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San Jose Sharks Slump Continues at Boston Bruins
The San Jose Sharks slump to a third consecutive defeat at the Boston Bruins Thursday, Feb. 10. Martin Jones has now allowed seven goals in his last 30:02.
The San Jose Sharks slump became official as of Thursday, Feb. 9. They dropped a third consecutive game to a non-playoff team—this time at the Boston Bruins.
Worse is how the Sharks lost the last two. The defensive stalwart backstopped by All-Star Martin Jones allowed seven goals over 16 shots at the Bruins and Buffalo Sabres.
Jones is not really to blame for any of the scores, but he has only one highlight-reel save in that time. Then again, that save is among the greatest in franchise history.
Jones made two more saves to close out the period Thursday and watched the other two from the bench. He has played the second-heaviest workload on the 2016-17 NHL season.
Nevertheless, San Jose showed it was not on Jones by allowing three more goals over the last two periods. Granted one of them was into an empty net, but Boston also milked a big lead for a long time.
The Bruins scored twice on 15 shots against backup Aaron Dell in the second period to lead 5-2. Then they had just six shots while salting away victory in the first game under head coach Bruce Cassidy.
Neither of Dell’s goals were soft, either. The Sharks cannot win playing this poorly in their own end. They ceded a game to both the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division standings.
Martin Jones is part of the San Jose Sharks slump. Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
How it Went Down
Boston rewarded fans able to make their way through a blizzard to attend within the first minute. A one-timer pass to a wide-open David Backes in the slot represented San Jose’s game-long defensive commitment.
A turnover about seven minutes later allowed Joe Thornton to get his first goal on a manned net. He was drafted first overall by the Bruins in 1997 and played there until late 2005.
However, Boston took the lead for good 8:01 later and scored again 99 seconds after that. Patrice Bergeron banged home a weak-side rebound of another Backes shot and assisted on a David Pastrnak shot.
Justin Braun brought the Sharks back in it just over a minute into the second period. Thus, the game was competitive again.
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Unfortunately for San Jose, Tim Schaller extended the lead to two goals 6:56 before intermission. Pastrnak squeezed another goal into the final minute—from Bergeron on the power play as his first.
Timo Meier scored again for the Sharks with 2:37 left, inspiring coach Peter DeBoer to pull Dell. Naturally that only allowed Backes and Bergeron to add another point assisting on an empty-net goal by Brad Marchand.
What Now?
It just the second start Jones did not finish. Dell unfairly took the loss.
Each is likely to start one of the weekend’s back-to-back matinees. San Jose will need to win both in order to have a .500 road trip.
The Sharks have not lost four in a row during the 2016-17 NHL season. Fortunately Saturday’s game is against the Philadelphia Flyers—losers in 18 of the last 19 head-to-head contests.
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