Sabres - The Buffalo News
National Hockey League
San Jose 4, New Jersey 0
When: 10:30 PM ET, Monday, November 21, 2016
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Gord Dwyer, Steve Kozari
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Shane Heyer
Attendance: 17286

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Sharks' play suggested San Jose was happy to be home again Monday. The New Jersey Devils, meanwhile, looked as if they couldn't wait to get off the road.

San Jose goalie Martin Jones made 26 stops for his second shutout of the season, and the hosts got goals from four skaters en route to a 4-0 win over New Jersey.

"We played well all night," Jones said. "We didn't turn a lot of pucks over. When we play like that, we're tough to beat. I wasn't asked to do a whole lot tonight."

San Jose returned to SAP Center for the first time since Nov. 5 and snapped a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) to begin a five-game homestand.

A third straight loss left New Jersey (9-6-3) with a 1-3-0 record on its four-game trip.

"I think we were outworked all night," Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy said, "and that's what threw us off."

Forwards Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Chris Tierney and defenseman Brent Burns scored goals to support Jones' 15th career shutout. Burns also recorded an assist.

Coming off a season-long six-game road trip and with only one idle day between games, the Sharks came out surprisingly strong.

San Jose (10-8-1) scored the only two goals of the first period, and the Sharks could have had more if not for several big saves by Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid.

The hosts struck short-handed at 1:59 when Tierney's wrist shot off the rush from the left circle found the back of the net. It was Tierney's first goal of the season.

"It put us down by one early," New Jersey coach John Hynes said. "When it's that early in the game, you have an opportunity to respond to it, and we weren't able to do that."

Jones said, "It was nice to get that support early."

Marleau capitalized playing alongside new linemates Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski to score his fifth of the season at 6:43. He batted his third attempt, a rebound off Kinkaid's right pad, in for his 486th career goal (48th on the NHL list).

"It's good to play with those guys again," Marleau said. "One thing they do is work hard."

Thornton added, "(Coach) Pete (DeBoer) put him with us in the third period at Arizona, and he was so powerful. He was so powerful again. Hopefully he sticks with me and Pavs because he played great again tonight."

The Sharks continued to control the game in the second period by adding to their lead while outshooting the Devils 16-7 in the middle 20 minutes.

"To come out with a lack of effort, I guess you can say, was disheartening and it's not acceptable," Devils defenseman Andy Greene said.

San Jose's struggling power play clicked at 10:33 of the second when Couture wristed a shot from the slot past Kinkaid. Couture's fifth goal of the season snapped a 1-for-23 slump in eight games for the Sharks' power play.

Thornton provided the primary assist on the goal for his 900th point as a Shark and the 1,354th point of his career. His 11th assist of the season moved Thornton past Guy Lafleur and tied him with Brendan Shanahan for 25th place on the career scoring list.

"I've been here a long time and played with some really good players," Thornton said. "That's what it comes down to."

Kinkaid, who shut out the Sharks on March 10 last season during the Devils' most recent visit to San Jose, finished with 36 saves.

"San Jose played a great game," Hynes added. "They played well and played hard and played better than us in a lot of facets."

NOTES: The Sharks promoted C Danny O'Regan from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, and he made his NHL debut on Monday. The former Boston University star led the Barracuda in scoring (11 points) and was tied for second with five goals after the first 11 games of his pro career. ... New Jersey was playing without LW Taylor Hall (knee), RW Kyle Palmieri (upper body) and LW Michael Cammalleri (personal reasons). ... San Jose C Tomas Hertl (sprained right knee) will undergo a "minor procedure" Tuesday, the team announced. There is no timetable for his return. ... San Jose LW Melker Karlsson (lower body) missed his third consecutive game. ... The Sharks' five-game homestand continues Wednesday against Chicago. ... The Devils return home from a four-game trip to host Toronto on Wednesday. ... RW Kevin Labanc, LW Melker Karlsson and D Dylan DeMelo were San Jose's healthy scratches, while D Yohann Auvitu did not dress for New Jersey.
Top Game Performances
 
New Jersey   San Jose
N/A Points Brent Burns 2
N/A Goals Brent Burns 1
N/A Assists Brent Burns 1
N/A Power Play Goals Logan Couture 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Chris Tierney 1
Keith Kinkaid .902 Save Percentage Martin Jones 1.000
Keith Kinkaid 37 Saves Martin Jones 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
New Jersey 26 0 0-3 4-5 10 37
San Jose 41 4 1-5 3-3 6 34
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game at home against Chicago. The Sharks have a W/L % of .556 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • New Jersey will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Devils have a W/L % of .556 after a win and .444 after a loss.