San Jose wouldn’t panic and responded like they’ve done this entire road trip. Marleau and the many other offensive weapons for the Sharks will have their work cut out for them against the Blue Jackets, who have won four of their last five.
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San Jose took a quick 2-0 lead in scoreboard tributes, as the Penguins paid homage to Sharks defenseman Paul Martin’s return early in the first period and to San Jose left winger Patrick Marleau after he recorded his 1,000th career point at 7:54. San Jose’s Patrick Marleau recorded a pair of assists in the contest to become the 83rd player in National Hockey League history to reach 1,000 points and the 16th to do it all with one team.
Burns has seven goals this year, and the Sharks have won the first five games of a season-high six-game trip that ends Sunday night against Columbus. The Penguins were coming off back-to-back victories after dropping three of four.
Martin Jones has been the story for at least the last couple games, following up a 34-save shutout by stopping a bucket of Penguins shots (more precisely 38 out of 39).
Marleau now has 13 points in 20 games this season. Burns to a feed from Martin and skated down the right-hand board and wristed one past Fleury who was obstructed by a perfectly-timed screen by Ward in front.
Still, when it happened Saturday night during the Sharks’ 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, it took him aback a bit and made him reflect.
A win in the finale would give the Sharks six straight on the road for the first time since a nine-game run in 2009-10. He was drafted second overall in 1997 – a draft that was held in Pittsburgh, in the now-razed Civic Arena.
“It’s something I will remember always”, Marleau said in an interview in between periods. His appearance for Columbus on Sunday was his first in the National Hockey League since April 2010, when he played for the Boston Bruins.
Without the guidance of their head coach, the San Jose Sharks left Pittsburgh in the same fashion that they arrived, and did it with a little fanfare. Brandon Saad opened the scoring on the power play, and a quick two-goal burst late in the second period provided the Blue Jackets with a few separation. About 2 minutes later, the Islanders were called for too many men and Travis Hamonic was given a game misconduct penalty, setting up Pacioretty’s power-play empty-netter.
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Spott and fellow assistants Bob Boughner, and Johan Hedberg jointly handled the coaching duties for the Penguins game, with Hedberg on the bench on a headset with team video coach Dan Darrow. For the second game in a row, Pittsburgh scratched RW Daniel Sprong and D David Warsofsky.
