Brent Burns Named San Jose Sharks November MVP

With the month of November now in the books, the San Jose Sharks recognized one of their front line players with a well-deserved honor. The Sharks announced that Brent Burns was the recipient of the Sharks Foundation Player of the Month award for his play during November.

Burns has continued his offensive dominance this season as he led San Jose with eight goals during the month of November, and tied for the team-lead with 14 points. He kicked off the month in strong fashion, scoring two goals while posting eight shots on goal in a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Towards the end of the month, Burns had a three-game goal scoring streak, beginning on Nov. 21 when he scored two goals as the Sharks downed the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 3-1 margin.

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Burns has seen his role expanded by Peter DeBoer as he ranks sixth in the NHL in total ice time per game at 26:21, which is an increase of almost two-and-a-half minutes from last season when he averaged just under 24 minutes per game.

With the addition of Paul Martin, Burns has been more defensively aware this year, although he could still use plenty of improvement in that area. However, his offensive skill set is still elite as he leads all defensemen with nine goals and is fifth with 20 points. Even more astounding, Burns is second in the league with 108 shots on goal which is remarkable for a defenseman in today’s NHL.

Now it wasn’t an easy decision as the captain Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and starting goaltender Martin Jones also had solid Novembers. Pavelski tied Burns with 14 points during the month (seven goals and seven assists) as he’s continued to assert himself as San Jose’s most consistent performer this year.

Meanwhile, it was a historic month for Marleau who endured trade rumors before scoring his 1,000th career point with the only franchise he’s ever known. Marleau doubled his output from October this past month when he registered six goals and six assists. He currently is riding a four-game goal scoring streak along with a five-game point streak.

Finally, Jones was steady yet again for San Jose between the pipes, going 7-4-0 with a .914 save percentage, including winning five out of six games on the Sharks’ historic sweep of their six-game road trip. Jones’ play garnered him NHL First Star of the Week honors for his play during the week ending Nov. 22.

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This is the fourth time that Burns has been selected as the Sharks Player of the Month, and with the way he’s playing, it won’t be the last time either.