SAN JOSE – In an important rebound performance, the Sharks handled the Winnipeg Jets fairly easily in a 5-2 victory at SAP Center on Monday afternoon. They put an end to a stretch of losing five of seven (2-4-1), and have now won three of their last five (3-2-0). Here are the three main points we're taking away from the game…
1 – Third line leads the way
We focused on Joel Ward in our primary game recap yesterday, as Ward's performance and the play he made on the second goal stood out. But Ward's linemates Timo Meier and Chris Tierney also put an end to lengthy scoring droughts, as Meier got a goal for the first time in 13 games and Tierney got one for the first time in 14 games.
All three players had two points, with a goal and an assist each, while Tierney and Ward were each a plus-three (Meier was a plus-two).
"Obviously for a forward you want to score goals but sometimes you just have to be patient," Meier said. "It's my first season in the NHL and [I'm trying to] stay patient, work hard and just keep going and do the little things right. I know it will build up to success if I do the little things right."
Tierney was in need of a strong game maybe more than anyone else, as he continues to fill in on the third line for an injured Tomas Hertl, who still has no official timeline to return. Tierney had just one point, an assist, since scoring that goal against the Senators on Dec. 14 headed into Monday.
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He liked the way his line was working.
"Both those guys on the wing are big heavy guys," he said. "They get in the corners, they win puck battles. They go to the net hard, they get pucks out of our own end. It's pretty easy."
Here's one stat we missed on the postgame sheet, too: Ward was a perfect nine-for-nine in the faceoff circle.
2 – Don't underestimate the goaltending
While everyone got a laugh at Martin Jones' failed try at an empty net goal in the closing seconds, Jones was as important a player the Sharks had on Monday. The Sharks looked like they were taking some time to get into the game, perhaps unaccustomed to the early start, and Jones made some point-blank saves to keep it scoreless before Ward's shorthanded score.
"They came out ready to play," Pete DeBoer said of the Jets. "The first five minutes Jonesy made some big saves, allowed us to kind of get our legs going. And then I thought we really started to play."
On the other end, goalie Michael Hutchinson wasn't nearly as sharp. He was off his angle on Ward's goal, and on Brent Burns' power play goal, he failed to read the shot going wide and it deflected in off of the back of his skate.
I tweeted before the game that it seems like there are more NHL teams than usual that are dealing with goaltending problems these days. In fact, the Jets got so desperate after Monday's game that they recalled former starter Ondrej Pavelec from the AHL. The Sharks clearly don't have that problem, so long as Jones remains healthy. Jones' importance to this team simply can't be overstated, and it was proven again on Monday.
3 – Slowing down the Jets
Several players spoke about how the Sharks were able to slow down the Jets, who possess some pretty speedy players, after that initial push. Winnipeg beat the Sharks twice last season in three meetings.
"I just thought once we got pucks in [deep], [we had] some poise to hold on to it and make plays, just slow them down a little bit." Ward said. "They're a fast team obviously, really good on transition. If we could play in their end a little bit and frustrate them a little bit mentally, we'd get some chances."
Jones said: "I think after the first 10 minutes we really started taking over the game. We did a good job slowing them down. They're a really fast team with some good forwards. We did a great job through the neutral zone, kind of eliminating their speed."
