San Jose Sharks: Marleau, Jones Power Sharks Past Ducks
Heading into the 2015-16 season, all of the focus in the Pacific Division was centered around Southern California. The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks were considered the favorites while the San Jose Sharks were an afterthought with regards to their division rivals.
After the first two games of the new season, it’s the Sharks who have made the opening statement. Fresh off a 5-1 victory over the Kings on opening night, San Jose responded by shutting out the two-time defending Pacific Division champions 2-0 at SAP Center on Saturday night.
The Sharks used two goals from Patrick Marleau while Martin Jones continued his dazzling display between the pipes. After an evenly played first 40 minutes, Marleau broke the scoreless deadlock with a rebound attempt that he fired short side past Anaheim netminder Frederik Andersen with just 39 seconds remaining in the second.
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Marleau was San Jose’s best forward on the night, taking home first star honors after firing seven shots on net and scoring the game’s only goals in just under 20 minutes of action. He provided the insurance on the night after a great individual effort.
After being caught out on his shift in the defensive end, Marleau held on to the puck along the near side boards before skating around the net and wrapping one past Andersen. It’s a great sign for Marleau to get going early on after enduring one of the worst seasons of his career last year. If he can play like this every night, the Sharks will be in for a good season.
In their own end, Jones was solid yet again, thwarting Anaheim’s potent offense. He was at his busiest during the second period when he stopped 15 Ducks attempts, including rebound saves on Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler in tight.
After allowing a goal on the first shot he faced as a member of the Sharks, Jones now carries a shutout streak of 118 minutes and 11 seconds, while posting a save percentage of .979 and a goals-against-average of 0.50. He’s been everything and more that San Jose could have hoped for through two games.
As a team, this Sharks outfit is much deeper and playing the kind of pressure hockey Peter DeBoer wants to see. San Jose increased their shot totals in each period, highlighted by outshooting Anaheim by a 17-3 margin in the final frame. Their depth wore down the Ducks, and if not for some highlight saves from Andersen, this one could have been a much different game.
After picking up a pair of big wins against their rivals, San Jose sits atop of the division and has made a strong preliminary statement that this team is different from the one that fell apart last year.
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