Sharks at Blue Jackets
The San Jose Sharks set a franchise record for road wins last year en route to posting the league's best mark away from home (28-10-3). After raising the Western Conference championship banner in a triumphant opener, the Sharks begin a five-game trek against Eastern Conference opponents on Saturday when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets.
"We kept it simple, we stayed patient," veteran center Joe Thornton told the San Jose Mercury News. "Once you get that feeling that you can go into any building and win, that's a big confidence to have and we grabbed that early on." While a Stanley Cup rematch against Pittsburgh (Thursday) highlights the road trip, San Jose must keep its focus against a Columbus team that earned a split in the season series in 2015-16. After losing their first eight games in 2015-16, the Blue Jackets stumbled out of the blocks on Thursday with a 6-3 setback to Boston. Fiery coach John Tortorella showed (rare) restraint by announcing on Friday that he would keep the lines intact as opposed to last season when he "would've had the blender out."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN-California (San Jose), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (1-0-0): Logan Couture collected a power-play goal and an assist in San Jose's 2-1 victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday and recorded a pair of two-goal performances against Columbus last season. Defenseman Brent Burns picked up where he left off from last year's career season (27 goals, 75 points) with a tally versus the Kings and also scored in a 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets on Nov. 22. While the studs were front and center, coach Peter DeBoer frequently rolled four lines out on the ice as a way to keep the team fresh. "As a staff, we came in and we want to start that way and give everyone an opportunity," DeBoer told CSNBayArea.com. "I think we all realize that we play our best when we're not chasing matchups or trying to hide guys."
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (0-1-0): Seth Jones joined Alexander Wennberg with a goal and an assist apiece, but the former struggled at the other end of the ice along with defense partner Zach Werenski. Brandon Dubinsky also had a rough night with a career-worst minus-5 rating, prompting the veteran center to take himself to task on Friday. "I just didn't play very well," Dubinsky said. "I pride myself on being consistent and being ready and playing the right way every night. For me, I wasn't hard enough on the puck or in battles. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be one of the guys who stops momentum swings and gets it going the right direction for my line."
OVERTIME
1. Columbus' Dalton Prout is expected to draw into Saturday's game in place of fellow D Ryan Murray, who was injured while blocking a shot in the season opener.
2. The Sharks recalled Ryan Carpenter from the San Jose Barracuda and assigned fellow F Timo Meier to the American Hockey League club.
3. Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky looks to rebound after yielding five goals in the opener versus San Jose, against which he is 5-2-2 with a shutout in nine career encounters