Pavelski, Jones Lead Sharks To 3-2 Win Over Red Wings
DETROIT (AP) — San Jose goalie Martin Jones bounced back from a nightmarish performance in his previous start to lead the Sharks to another big road win in Detroit.
Joe Pavelski scored his ninth goal of the season, Jones made 26 saves and the Sharks beat the Red Wings3-2 on Friday night. Sab Hise unorived to 7-1 at Joe Louis Arena since the 2010-11 season.
Against the New York Islanders Tuesday night, Jones allowed two bad goals in the first four minutes, and was quickly yanked by coach Peter DeBoer.
It didn't get off to a much better start against Detroit, which took a 1-0 lead after just 3:13. However, Jones settled down from there and didn't allow a second goal until the last two minutes of play, with the Red Wings having pulled goalie Jimmy Howard.
"We needed him to bounce back and give us a solid performance," DeBoer said. "He's a young starting goalie, and he's learning what it is like to have to bring your A-game every night. It's different when you are only starting two out of every 10 games."
Melker Karlsson and Matt Nieto also scored for the Sharks in the opener of a six-game road trip.
"This is a tough road trip, so to start it with a good team win is great," Pavelski said. "Now we can think about tomorrow. This is a lot of games on the road, so we can't start looking ahead."
Tomas Tatar and Teemu Pulkkinen scored for the Red Wings, and Howard finished with 11 saves.
"This was just one of those games where we had a lot of shots, but we hit the post and hit the bar, and they had a couple good bounces," Tatar said. "If we keep getting these chances, we'll be fine."
Pavel Datsyuk made his season debut for Detroit after missing the first 15 games due to off-season ankle surgery. He received a standing ovation when coming onto the ice for his first shift.
"It was fun to be out there again, but guys were just flying by me in the first period," the 37-year-old said. "It got a little better each shift
The game was played with "enhanced security measures" in place at Joe Louis Arena because of the Paris attacks, according to the Red Wings. There was also a moment of silence before the game.
The Red Wings started the scoring with Tatar taking a pass from Dylan Larkin and flicking a wrist shot past Jones.
However, San Jose tied it about 4 1/2 minutes later. Howard missed a poke check on Joe Thornton, allowing him to circle behind the net and set up Karlsson for his first goal of the season.
"That can't go in," Howard said. "That one is all on me."
The Sharks took a 2-1 lead with 2:08 left in the opening period, as Howard stopped Nieto's wrap-around attempt, but Nieto knocked home the rebound.
The Sharks made it 3-1 with their 10th shot of the game at 10:23 of the second, as Paul Martin's slap shot from the point was deflected past Howard by Pavelski. Datsyuk had a great chance late in the period, but Jones stopped him at point-blank range.
Tatar beat Jones for the second time early in the third period, only to see his shot bounce off the goal post. The Red Wings cut the deficit to 3-2 on a fluky goal at 18:08, as Pulkkinen's shot from the point was heading wide until it banked off Justin Braun's leg and past Jones.
"I thought that in the third period, we started to try to get too cute with the puck instead of working for chances," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We've got great players, but we're not the biggest team in the world, so we have to be ultra-competitive in the offensive zone. I didn't see that after we got down 3-1."
NOTES: Red Wings D Kyle Quincey is expected to miss nine to 12 weeks after scheduled surgery this weekend for bone chips in his right ankle. Alexey Marchenko will continue to fill in for Quincey. ... Pavelski's second-period goal was the 499th point of his career.
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