
WASHINGTON – First, a quick glance at Sharks goalie Martin Jones’ updated stat line following a 31-save blanking of the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Verizon Center:
3-0 record, 0.33 goals-against average, .987 save percentage, two shutouts.
You don’t need Larry David to tell you that that’s pretty, pretty, pretty good.
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[RECAP: Instant Replay: Sharks stay hot, blank Capitals in DC]
Jones has been a standout performer among a team of standout performers through the first three games. He’s shutting the door on the opposition, but he also seems to be giving his team confidence, something that it lacked for much of last season. For the second straight game, Jones faced some quality scoring chances early on, turned them all away, and his club took over from there.
It happened gradually in a 2-0 win over the Ducks on Saturday. Against the Caps, it happened much more quickly. A little more than four minutes into the game, seeing his first rubber of the night, Jones absorbed a hard shot from Jason Chimera between the circles after a giveaway by Joe Thornton. A few minutes later with it still scoreless, he held the line against Tom Wilson on a two-on-one.
The Sharks took over midway through the first and continued to build momentum in the second on their way to a fairly painless 5-0 win.
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“The handful of chances we gave up early in the game were quality – guys in alone. He made a couple big saves,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “If they score on those, it’s probably a different game.”
Captain Joe Pavelski said: “We know he’s been there. He gives us confidence. You don’t want to give him a couple looks like we’ve given him over the last few games but when he makes that save it allows us, if we haven’t been going to get going or to continue with the pressure. That’s what’s happened the last few games.”
Jones didn’t seem to mind that he was tested early in what was the first of a four-game road trip for San Jose. He agreed that the Chimera stop helped him to get his focus right away.
“Obviously we want to limit our turnovers in our own zone, but you get a couple saves early under your belt – I thought we played really well after that,” Jones said.
The Sharks continue to get quality minutes from their bottom six, too. Thornton’s power play goal opened the scoring in the first, but it was Mike Brown and Tomas Hertl who tallied second period goals to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead. Matt Nieto and Chris Tierney added empty netters late.
“For us, it’s playing that fourth line hockey – getting the puck in deep, creating the energy, and not being a liability,” Brown said. “As of now, we’re cycling the puck, getting the puck to the net, and doing everything we need to do.”
DeBoer said: “We had great depth contributions tonight. … That’s part of having a deep lineup is you get different lines that are contributing, and that’s a key to any team to having success in this league.”
While the final score was lopsided, it’s worth noting that the Capitals were significantly shorthanded. Alex Ovechkin was scratched due to personal reasons, while Nicklas Backstrom has been out with a hip injury.
For comparison’s sake, think the Warriors without Steph and Klay.
Still, the Sharks were facing some difficult circumstances themselves, including a cross-country flight on Monday and not much time to get acclimated to the time change.
“Our first period was excellent, for [having traveled],” Pavelski said. “First game of the road trip, we wanted to get off to a good start, and we did.”
Jones said: “This was a big game for us. … These long road trips, you can kind of get some momentum early.”
The Sharks have plenty of that headed into their three games in the New York area this weekend, thanks in large part to their goalie.