Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN JOSE–It wasn’t a perfect night for the San Jose Sharks, but it came pretty close. The Sharks thumped the reigning Western Conference Champions the Nashville Predators 4-1 Wednesday night at the SAP Center, receiving goals from Joonas Donskoi, Joe Pavelski, Mikkel Boedker and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Joe Thorton collected career point number 1,400 on what else but an assist. Joakim Ryan set a franchise record with nine blocked shots for San Jose.

Pavelski dropped the gloves against Ryan Johansen for the team’s first fighting major of the season after Johnasen boarded Vlasic in the third period. Vlasic would not play the remainder of the game after the hit.

San Jose scored the first goal on a tic-tac-toe goal after Donskoi battled along the boards to hang onto the puck. He then fed the puck to Boedker who got the puck to defenseman Tim Heed just outside the faceoff dot to Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne’s left. Heed went cross-crease to give Donskoi the tap-in for his fourth goal of the year with 4:11 left in the first.

Pavelski scored in typical fashion to double the lead in the second period. Pavelski stood in the lane while defenseman Brenden Dillon blasted a point shot on Rinne off a Thornton feed. Pavelski tipped the puck past Rinne for his fourth goal of the season after a slow start. The Thornton pass wound up Jumbo Joe’s 1,400 NHL point.

Nashville’s star defender Roman Josi tied the score just 4 seconds past the halfway mark of the second period, working the puck into an opening using two Sharks as a screen before roofing a backhand over Martin Jones’ shoulder. Vlasic would answer later in the period, scoring the Sharks lone power play goal despite seven man-up opportunities, for a 3-1 lead with 26:10 left in play. Donskoi assisted on the goal for a multi-point night.

Boedker’s goal in the third period broke open a game that was already turning very physical. Both teams combined for 14 penalties in the third, including Pavelski’s fight with Johansen and Johansen’s boarding penalty on Vlasic. Jones finished the night with 19 saves in total while Rinne made 19.

The Sharks look to continue their now four-game win streak when they Welcome the Anaheim Ducks to SAP Center for the first meeting of the season between Pacific Division Foes. The contest will be just the second in-division contest for the Sharks on the year to continue a 5-game homestand with three games remaining at SAP.