By Daniel Reedy:
Sharks’ captain Joe Pavelski typically scores in one of two ways — redirecting shots from the point or firing the puck into the back of the net from close range. Last night, he utilized both tactics.
Pavelski tallied his 600th career point, scoring two goals in San Jose’s best offensive performance of the season, a 6-3 win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
He redirected a missile off the stick defenseman Brent Burns from the point for the game-winning goal and capped off the night with point number 600, wristing a shot past Detroit’s goalie Petr Mrazek.
San Jose’s head coach Peter DeBoer was pleased with the six-goal performance, especially since the Sharks still sit among the lowest third of the league in goals scored.
“We haven’t had many of those nights, so it was nice to score,” DeBoer said. “[Mikkel] Boedker getting one and Pav [Pavelski] getting hot, hopefully that leads to more of the same.”
The Red Wings were on the board first thanks to winger Thomas Vanek who snapped a shot from just inside the blueline that took a strange bounce for his 10th goal of the season.
However, the Sharks were fortunate enough to get a funky bounce of their own.
The puck rebounded upward off a shot from forward Tommy Wingels and was tipped in by winger Joonas Donskoi to tie the game at 1-1 at 15:59.
Just two and a half minutes later, defenseman Mirco Mueller ripped a shot that went untouched through multiple players and Red Wings’ netminder Jared Coreau.
With less than 30 seconds left in the first period, the Sharks still weren’t ready for an intermission yet.
Veteran Patrick Marleau scored his 493rd-career goal that was partially deflected by Red Wings’ defenseman Danny DeKeyser and fluttered past the stunned Coreau’s arm. The score was 3-1 in favor of the Sharks at the end of one period.
The Red Wings made a goalie change during the break, replacing Coreau with Mrazek, and the move worked … until the third.
After a scoreless second period, the Sharks came out chomping in the final frame and Pavelski netted his first score of the night, giving San Jose a three-goal advantage. Less than three minutes later, Boedker redirected another distance shot from Burns for the Sharks’ 5th goal.
It was Boedker’s first goal in thirty games.
Even with San Jose’s lead at four, frightening memories of Thursday’s collapse against the Wild prevented Sharks’ fans from comfort, especially when Detroit’s forward Anthony Mantha beat Joe Thornton to the back post and knocked in a rebound for the Red Wings’ second goal.
About halfway through the third, however, Pavelski responded with his second goal, hitting a bouncing puck past Mrazek. Defenseman Dylan DeMelo got the secondary assist — his second helper of the night — bouncing back with a plus-2 game after his disappointing showing Thursday.
The Red Wings did add one more goal from Andreas Athanasiou, who scored much like Mantha did, beating a Sharks’ forward to the other side of the net to tap the puck past Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones.
Jones wasn’t perfect, but was the solid netminder San Jose has come to expect. He made 32 saves and deflected each shot that he had a legitimate chance of stopping.
The Sharks’ six goals were the most they have scored in a game this season, a mark they hit four times last year.
Defenseman Paul Martin and forward Joel Ward each recorded two assists in the game.
The Sharks head to Canada where San Jose is 2-1 for back-to-back games in Calgary and Edmonton this week.
