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 Columbus beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 Wednesday at SAP Center to win
for the third time in five games as visitors under the direction of
new head coach John Tortorella. The Blue Jackets remain 0-5 at home.
"We talked about it, playing a full 60 (minutes)," Blue Jackets left
winger Brandon Saad said. "We saw it right off the bat. We knew they
come out flying in this building, and we wanted to match that
intensity, so we did a good job tonight."
The loss was San Jose's sixth in the past eight games. What was more
of a concern was how the Sharks (6-6-0) came out flat to start a
four-game homestand against a team that is considerably lower in the
standings.
"I thought the first 10 minutes of the game we were standing and
watching," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "I don't know the reason
for that. Once we got into the game, our desperation level was as
good or better than theirs. But we can't play a 40-minute game."
Columbus scored twice within a 29-second span of the late second
period to break a 2-2 tie and chase San Jose starting goalie Martin
Jones in the process. Backup goalie Alex Stalock took over to start
the third period, but he had long vacated the goal for an extra
attacker when Columbus left winger Matt Calvert scored into an empty
net at 18:21.
"Not good enough, obviously," Jones said when asked to access his
play. He faced 21 shots and allowed four goals. "Fragile team, we
give up an early goal and a couple soft ones in the second. We need
to be better, everyone needs to be better. I thought we got
outworked tonight. At the end of the day, everyone has to be a
little bit better."
Stalock stopped both shots that he faced.
Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky turned away 41 shots, including
all 18 he faced in the third period, for the victory.
"We found a way," Tortorella said. "The most important thing, I
thought Bob was outstanding."
On the key late-second period tiebreaking sequence, center Boone
Jenner scored his second of the night with a shot between the legs
of Jones, who was late to the front of his net at 18:32. Jones
stopped a Columbus dump-in, but left winger Scott Hartnell deflected
San Jose defenseman Brent Burns' clearing attempt out front to
Jenner.
Then, with just 58.9 seconds remaining, defenseman Ryan Murray
scored his second goal of the season with a screen shot from the
high slot that sailed over Jones' shoulder.
"We did all the right things," Murray said. "The bounces came in our
direction. The play was in our favor a lot."
Columbus broke a 1-1 tie earlier in the second period, when Hartnell
scored on a spectacular shot at 8:54. He skated behind the net
toward the left circle, and with San Jose right winger Mike Brown
draped on him, Hartnell whirled to his left and roofed his fifth
goal over the right shoulder of a surprised Jones.
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San Jose tied the game 2-2 at 11:56 when rookie left winger Joonas
Donskoi stripped Columbus left winger Nick Foligno on the boards and
fed Joe Pavelski for a mini-breakaway that the right winger turned
into his team-leading eighth goal and second of the night.
Three failed power plays followed but gave the Sharks sustained
momentum for the first time in the game until the final two minutes
of the period, when everything fell apart.
"A couple bad bounces, rolling pucks, whatever," Pavelski said. "You
fight through that, it happens. Sometimes they go your way. We just
have to work to have them on our side a little more."
The Sharks tied the game late in the first period on a Pavelski tip
during a period otherwise dominated by the Blue Jackets.
Columbus enjoyed back-to-back power plays during the first five
minutes, and it converted with San Jose defenseman Brenden Dillon in
the box for holding Foligno. Saad pounced on a rebound of center
Brandon Dubinsky's shot and muscled his fifth goal of the season
past Jones at 6:11.
Late in the opening period, Pavelski extended his goal-scoring
streak to a career-high five games by fending off Murray to tip
defenseman Justin Braun's point drive past Bobrovsky at 18:56 to tie
the game at one.
NOTES: Injured Sharks C Logan Couture told CSN Bay Area he's
"definitely making progress" following surgery to repair a broken
right fibula sustained Oct. 15 during a practice in New Jersey.
Couture has progressed to wearing a walking boot after spending two
weeks on crutches. He is not expected to return before Dec. 1,
though. San Jose was 3-5 without Couture before Tuesday. ... The
Blue Jackets cap an all-California trip with games Thursday in Los
Angeles and Friday in Anaheim. ... San Jose promoted D Karl Stollery
from their AHL affiliate in San Jose and assigned D Dylan DeMelo to
the Barracuda. ... C Ben Smith is day-to-day with a head injury
after suffering a relapse Saturday in Dallas. ... Columbus C
Alexander Wennberg is out with a lower-body injury. RW Rene Bourque
and D Dalton Prout were healthy scratches for the Blue Jackets.
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