Sharks open road trip by clipping Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The San Jose Sharks played as a well-oiled machine in the first contest of their five-game Eastern Conference road trip, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Saturday night.
Mikkel Boedker opened the scoring for the Sharks on a deflected centering pass from Logan Couture at 9:22. They ramped up the intensity and speed on the Blue Jackets, resulting in Joel Ward sniping the puck past Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky's outstretched right pad for a 2-0 lead at 14:54 of the first period.
The Blue Jackets raised their intensity, attempting to match that of the Sharks in the second frame. Bobrovsky stood on his head as he did his best to keep them in the game while the Sharks increased their shots-on-goal lead to 30-13.
For a second consecutive game, the Columbus' top line was not playing at the level expected of them, recording a collective minus-3 through two periods of play. Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner and Cam Atkinson were "awful" on Thursday, in the words of head coach John Tortorella. They didn't play much better against the reigning Western Conference champions.
San Jose's Brent Burns smoked Columbus' Nick Foligno in the crease early in the final stanza, resulting in a cross-checking penalty. Columbus took just 10 seconds of the ensuing power play to halve the deficit.
Zach Werenski, playing in just his second NHL game after being drafted No. 8 overall in the 2015 draft, snuck the puck past Sharks goalie Martin Jones for his first NHL goal. Alex Wennberg and Cam Atkinson assisted on Werenski's goal.
With Columbus on the penalty kill and Bobrovsky pulled, Partick Marleau gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead late in the game.
Columbus' Josh Anderson scored with 23 seconds remaining to pull within one goal of San Jose, resulting in the Sharks winning 3-2.
NOTES: Blue Jackets D Ryan Murray spent a little time on ice Saturday morning, but did not play. D Dalton Prout was in the lineup, paired with Markus Nutivaara ... Columbus D Cody Goloubef (oblique) was placed on injured reserve. RW David Clarkson (back), D Dillon Heatherington (wrist) and G Joonas Korpisalo (groin) were also out, ... Murray, D Scott Harrington and C Lukas Sedlak were scratched for Columbus ... The Sharks were the league's best road team (28-10-3) last season and reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history ... The Sharks are the oldest team in the NHL (28 years, 321 days), and the Blue Jackets are the youngest (25 years, 292 days) ... Four Sharks, C Joe Thornton, D Brent Burns, C Logan Couture and D Marc-Edouard Vlasic, played for the World Cup of Hockey-winning Team Canada. ... C Michael Haley, C Ryan Carpenter and D Dylan Demelo were the scratches for San Jose.