The Sharks scored four goals for the first time since their fifth game of the season and held on to beat the Kings 4-3. Their newest goal scoring threat came from within the organization as Brent Burns scored one and assisted on the game winner.
“He’s an animal out there” was Logan Couture’s description of the way his new line mate Brent Burns played tonight.
“He’s reckless, but in a good way. On forward he really doesn’t have to think, he just goes in there and plays his game. He’s a big body, he skates well, shoots well and I enjoy playing with him.”
Thursday’s meeting between these division rivals was the first of the season. We are officially on the back half of the shortened season and these two meeting this late is not normal…but nothing is this year. The Sharks won four of the six meetings against the Kings last time around including two games in a row to finish the 82 game schedule.
Thursday’s battle in San Jose was an exciting one for Sharks' fans. The game had a lot to cheer about and the Kings made it interesting scoring two goals and applying lots of pressure late in the final period.
The Sharks needed no other motivation than the obvious. They faced-off against the defending Stanley Cup champs, their next five games are on the road, they were on the outside looking in at a playoff spot coming into this game, they squared off against a division rival, and they aren’t intimidated by the Kings.
Brent Burns played his second game in a row at the forward position and Thursday he started with the top unit, which is where he finished the last game in St Louis after starting on the third line. Burns fit in well with Logan Couture and Joe Thornton and if you didn’t know any better you would think they have been playing together for years.
Also for the second consecutive outing Burns opened the scoring for the Sharks. Number 88 hit the post early in the first period before he lit the lamp and with line mates Logan Couture and Joe Thornton he looked as comfortable as peanut butter and jam. Brent Burns looked like he had more fun out there Thursday night than he has in a Sharks uniform.
“It was fun and different” quipped Burns in the post-game presser.
“The pressure is different when forward than playing D. You can try a lot more things as a forward than you can as a defenseman.”
San Jose got their power play going in the second period with goals from Matt Irwin and Logan Couture. The man advantage goals came on Jake Muzzin’s double minors for instigating and instigating with a visor.
Muzzin went after the Shark’s Andrew Desjardins after he steam rolled the Kings' Colin Fraser behind his net. Desjardins caught the King forward with his head down and executed a text book body check. This brought the crowd to their feet and the ensuing penalties were the nails in the coffin for the Kings.
Scoring details
1st period
SJ – 11:09 –EV – 88 B.Burns(2) – assists – 39 L.Couture(9), 12 P.Marleau(8)
2nd period
SJ – 7:07 –PP – 52 M.Irwin(3) – assists – 29 R.Clowe(9), 23 S.Gomez(5)
SJ – 8:34 –PP – 39 L.Couture(11) – assists – 19 J.Thornton(21), 22 D.Boyle(8)
LA – 9:48 –PP – 23 D.Brown(10) – assists – 11 A.Kopitar(16), 14 J.Williams(13)
3rd period
SJ – 0:27 –EV – 39 L.Couture(12) – assist – 88 B.Burns(1)
LA – 12:48 –EV – 23 D.Brown(11) – assists 14 J.Williams(14), 7 R.Scuderi(5)
LA – 16:40 –EV – D.King(2) – assists – 7 R.Scuderi(6), 5 K.Ellerby(2)
Turning point
The turning point in this game was without a doubt the monster hit that Desjardins dished out in the second period. After the fight that followed and the dust settled the Sharks had a four minute power play and scored on both minors.
Desjardins deserves credit for mixing things up and sparking his team. Not all pivotal points in a game are on the scoreboard and this was an example of a guy who hasn’t been scoring contributing to the team’s success.
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Brent Burns – scored his second goal of the year and added an assist on Couture’s goal. He displayed how fast he is by beating out an icing in the third period with tired players on the ice and appears to have instilled an air of confidence on the team. Welcome back to the Contender’s list Brent.
Logan Couture – makes the list for scoring two goals and adding a helper. He has been the model of consistency for this franchise and Thursday night he made it look easy.
Andrew Desjardins – makes the list for landing a game changing hit but he also took the decision on the fight that followed. Dezzy as his team mates call him drew the two power plays that the Sharks scored on.
Colin Fraser – makes the list for taking a snot loosening hit and returning to the game. The measure of the character of a player is not always how well he dishes them out but how well he takes them. On top of that Fraser didn’t pull any punches when asked about the hit after the game.
“It's a big hit...you know, he got me, I got no excuses. He hit me, he hit me good,” was Colin Fraser’s reaction to the game changing hit by Desjardins.
“You're allowed to hit, it's the NHL. I've got to kind of put the onus on myself to know he's coming which obviously I didn't so I'll take a clean hit. I mean if it was the other way around, I would have been trying to hit him just as hard."
Pretenders
Jake Muzzin – tallied 19 minutes of penalties and was watching from the sin bin when the Sharks scored two power play goals. Muzzin deserves some credit for dropping the gloves but he would have been better off getting a number and picking his spot.
Coach Darryl Sutter – makes the list for not talking to the press after the game. This was a show of poor sportsmanship from Sutter. It wasn’t like it was a blowout game and his team showed a lot of character to keep battling the way they did. Even his mumbles after games are important to people in the press.
The Sharks travel to LA to face the very same Kings they beat Thursday night. It is a home and home and if the next game is anything like tonight’s you won’t want to miss it. The puck drops at 7:30 Saturday night from the Staples center in LA.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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