Sharks 3, Oilers 0

[March 09, 2016]  By Rob Tychkowski, The Sports Xchange
 
 EDMONTON, Alberta -- The San Jose Sharks, continuing to flex their muscle in the second half of the season, dumped the resurgent Edmonton Oilers 3-0 Tuesday at Rexall Place.

James Reimer had the 31-save shutout in his second game for the Sharks. He was recently acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Logan Couture scored twice for the visitors.

San Jose was coming off an overtime win at Calgary on Monday. The Oilers were on a 4-1-0 roll, but the Sharks had no trouble improving their record to 19-5-4 in their past 28 games.

They started early, scoring 93 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, fresh off his NHL First Star of the Week honors, let in a bad one. He couldn't squeeze a long shot from Couture, lost it in his feet, and it was in the back of his net, courtesy of Couture's follow-up, before he knew what happened.

The Sharks went up 2-0 on a power play, with Couture needing just 10 seconds of five-on-four to score his second of the period at 15:50.

San Jose pulled away for good when Joe Pavelski deflected a point shot at 14:03 in the second period. Paveski also assisted on Couture's second goal.

Despite holding the Sharks to just 16 shots through 40 minutes, the Oilers were down 3-0 at the second intermission. The Sharks, now 25-0-2 when leading after two periods, had no problem closing this one out.

Edmonton finished with a 31-22 edge in shots.

Talbot made 19 saves.

NOTES: Oilers G Cam Talbot was named the NHL's first star of the week after going 3-0 with a shutout and a .650 goal against average and .981 save percentage last week. ... Sharks D Brent Burns was named the league's third star after scoring three goals and three assists in three games. ... Sharks LW Melker Karlsson is back in the lineup after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. ... San Jose G Martin Jones had the night off after making a career-high 47 saves Monday night in Calgary. James Reimer got the start in goal. ... Oilers D Brandon Davidson will be out "long term" after injuring his knee Sunday in Winnipeg. ... But D Oscar Klefbom, who's been out since mid-December with a staph infection in his leg, is skating in full equipment again. ... Oilers C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (broken hand) has been practicing hard for a week and will return either Saturday or Monday.

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