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Quick Bites: Big guns finally show up for San Jose in win over Canadiens

After a slow start to the season for Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, both linemates picked up a goal and an assist as the Sharks downed the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5-2 at SAP Center.

Early in the first period, Justin Braun took a shot from the point that found Tomas Hertl’s stick for a deflection in front of the net. The tip went wide and bounced to Logan Couture, who was to the left of Carey Price. After Price bit hard to his near post, Couture then proceeded to go right around the best goaltender in the world, sliding the puck into a mostly empty net for his second of the season.

Just 16 seconds later, Artturi Lehkonen made a move around Justin Braun and found the newly-acquired Jonathan Drouin in a dangerous area. Drouin quickly snapped it over the glove of Martin Jones for his second tally of the year.

Each of the Sharks’ four forward lines found a way to put decent pressure on Montreal, but the score remained 1-1 after the first.

Just 53 seconds into the second, Kevin LaBanc took a shot from the blue line that caught Pavelski’s skate in front of the net. A little bit of puck luck saw the puck bounce off Shea Weber’s knee and go into the net for Joe’s first of the season. Nothing like a lucky bounce to get the Captain off the schneid.

The Sharks were then given an extended 5-on-3, which lead to Hertl deflecting a changeup past Carey Price as the penalties expired.

Shortly after, the Canadiens were finally able to draw their first power play of the game. The Habs made quick work of their man advantage, setting up Shea Weber for a slap shot that (probably) went over 100 MPH past Martin Jones.

The Sharks responded by continuing to stay the course, and kept getting bodies in front of Carey Price. An offensive zone faceoff win lead to a shot from the point from Tim Heed, which lead to a scramble in front of Price. Joe Pavelski was somehow able to kick the puck over the Logan Couture, who had the pleasure of finishing on the back of the net for the second time in the game. The Sharks finished a solid second period and took a comfortable 4-2 lead into the dressing room at the second break.

The Sharks kept their composure in a physical third period, and Joe Thornton was able to seal the win with an empty-net goal, his first of the season.

Notes

  • Tim Heed picked up his first National Hockey League point with an assist on Logan Couture’s second goal of the game.
  • Kevin LaBanc increased his scoring streak to three games after picking up his second assist of the season.
  • Martin Jones made 28 saves to earn his second win of the year.
  • The Sharks will continue the month of October playing against only Eastern Conference foes, and now have a 2-2 record against teams from the East this season./
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