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 San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones saw the puck all the way,
and he turned aside Kane's power-play blast. A few seconds later,
the Sharks gave their goaltender a rest by clearing the puck out of
the zone.
"That was kind of the theme all night," Jones said. "Guys did a
great job in front of the net."
Jones stopped all 33 shots he faced, leading the Sharks to a 2-0 win
over the Blackhawks on Tuesday night. He made 10 saves in the first
period, 12 saves in the second period and 11 saves in the third
period to post his fifth shutout of the season and the 12th of his
career.
In addition to stopping Kane's slap shot early in the third period,
Jones denied Blackhawks right winger Marian Hossa on a point-blank
opportunity late in the second period.
"He has been huge," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said of Jones. "We
want to be aggressive. When you're aggressive, there are some
breakdowns. When there are breakdowns, you need a save. I thought he
gave us at least a couple of those tonight."
Centers Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton each scored for the Sharks.
San Jose (28-20-4) earned its 10th win in the past 14 games and
improved to 18-8-2 on the road.
The loss ended a seven-game winning streak on home ice for Chicago
(36-17-4). The Blackhawks lost at the United Center for the first
time since Dec. 27 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 25 of 26 shots.
"We didn't have the same jump that we usually do," Crawford said.
"We had some chances. Brought the puck hard to the net and had some
other good plays in tight around the net. It was just one of those
games where the puck wasn't going in."
San Jose opened the scoring on a power-play goal by Marleau with
10:51 to go in the second period. Center Logan Couture zipped a
backhand pass to Marleau, who ripped a one-timer from in front of
the blue line for his 16th goal of the season and his first goal in
the past seven games.
Marleau chuckled when asked whether he believed that his goal midway
through the game would prove to be the difference.
"You don't think that going against these guys, with all the talent
that they have over there," Marleau said. "But Jonesy played a
(heck) of a game for us. It ended up being what we needed."
DeBoer praised Marleau for remaining positive despite a lengthy
scoring slump. Marleau scored for only the second time since Dec. 30
after scoring 14 goals in his first 35 games.
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"It was nice for him to get rewarded," DeBoer said.
Thornton added an empty-net goal with 1:42 left in the third period
to extend the lead. San Jose improved to 1-1-1 against Chicago in
the teams' third and final meeting of the regular season.
Chicago left winger Brandon Mashinter thought he scored with 2:37
remaining in the first period, but referees overturned the call
after a video review. San Jose successfully challenged that
Blackhawks center Dennis Rasmussen interfered with Jones in the
crease before the puck crossed the goal line. The no-goal ruling
prompted an angry outburst from Chicago coach Joel Quenneville.
After the game, Quenneville remained frustrated about the ruling.
"It's gone to a different level," Quenneville said. "I don't know
the rules anymore or something's changed because my understanding,
played a lot of hockey, that, I don't know. I think everybody has an
interpretation of what's a good goal and what's a bad goal, but I
can't believe it."
Jones said he believed Rasmussen interfered with him.
"It was a bouncing puck in front of the net, and their guy, my glove
got caught in his leg," Jones said.
San Jose scored on its only power-play opportunity. Chicago was
0-for-3 on the man advantage.
NOTES: Blackhawks LW Artemi Panarin missed his first game of the
season because of an illness. The 24-year-old rookie from Russia has
18 goals and 34 assists in 56 games this season. ... Sharks RW Mike
Brown was a healthy scratch for the fifth consecutive game. Brown
has one goal and two assists in 42 games this season. ... Blackhawks
LW Jiri Sekac replaced Panarin in the lineup after sitting out the
past two games. Sekac has appeared in three games since Chicago
acquired him from the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 21 in exchange for LW
Ryan Garbutt. ... Sharks D Matt Tennyson was a healthy scratch.
Tennyson has not played since Dec. 8 against Calgary.
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