way. That was kind of our mindset, and that’s pretty much what happened,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “Other than the first 10 minutes of the first period, I thought we defended well and hard, and that led to offense the other way.”
The Sharks’ offense has been hit-and-miss since late January, scoring four or more goals five times now in 17 games and two or less on seven other occasions.
Jones, though, has been as consistent as anyone wearing teal.
In his last 12 games before Thursday, Jones has a .938 save percentage and a 1.98 goals against average, second-best in the NHL for any goalie who has played at least five games.
Jones finished with 32 saves against the Blackhawks, and his stop on Duclair prevented Chicago from cutting the Sharks’ lead to 4-2 with plenty of time to go. Instead, it helped set the stage for Pavelski’s second goal of the night that gave the Sharks a 5-1 advantage.
“I thought I could poke check it initially, (Duclair) was pretty far away,” Jones said of the save. “But just try to scramble back and get a read. I think he was surprised a little himself. He kind of got jammed up and didn’t have a lot of room to work.”
Pavelski also scored at the 10:22 mark of the first period on assists from Brent Burns
and Donskoi. Defenseman Dylan DeMelo had three assists.
Others scoring for the Sharks were Logan Couture, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, Marc- Edouard Vlasic and Barclay Goodrow, as San Jose scored seven times in a regularseason game for the first time since January 2016, when it beat Toronto 7- 0. The Sharks also beat Edmonton 7- 0 in Game 4 of their first round playoff series last April.
Evander Kane, in second game with the Sharks, had another assist to follow-up his two assist effort Tuesday.
“Pucks found their way in, whether it was off their (defense) or guys made the plays,” Pavelski said. “It’s not going to be like that every night, but it’s good to see guys that do it the right way a lot of nights step up and get rewarded.”
Scoring the first goal for the Blackhawks was Artem Anisimov, who beat Jones high to the blocker side just 2:12 into the first period. After seven straight goals for the Sharks, Blackhawks forward Nick Schmaltz scored with 32 seconds to go.
With the win, the Sharks maintained sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division and improved to 2- 0 on their six- game homestand. They play Columbus on Sunday, followed by games against St. Louis and Washington before they close the homes- tand against Detroit on March 12.
“I don’t think we’ve executed like that off the rush in a long time, so thatwas really good to see,” Jones said. “Just try and build off that and keep this rolling here.”
• Center Eric Fehr missed Thursday’s game with a lower body injury. He is considered day-today. Marcus Sorensen, after being a scratch for four straight games, drew back into the lineup and started the game on the fourth line with Goodrow and Melker Karlsson. Goodrow took Fehr’s spot at center.
• Joel Ward, who has now missed 11 straight games with a shoulder injury, skated after practice Thursday. DeBoer said Ward is “progressing but not close.”
• Pavelski was named the Sharks Foundation’s Player of the Month for February. He had a teamhigh 15 points in 14 games last month.