Sharks Sting the Blue Jackets 3-2

AP photo: The San Jose Sharks Mikkel Boedker who scored in the first period at 9:22 takes the Columbus Blue Jackets Matt Calvert against the boards at Nationwide Arena on Saturday night

After winning their season opener at SAP against the rival Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Wednesday night team teal began a 5-game road trip.  San Jose took on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena Saturday night looking for their second win of the young season and got it with a one goal victory 3-2.

The Sharks wasted little time scoring when new-comer Mikkel Boedker scored with assists by Logan Couture and Brenden Dillon. That goal came at 9:22 in the first period.  This was his first goal as a Shark.  “It was a good forecheck by our team,” said Boedker of the first goal of the game.  He has worked hard to get up to speed with his new team.  “You want to get every detail down in a short amount of time,” he said.  He also gave a lot of credit to the team that has made his transition very smooth.  The second San Jose goal came at 14:54 off the stick of Joel Ward assisted by Chris Tierney and Brent Burns for a 2-0 lead.   This was Ward’s first goal of the season. San Jose dominated the period allowing only two shots on goal by the Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets came out with new purpose in the second period but the San Jose defense kept them out of the net.  Neither team were able to score and the score remained 2-0 as the clock ran out on the period.

It was in the third period that the Blue Jackets came to life and gave San Jose all they could handle.  At 16;17 Columbus’ Zach Werenski scored a power play goal and they trailed by the score of 2-1.  With 2:08 left in the game San Jose went on the power play hoping to put this game away.  Columbus would try to tie up this game with an empty net that backfired when Patrick Marleau scored an unassisted goal to lead 3-1.  The Blue Jackets would continue to contend and with 22 seconds left on the clock Josh Anderson would score assisted  by Scott Hartnell.  The final score was 3-2 as the Sharks improved to 2-0 on the season.

“It’s key to get off to a good start on these road games,” said Joel Ward after the game.  Both Ward and the team have put the success of last season behind them.  “It’s a long grind.  The main thing is to stay focused and take it game by game,” said Ward.

The Sharks will now head off to Madison Square Garden for a meeting with the Rangers Sunday night.  The puck drops 4:00 PT.