Sharks bench boss Peter DeBoer mentioned to the media after a 3-2 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings that their SoCal rivals tend to bring out the best in the Sharks.
On Friday night, they brought out the Sharks’ depth.
The anticipation surrounding the Sharks’ 2018-19 campaign came into question after their season-opening loss to the Anaheim Ducks. But that doubt melted away when the Sharks flexed some muscle and capitalized on the Kings losing steam late in the game on Friday. The result? Fans got to see the Sharks’ depth in action, from the forward attack back to the net.
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The Sharks' third line has, of course, been the talk of the town in the first little bit of the season. There was initially some skepticism when DeBoer moved winger Evander Kane down from the top line. But the chemistry he has found early on with Joonas Donskoi and rookie center Antti Suomela has turned them into the San Jose's most impressive line. It also doesn’t hurt that Kane has scored two stellar goals in just as many games.
“I think it fits with his mentality,” DeBoer said of Kane’s success scoring goals on the third line as opposed to setting up one of the big guys on the top line. “He’s a goal-scorer.”
But it wasn’t just Kane and his third-line cohorts that stood out on Friday night. The Marcus Sorensen-led fourth line kept Kings netminder Jonathan Quick busy in the waning minutes of the third frame, and the second-line combination of Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture, and Kevin Labanc looked dangerous even before Couture’s set up Labanc for the game-winning, overtime goal. And as for the top line – Timo Meier continued his dominant start to the season by scoring the opening goal of the game, and Joe Thornton looked the best he has in his return to the ice after being sidelined with a knee injury last season.
Of course, having depth up front doesn’t do the team any good if they can’t keep the opposition from finding the back of the net.
San Jose Sharks
After allowing the tying goal to sneak past his shoulder in the second period, Martin Jones buckled down and created a highlight reel’s worth of saves in the latter part of the game. His performance in the third was particularly impressive when he stopped speedy Los Angelesrookie Austin Wagner from notching the go-ahead goal, and then came up big in San Jose’s five penalty kill of the evening just minutes later. Even as the game went into overtime, it was clear that Jones and his teammates in-front of him were in control.
DeBoer told the media afterwards he thought the Sharks were “the better team in the third period.” Surely it helps when your opponent brings out your best -- up and down the lineup.