Photo credit: San Jose Sharks

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – In the battle of mentor vs. student, score one for the student. In the first head-to-head meeting between teams, former assistant coach Bob Boughner and his Florida Panthers scored a 2-0 victory over Peter DeBoer and the San Jose Sharks. Colton Sceviour and Nick Bjugstad scored for the Panthers while DeBoer protégé Boughner challenged not one, but two Sharks goals, proving victorious on both to help give netminder Roberto Luongo the 35-save shutout for career win number 457.

With neither team looking in sync with a number of passes not connecting throughout the game, it was clear if any team was going to score, it wasn’t going to be a highlight reel strike. Colton Sceviour lit the lamp one minute into the second period, using a gritty effort to jam home a wraparound and beat Martin Jones for his fourth goal of the season. Sceviour had circled the cage after taking a Connor Brickley feed, while Vincent Trotcheck added the secondary assist on the game-winner.

Tim Heed appeared to have the answering tally 4:37 into the middle period, plucking a puck off the blue line for a blistering slap shot that beat Luongo to the glove side. Boughner challenged that the puck came out of the offensive zone, risking taking a penalty if the call on the ice was not overturned. The replay officials determined the puck did come out of the zone, wiping out the tying goal for what would have been the Swede’s third marker of the year.

Another defenseman posited the theoretical tie-breaker 5:16 into the 3^rd when Marc-Edouard Vlasic jammed a puck off Luongo’s left pad into the net in a goal mouth scramble. Boughner again challenged the play after his goalie jumped up incensed and making a shoveling motion with his stick. The officials agreed with Bobby Lou, saying that his pad was pushed over the goal line illegally. The goal was washed out.

The turnovers finally caught up to the Sharks with 7:37 left in the third after Tim Heed turned the puck over in the offensive end to Radim Vrbata, Vrbata passed the puck to ex-Shark Jamie McGinn who whirled a backhander cross-crease to Nick Bjugstad. Bjugstad had no trouble beating Jones for his fourth goal of the year and a 2-0 Cats lead.

DeBoer tried to create some offense as the game wore on, moving Joonas Donskoi down to the second line and auditioning Timo Meier and Melker Karlsson as the other wing on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Karlsson ultimately stuck, with Kevin Labanc finding himself on the fourth line but the Sharks couldn’t crack the stingy Panthers defense. Neither could the two Sharks power plays where they generated six shots on goal.

The Sharks have the opportunity to bounce back when they welcome the depleted Boston Bruins to the SAP Center Saturday night. The Bruins may be without Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Anders Bjork, Adam McQuaid and David Backes, who all are nursing injuries.