Sharks protect lead in win over Predators
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks built a three-goal lead thanks to forwards Joonas Donskoi, Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels and defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1 at SAP Center on Saturday night.
Goaltender Martin Jones made 27 saves for the Sharks (6-3-0), who improved to 4-0-0 at home this season and won their third straight game overall.
Right wing James Neal scored his first goal of the season for Nashville (2-5-1). Goaltender Pekka Rinne made 23 saves.
The Sharks and Predators faced each other for the first time since the Stanley Cup playoffs last season when San Jose won their second-round series in seven games.
Joe Thornton had an empty-net goal, his first goal of the season, with 1:20 left to play.
San Jose struck first, taking a 1-0 lead on Donskoi' s second goal of the season at 15:28 of the opening period. Center Logan Couture and defenseman Paul Martin had the assists.
Rinne stopped Couture' s shot from close range, but Donskoi jammed the rebound past him.
Sharks fourth-line center Chris Tierney squandered a great chance to extend San Jose' s lead with 1:50 left in the first. But with most of the net open, Tierney hit the left post with a shot from the slot.
The Sharks scored two goals in a span of 17 seconds in the second period, extending their lead to 3-0.
Pavelski scored an unassisted power play goal at 2:47, his fourth goal overall of the season. Sharks defenseman Brent Burns hammered a slap shot wide left of the net, and the puck hit the back boards and bounced to Pavelski, right of the crease.
Pavelski quickly banked a shot off Rinne. As the puck trickled toward the goal line, Rinne, trying to recover, knocked it over with his skate.
Wingels scored at 3:04 of the second. Rinne stopped Micheal Haley' s shot, but a wide-open Wingels put the rebound past Rinne with a backhand shot from the slot.
Nashville cut San Jose' s lead to 3-1 with 42 seconds left in the second period when Neal tipped defenseman Ryan Ellis' point shot past Jones for his first goal of the season.
NOTES: Sharks fourth-line LW Matt Nieto was a healthy scratch for the third straight game as LW Micheal Haley remained in the lineup. ... Nashville D Matt Irwin, a former Shark, faced his ex-team for the first time and played his second game as a Predator. Irwin skated on the third defensive pair with Yannick Weber, replacing Matt Carle, who was a healthy scratch again. Irwin played 153 regular-season and 13 playoff games for San Jose from 2012-13 to 2014-15. ... Sharks G Martin Jones made his eighth start in nine games this season. ... Predators RW Miikka Salomaki (upper body) missed his sixth straight game.