Sharks too much for stumbling Canes

The San Jose Sharks opened their 3 game road trip back into the Eastern time zone with a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes got back Erik Cole (injury) and Tuomo Ruuto (suspension), while the Sharks had no lineup changes. For the Hurricanes, this was Scott Walkers 800th career game, and Ray Whitney was honored for playing in his 1,000th game. The Sharks continued to be without Devin Setoguchi, Ryan Vesce, Joe Pavelski, and Torrey Mitchell, but all are on the road trip. Pavelski said in a second intermission interview that there is a possibility he could play before the road trip is over.

The first period was relative quiet with each team getting a power play, but neither scoring. Both teams also had lowish shot totals with the Sharks edging Carolina 9-8. Brandon Sutter, Brent Sutter's son, opened the scoring carrying the puck up the left wing, putting a shot off the post and in. The Sharks answered 1:37 later on Kent Huskins first goal as a Shark. He carried the puck in from the left point, followed up his shot to pick up the rebound, taking it around the net for a stuff chance that found its way in. Then, 1:22 later, Brad Staubitz got his second of the year, from Jody Shelley and rookie Logan Couture. It was Couture's first career NHL point. Staubitz had the puck behind the net, sent it towards Shelley. Staubitz then went out one side up into the slot, while Shelley took the puck the other way for a shot. The rebound came right out into the slot for Staubitz, 2-1 lead San Jose. Before the period was up, the Sharks extended their lead to 3-1 on Douglas Murray's goal. Murray read that the man covering up wasn't paying attention, so he jumped down low. Joe Thornton was in Gretzky's Office behind the net, fed Murray a pass, and bingo, it's 3-1 Sharks.

The Hurricanes pressed more in the third, outshooting the Sharks 13-5, but were unable to score as the Sharks added two more goals. The first of those came right after Nabokov made a big save and the Sharks rushed up ice. Mark-Edouard Vlasic jumped into the play to make it a 2 on 1. Patrick Marleau fed Vlasic for the tap in. The assist extended Marleau's point streat to 8 games. The goal from Vlasic was the third of the game from the defense, with all three pairings contributing a goal. The final goal of the night came on the power play. Thornton set up Marleau for a nice one timer that Cam Ward got a piece of, but not enough. The shot still had enough on it to pop the water bottle off the top of the net.

The 5-1 victory gives Nabokov 258 wins for his career, tying him with Ken Dryden. Twelve different Sharks got points, including 5 of the 6 defensemen. Interestingly enough, the one defenseman that didn't score was Dan Boyle. Rookie Jason Demers notched his 10th assist of the season on Huskins second period goal.

All in all, a nice way to start the road trip. They'll spend the night in Carolina, work out tomorrow, and then head to Columbus for Wednesday's game. While the Sharks are not broadcasting the game, it will be on the NHL Network.

Highlights from the NHL: