Power play propels Sharks past Blue Jackets
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Goalie Martin Jones made 24 saves and the San Jose Sharks struck twice on the power play for a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at SAP Arena on Thursday.
Jones flirted with his first shutout of the season and 14th of his career before Columbus' Scott Hartnell beat San Jose defenseman Justin Braun to a loose rebound to score at 17:10.
Tomas Hertl scored his third goal of the season at 10:39 of the third period in what turned out to be the game-winning goal. The tip in front came 1:26 into a tripping penalty on Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson.
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and David Schlemko picked up assists. Schlemko, who assisted on San Jose's early goal, posted his first two points as a member of the Sharks after signing a four-year contract as a free agent in the offseason.
Hertl scored again into an empty net with less than a second remaining for the final.
The goal came just over four minutes after an apparent Brenden Dillon goal was wiped away following a long review to determine Sharks forward Chris Tierney was offside well before the defenseman's screened shot beat Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at 6:18.
The Sharks scored the only goal of the opening period as right winger Joonas Donskoi converted a power play past the midway point of the session to score his first goal of the season.
With Columbus defenseman Markus Nutivaara off for holding Sharks right winger Joel Ward, San Jose's top power-play unit kept the puck in the Blue Jackets' end for the first 1:13 of the five-on-four advantage. However, it was the second unit that struck for the tiebreaking goal.
Schlemko held Seth Jones' attempted clearance in along the boards, then hit Donskoi with a cross-ice feed. The second-year forward beat Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle at 12:59.
It marked the first point as a Shark for Schlemko, who signed a four-year free-agent deal in the offseason.
San Jose's penalty kill bent but did not break as the Blue Jackets put a combined seven shots on goal -- more than half of their period's total of 13 -- during two power plays in the first period.
Not only did the teams play a scoreless middle period, but they retired to their locker rooms with 2:42 remaining when the lights went dim. It was fitting for a period in which Columbus' Bobrovsky was basically lights out.
The Sharks had several grade-A chances go awry. Bobrovsky robbed San Jose pinching defenseman Brent Burns, who one-timed a brilliant Chris Tierney feed into the netminder's pads at 7:44. Bobrovsky got help when Melker Karlsson's blast struck a post at 9:12.
San Jose defenseman Brenden Dillon missed the net before Bobrovsky made two nice stops on Schlemko and Joe Pavelski in close.
NOTES: Nineteen-year-old D Zach Werenski, chosen eighth overall in 2015, is the Blue Jackets' first rookie to have points (two goals, three assists) in each of his first four games. ... Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella shuffled his bottom three lines in an effort to find more offense. LW Boone Jenner moved from the fourth line to the second where LW Matt Calvert dropped to the third and LW Scott Hartnell was bumped to the fourth. ... Columbus' six even-strength goals through its first five games ranked last in the NHL before Thursday. ... The Sharks were 24-2 all-time at home against the Blue Jackets. ... Columbus D Ryan Murray (upper body), RW David Clarkson (back) and G Joonas Korpisalo (groin) remain out. San Jose has no injuries. ... San Jose closes a three-game homestand when it hosts the Nashville Predators on Saturday. ... Columbus caps a four-game trip Friday against the Ducks at Anaheim.