That was fun. It looked like the Sharks’ winning streak was going to end at five, but instead four unanswered goals in the third period gave them a 5–3 victory to cap a perfect 6–0 road trip for the first time in franchise history.
Playing just 19 hours after stepping off the ice in Pittsburgh, the Sharks got off to a fast start, dominating play for the vast majority of the first period. All four lines had scoring chances on Sergei Bobrovsky before the second line cashed in at 16:27 when Patrick Marleau tapped in Joonas Donskoi’s rebound for his seventh goal of the season.
Marleau goal, 1-0 Sharks pic.twitter.com/oOSqdrCrkG
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 22, 2015
Patty’s 1002nd career point gave the Sharks a 1–0 lead for the fifth time on the road trip and capped a first period that saw the Sharks lead shots 10–5 and shot attempts 26–11 (19–8 at even strength). It helped to constantly be starting with the puck; San Jose also won 15 of 20 faceoffs in the first.
The second period was not so kind to the Sharks. Columbus came out strong, and San Jose began to look like a tired team playing its second game in 24 hours and sixth game in ten days on the road. The Jackets tied the game up five and a half minutes into the period when Ryan Johansen lifted a puck past Alex Stalock, and Boone Jenner made it 2–1 a little over a minute later off a perfectly-executed 3-on-2. Overall, Columbus attempted 28 shots in the second to the Sharks’ 15.
The Blue Jackets extended their lead to 3–1 just 83 seconds into the third on a goal by Cam Atkinson that was upheld when Pete DeBoer used his coach’s challenge to see if Scott Hartnell interfered with Stalock.
Things weren’t looking good for San Jose, but they weren’t done yet. A little less than five minutes after the Atkinson goal, Joe Pavelski made it a one goal game with a Pavelskian tip of a Justin Braun shot from the blue line.
Pavelski deflects the puck in, Sharks trail 3-2 in the 3rd period pic.twitter.com/WOUlPR3S7k
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 23, 2015
Five minutes after that, Brent Burns made us all forget about the power play’s recent struggles when he blasted a shot off a gorgeous pass from Joel Ward to tie the game.
Brent Burns PPG ties the game pic.twitter.com/MCDNln9RNp
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 23, 2015
Just like that, the game was knotted at 3–3, but the Sharks still weren’t done. Brenden Dillon scored his first goal of the year on a shot that bounced off a couple of Blue Jackets on its way past Bobrovsky. The goal gave San Jose a 4–3 lead with a little under seven minutes to play.
Dillon goal, 4-3 Sharks pic.twitter.com/vDW1JG8dom
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 23, 2015
The stunned Blue Jackets pulled Bobrovsky with less than a minute and a half to go, and Pavelski scored his second goal of the night into the empty net to ice the game for the Sharks. Per @SharksStats on Twitter, this was the first time in their history the Sharks swept a road trip longer than four games. They’ll be back in action at home on Wednesday night, but for now, it’ll be a very happy flight back to San Jose.
Sharks goals (assists): Patrick Marleau (Joonas Donskoi, Joel Ward), Joe Pavelski (Justin Braun, Marc-Edouard Vlasic), Brent Burns (Joel Ward, Patrick Marleau), Brenden Dillon (Chris Tierney), Joe Pavelski (unassisted)
[Fancy Stats] – [Blue Jackets’ Reaction] – [Event Summary] – [TOI Log] – [Faceoff Report] – [PBP Log]
Fear the Fin’s Three Stars
1) Joe Pavelski
2) Brent Burns
3) Brenden Dillon
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