Sharks 2, Devils 1 (SO)
NEWARK -- Goaltender Martin Jones made 31 saves to lead San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
Jones set the Sharks franchise record for consecutive scoreless minutes at 234:39. He had entered the game with a 178:11 shutout streak, only having yielded one goal in his three previous starts. That goal occurred 1:49 into San Jose's season opener, a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Oct. 7.
Left winger Patrick Marleau scored in regulation for San Jose, which improved to 4-0-0. The Sharks are one of four unbeaten teams in the NHL, along with Montreal, Minnesota and Detroit.
Center Joe Pavelski and defenseman Brent Burns scored in the shootout.
On the other end of the spectrum is New Jersey, which fell to 0-3-1.
Center Adam Henrique scored for New Jersey.
Henrique's power-play goal at 16:28 of the third period tied the game at 1-1. New Jersey fell behind almost immediately after the puck was dropped as Marleau scored his third of the season at 2:01 of the first period.
The goal came on San Jose's second shot of the game, and was the lone blemish on an otherwise sterling performance by Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, who made 33 saves.
Schneider's two most important stop came on a Marleau penalty shot late in the second period with the Devils trailing 1-0, and a left pad stop on Burns in overtime.
Marleau was hooked by New Jersey defenseman Andy Greene on a breakaway, but got off a shot that hit the netting behind the goal. Marleau was awarded a penalty shot and weaved his way toward Schneider, who took away the bottom of the net leaving virtually no shooting options for the San Jose left winger.
Schneider topped himself in overtime when he flashed his left pad to stonewall Burns, who dangled through the Devils to create a scoring opportunity.
Devils center Jacob Josefson appeared to tie the game with 48.5 seconds remaining in the second period, but the apparent goal was waived off as winger Stephen Gionta collided with Jones before the puck went into the net.
The 34th all-time meeting between San Jose and New Jersey also marked Sharks coach Pete DeBoer's first game against his former team. DeBoer compiled a 114-93-41 record with the Devils before being fired on Dec. 26, 2014. Under DeBoer, the Devils reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2012, where they lost in six games to the Los Angeles Kings.
San Jose hired DeBoer on May 28.
NOTES: San Jose GM Doug Wilson announced during the morning skate C Logan Couture will miss "4-6 weeks" with a "fractured right fibula." In the statement released by the team, Wilson said Couture "was injured in practice on Thursday in New Jersey and suffered a fractured right fibula at the ankle. He will return to San Jose to undergo surgery under the direction of Kaiser Permanente's medical team. ... The Sharks called up LW Nikolay Goldobin from AHL affiliate the San Jose Barracudas. ... New Jersey C Travis Zajac missed the game with a lower-body injury. ... San Jose scratched RW Joonas Donskoi and D Dylan DeMelo. ... New Jersey scratched LW Stefan Matteau and D Eric Gelinas.