Looking for their first win on home ice, accomplishing that against the best team in the NHL didn't exactly have the stars aligning in the Sharks favor. The response was something to behold as the Sharks dominated the Devils in 5-2 win at SAP Center on Thursday night. The Sharks 2nd line came alive with Alexander Wennberg, Philipp Kurashev and William Eklund combinging for 3 goals and 2 assists to lead San Jose.
San Jose jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then denied a motivated Devils lineup in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic played a big role in keeping the Devils at bay. he would finish with 29 saves to earn his 2nd win of the season.
The Sharks found themselves with an early 1-0 lead after Eklund converted a breakaway chance for his 5th goal of the season just 42 seconds into the game. Kurashev was credited with the lone assist on the play.
Kurashev scored his 3rd goal of the year at 12:12 after skating to the slot side of the left circle between the two hash marks and one-timing a Wennberg feed. Wennberg gathered a puck off the left wing boards before feeding his lineup for the helper.
Wennberg made it a 3-0 Sharks lead at 15:47 when a Mario Ferraro shot clipped him while he was perched on the left side. The puck found a small seam between Devils goaltender Jake Allen and the left post for his 3rd goal of the season.
Dmitry Orlov took a poor elbowing penalty with 2:13 left in the period to give New Jersey a bit of life. Dawson Merson made the most of the chance by redirecting a Jack Hughes shot Alex Nedeljkovic to cut the Sharks lead to 3-1.
New Jersey stormed back from a big deficit with a 2nd period push against Colorado on Tuesday night, so there were plenty of deep breaths as the faceoff puck dropped to start the middle frame.
New Jersey pushed all period but Nedeljkovic was up to the task. The Sharks goaltender turned aside all 13 shots he faced in the period to suppress the Devils comeback bid. He made a handful of saves of the top tier variety, but the majority were simply helped by solid positioning that had him square to the shooters.
After their all-out push, the Devils were smacked with a pair of Shark goals to put them in a 5-1 hole.
The Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini show had to get in on the scoring act. After winning a faceoff in the New Jersey zone, Celebrini shoveled the puck to the left side. Smith took two cracks at putting it past Allen, lifting the follow up chance over the Devil goaltender's right shoulder for his 4th of the season.
Tyler Toffoli pushed the Sharks lead to a 4-goal buffer with a deflection at 18:30. Timothy Liljegren threw a puck at the net but it was deflected over to Orlov on the left side. Orlov pumped a shot on net from the left wing boards, bouncing the shot off Toffoli.
The biggest hole in the Sharks game on Thursday was the penalty kill. New Jersey converted their 2nd of 3 power play chances 4:19 into the 3rd period on a 2nd Mercer goal of the game.
The Sharks would focus on their own end in the final period with their big lead. They would not register a single goal in the period, but their attention to holding a lead was a point of growth for a team that has struggled in that department this season.
If the Sharks can clean up the penalty kill, they may be on the right path.
Game Notes:
* Kyle McLaren, Jeff Friesen and Mark Smith dropped the ceremonial opening puck as part of Alumni Night that included the Sharks Heritage jerseys.
* Alexander Wennberg skated in his 800th career game.
* Dmitry Orlov showed off his agitator skills by getting under the skin of numerous Devils players. He was credited with 3 hits, but his play was more physical than the stats show.
* Former Shark Timo Meier was a non-factor on offense, but he led the Devils in hits with 5. New Jersey out-hit the Sharks 30-16.
* Ryan Reaves sustained a potential injury in the 3rd period. He was not on the Sharks bench for the majority of the period.
