Chris Townsend

Aside from Patrick Marleau netting his 11^th of the season San Jose goal support came from unlikely characters. Kent Huskins and Douglas Murray potted their first of the year as well as Marc-Edouard Vlasic from the point with his second of the campaign. Brad Staubitz scored his 2^nd of the year in a 5-1 road victory over the struggling Carolina Hurricanes.

All things considered it was a great start to the Sharks 3 game 6 day road trip. No often will you see San Jose playing at 10:30 in the morning but this was the case on Sunday. Flying in from the pacific time zone and trying to adjust to the east can often be difficult in it’s own sense but throw in an early game and that could have spelled disaster. To coach MacLellan’s credit he got all of his lines rolling early and aside from penalty kills he kept them going all game. Anytime you are on a road trip it is important to economize your entire roster. The Sharks came flying out of the gate and kept their feet moving.

The shots were even after the first but San Jose had the better scoring opportunities while getting plenty of shots on net and creating traffic in front of the Carolina net minder Cam Ward. Brandon Sutter who is the 9^th Sutter to be drafted to the NHL started the scoring at 2:48 into the 2^nd period. Less than 2 minutes later Kent Huskins led a solo effort from the blue line in picking up his own rebound on the wrap around goal for his first of the year. The Hurricanes should have called it night there because the secondary scoring from the Sharks didn’t stop. A minute and a half after Huskins lit the lamp Brad Staubitz gave his team a one goal lead assisted by Jody Shelley and Logan Couture. Not to be out done by his teammate Douglas Murray scored his first goal since the 2007-2008 season and the second of his NHL career looking more like an offensive defenseman than the stay at home player he is. Murray took advantage of a tired Hurricanes team and snuck in from the point firing home a Joe Thornton pass from behind the net. Also assisting on Murray’s goal was Ryan Clowe.

Vlasic and Marleau filled the net in the 3^rd rounding out the scoring in a decisive win for the San Jose Sharks. Road games don’t come any better than this. 3 defensemen scored goals, the starting goalie and the scoring lines were not over worked, because of the commanding lead all 4 lines were rotated through out the entire game including the 3^rd and 4^th lines seeing power play time in last frame. The Sharks continue to dominate the face-off circle and to top all that off we may see 2^nd line center Joe Pavelski back before the end of the road trip.

In other game notes Logan Couture recorded his first NHL point in his 3^rd game assisting on Brad Staubitz goal. Ryan Clowe kept his momentum going after a slow start to the season with an assist on Douglas Murray‘s goal. The Sharks have a few days off until they suit up against the Columbus Blue Jackets Wednesday who have been one of the most consistent teams in the league so far this year. 1991 2^nd round San Jose draft pick who now plays for Carolina Ryan Whitney was recognized for playing in his 1000^th game. Tuomo Ruutu played his first game back after serving a 3 game suspension for a boarding hit on Colorado’s Darcy Tucker. Eric Cole came back from a lower body injury and Eric Staal left the game with what was thought to be an upper body injury.

Thanks for reading,

Cam Gore