San Jose Sharks: Defense Paves The Way For Fifth Straight Win

The San Jose Sharks just keep rolling along ladies and gentlemen. In perhaps their most complete effort of their current road trip, it was the Sharks defense that paved the way for San Jose’s fifth straight victory.

The Sharks got two goals from Brent Burns and an insurance tally from his partner Paul Martin as San Jose downed the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Saturday night to improve to 5-0 on their six-game roadie. San Jose will look to make an even sweep tonight when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It was a milestone evening for the boys in teal as the longest tenured Sharks player in history recorded his 1,000th career point on the game’s opening goal. After winning a battle in the corner, Patrick Marleau fed Joel Ward whose shot was saved by Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury but his rebound went right to Burns who fired it home into the gaping net.

Burns immediately retrieved the puck and there were plenty of smiles all-around as Marleau’s teammates were clearly elated for his achievement.

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The Penguins would even things up in the second as their newest addition, Phil Kessel, would find a loose puck at the side of the net and deposit it past Martin Jones, who was spectacular between the pipes for the Sharks once again.

San Jose wouldn’t panic and responded like they’ve done this entire road trip. Burns to a feed from Martin and skated down the right-hand board and wristed one past Fleury who was obstructed by a perfectly-timed screen by Ward in front. The goal came about five minutes after Kessel’s and re-established the Sharks lead heading into the third period.

In the final frame, Martin provided San Jose with the insurance they needed when he took a shot from the left-point that Fleury saved but the puck rebounded in off his defensemen Ben Lovejoy, and the Sharks had the two-goal lead they coveted.

From there, it was the Jones show who made 38 saves on the night to record his fifth straight victory on this trip. Jones has regained his peak form that he displayed earlier in the year, and he’s now put together a four-game winning streak and a five-game winning streak within the first quarter of the season.

It was a complete team effort in this one as the Sharks received valuable contributions up-and-down the lineup. San Jose’s second line was particularly strong, headlined by Marleau’s two assist performance. Meanwhile, Jones was his stout self in net, erasing any mistakes that might’ve been made in front of him.

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All-in-all, this was another case of this Sharks team finding a different way to win on this road trip as they’ve pulled even with the Los Angeles Kings atop the Pacific Division with 24 points.

Now, the task for San Jose is a simple one: finish off what they’ve started on this trip and come home with a perfect 6-0 record and all 12 points.