The San Jose Sharks have made the most of their current road trip, winning all six games they have played.
The Sharks started this trip in Detroit, with Martin Jones back in goal, despite having been pulled after 3:30 and two goals, in their previous game, against New York Islanders. “We needed him to bounce back,” Head Coach, Peter DeBoer said. “We needed him to give a solid performance.” In this game against the Red Wings, Jones received the second star of the game with his twenty eight saves.
First star of the game went to Joe Pavelski, who also got the third goal for the Sharks after he deflected Paul Martin’s shot from the blue line, over Jimmy Howard’s shoulder.
Game two, in Buffalo, saw Jones get another star (third this time), and Patrick Marleau getting the second. Marleau scored the game winning goal, 2:59 in to overtime. This goal came after Marleau, with team mate Tomas Hertl had been putting serious pressure on Chad Johnson, Marc-Edouard Vlasic out at the point provided the 
assistance needed to help clear a bit of the crush in front of goal. This was a two point game for Vlasic, after he’d opened the scoring with a power play goal within the first two minutes.
In Boston, it took just 42 seconds for the Sharks to get scoring underway, as Pavelski popped in a bouncer in front of the goal. This game, was a fairly high scoring game, where the first period ended 2-2, and the second ended 5-3 in favour of the Sharks. Bruins managed one more in the third, but it wasn’t enough. Martin received another assist in this game, with Hertl helping on Joonas Donskoi’s goal late in the first. Pavelski and Joe Thornton provided assists for Melker Karlsson. Brent Burns got his second point of the trip, with a masterful pass around his back to Vlasic at the point, whose shot was deflected, but the rebound was popped over Tukka Rask by Marleau.
Burns picked up a second assist 25 seconds later, Pavelski also getting a second assist and Thornton getting his first goal since 13th October (against Washington Capitals).
Moving on to Philadelphia, was a game with only one goal. This goal came in overtime, from a turnover deep in the Sharks end. Martin, scooping the puck out of the corner and sending it on to Donskoi who took the puck three quarters of the way down the ice and flicked it over the stick of the prone Michael Del Zotto, straight in to the path of Melker Karlsson, where it was flicked straight in to the net for his third of the season.
Jones received his third shutout of the season, as he saved all thirty four shots he had to face. DeBoer talking about the net minder’s contribution said “Tonight, it was a goalie win for us. You’ve got to get timely contributions at different points from everybody. No doubt Jones was our best guy tonight.”
Jones started in goal again, DeBoer not wanting to pull his winning net minder after four straight wins, and this win in Pittsburgh ties him for league wins this season with Washington Capitals, Braden Holtby.
Burns started the scoring, Marleau sending the puck out to Joel Ward in the faceoff circle, who blasted a shot in that was knocked away by Marc-Andre Fleury but Burns was there to send it back in. This assist gave Marleau his 1000th NHL point, the first player to do this in Sharks history.
Martin, who was a Penguin himself for five years, was honoured during the first period with a video tribute. Martin went on in the second, to pick up an assist, on another Burns goal, and then Martin received a goal in the third, giving him his first as a Shark. Donskoi sent the puck out to the blue line, and Martin smashed it back in. The puck bounced off of Fleury, and rebounded back off Ben Lovejoy, over Fleury and in to the goal.
Before tonight’s game, it is uncertain if DeBoer will be back on the bench, after being away in Pittsburgh for “personal” reasons, or if Jones will be starting again, after his seventh straight start. News about Logan Couture has been light, he was photographed getting on the plane when the Sharks left San Jose, and he skated yesterday for some conditioning. Despite original reports saying he would be out for four to six weeks, and now being five weeks in, there’s still no timetable for his return, but if he is now back on the ice it can only be a matter of time before he is back in the line-up.
San Jose finished off the roadie with a 5-3, come-from-behind win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Sunday evening. Pavelski scored twice in a four-goal rally in the third period that stunned the Jackets.
“They found energy in third and we didn’t for some reason,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. “A 3-1 lead and we lost it. To me that’s unacceptable.
“We didn’t play our best game but we played well enough to win, especially when you get the third goal like that. That’s a big lead to have. You have to find a way to close it out. I’m sick of these. We’ve got find ways to ways to get points. I’m tired of the way we’re losing.”
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