By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Sharks’ season has been up and down so far, with inconsistency all throughout the lineup. The offense is firing, and the special teams are starting to come together. But the defensive and goaltending struggles were costly for San Jose during this stretch of the season.

The pattern continued on Thursday night when Sharks returned home after a five-game long road trip and fell 5-4 to the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.

Sharks got an early lead in the game on a rare goal by Adam Burrish who put the puck into the top corner from the face off circle. Columbus defense did not make any effort to stop him as he was skating towards the net and Sharks player made the best out of this situation by scoring, after having not done so for over a year, and scoring just his second goal as a San Jose Shark.

Joe Pavelski added to the score with his third goal of the season during Sharks power play. Logan Couture shot the puck long from the blue line and Pavelski tipped it just enough to have it change direction and find a way into the net. As Couture got the puck from Patrick Mearlue, it meant that Marleau recorded his 500th career assist.

Ryan Johansen cut the lead to one when he scored at 8:22 in the second period. Holding onto the puck as he entered Sharks zone, he had no trouble passing Sharks defenseman Justin Braun and putting the shot with a backhander. The puck hit Antti Niemi back and went into the net.

Up to this point the Sharks had territorial advantage and were more sharp in the offensive zone but the goal seemed to have woken the Blue Jackets up. They tied the game few minutes later on a shorthanded chance, with Mark Letestu scoring on a breakaway after Sharks miscommunication, making it 2-2.

The bleeding did not stop and Blue Jacket took the lead in the game later, when Johansen scored again. Stealing the puck from Tye McGinn inside Sharks zone, silencing the crowd and stunning the home team.

The second intermission came in timely for the Sharks and they regrouped after the break. Whatever Todd McLellan said to the team worked, as they regained their focus and composure (even if for a period of time) and quickly tied the game at 3-3 on a goal by Joe Pavelski, his second in the game. Logan Couture put the Sharks back in the lead when he stole the puck from Cody Goloubef right in front of Columbus’ goal and put it past stunned Sergei Bobrovsky, making it 4-3 with 12 minutes remaining in the game.

The lead did not last too long as Nick Foligno scored few minutes later in front of the net during a power play when Brent Burns was in the box for a penalty, tying the game at 4-4.

Teams did not seem to mind to be playing an open hockey the rest of the game, with scoring chances going both ways. But it was Columbus who prevailed when Mark Letescu scored with just 20 second remaining in the game on a long range tipped shot that squeezed near the far post from Antti Niemi.

With all the offense firing, it was the defense that cost the Sharks the game, with Todd McLellan citing it as a main reason for what is ailing the Sharks right now.

“When you give up five, you’re not winning,” he said in his post game comments. “Our defensive play right now is killing us. You look at the [recent road] trip – we averaged 3-3.25 goals against per night, without the empty netters. Tonight we were at five. We’re not winning like that. It’s not just one player or one line – it’s all the lines right now, and the goaltending. So the overall defensive game has to improve or we’re in trouble.”