Birthday boy Burns playing strong two-way hockey for Sharks

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EDMONTON -– Love it or hate it, it’s right there for all to see every gameday morning. The much-maligned plus-minus rating.

On the top sheet of the media game notes beside every player’s name is listed goals, assists, points and plus-minus, in that order. Penalty minutes take final priority.

The plus-minus doesn’t go unnoticed by players, including Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, who found himself with what is referred to in hockey dressing room jargon as a “dash-15” on Jan. 7. In other words, despite all of the offense Burns had created up to that point with 16 goals and 34 points in 37 games, the Sharks had given up 15 more goals when he was on the ice than they had scored at even strength.

To be sure, not all of those goals-against were the fault of Brent Burns. Pete DeBoer correctly pointed out that the Sharks had given up several empty-net goals while searching for a late equalizer with Burns on the ice. But it was still an indication that Burns’ risks in the offensive zone may have been costing the club on the other end, and the eye-test revealed he was often finding himself in the wrong place on the ice surface as the puck was entering the back of the Sharks’ net.

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“Yeah, you pay attention to it, it’s right on this big sheet here every day,” Burns said on Monday morning in Calgary, eyeing the game notes. “I think there’s a lot of other variables that go into it. ... But, it’s a stat everybody pays attention to. People that don’t know hockey as well pay more attention to it, because they don’t understand all the intricacies that go into it.”

Regardless of how much weight should be put into plus-minus -– some say it’s completely useless, while other hockey people still consider it worthwhile –- Burns has managed to bring his rating all the way back to even after Sharks wins against the Flames and Oilers this week in which he was a plus-two in each.

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His plus-15 rating is the second-best mark in the league since Jan. 7. Only partner Paul Martin's plus-16 is better.

Burns’ play for the past two months is one of the biggest reasons the Sharks have enjoyed a second half surge that has them in position to challenge for the Pacific Division title down the stretch. Now that he’s one and three-quarter seasons past his productive stint as a left wing, Burns is seemingly playing the best two-way hockey of his career as he hits his 31st birthday on Wednesday.

“For him, the offensive part of the game is always going to be there, whether it’s power play or [getting] up the ice and making plays,” Martin said. “He has that skill set to create a lot on his own and capitalize on the opportunities. I think with him, he’s just been just a little more comfortable playing the game, as far as whether it’s in our own end or in the neutral zone.”

Burns said: “If you’re dash-20, dash-15, it’s a tough stat. But, I don’t feel like I’m a defensive liability, or have been all year. I think I concentrate on that part of my game, taking time to figure things out after being a winger.”

Burns recently broke out of a string of 16 straight games without a goal, but then scored one in each of the last four games before Tuesday in Calgary. In his last five games he has nine points (4g, 5a), and continues to lead the NHL in goals by defenseman with 24. His 60 points are second only to Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson (68).

“He’s finding the holes right now like he was earlier in the year, and we need that,” DeBoer said of Burns’ recent goal streak.

If he continues down the path he’s been on lately, Burns should end up on Canada’s World Cup team, joining teammate Marc-Edouard Vlasic. He may even find himself in the Norris Trophy discussion as the league’s best defenseman at the end of the season, too.

In 2014-15, despite 60 points, Burns garnered just a single fourth place vote for the Norris. The biggest reason? That minus-nine rating listed a little further down the line.

“It’s a roller coaster, hockey,” Burns said. “You’ve just got to ride the wave. It’s going to be up and down, you’ve got to ride the high and get through that low.”

Right now, Burns is cruising comfortably on the top of that crest.

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