The Sharks were playing the second game of a back-to-back and the sixth game in nine nights. They should have been sluggish. They should of been primed for a letdown. They should not have routed the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 in their own building. But, this San Jose train keeps on rolling.

The Sharks, led by Mikkel Boedker's pair of goals, erupted for six goals with five different players contributing and Aaron Dell sparkled between the pipes once again.

The story within the game...

- Joe Thornton passed Brian Trottier for 16th all-time in scoring with a goal and an assist. Jumbo has 13 goals this season, nearly doubling his total from all of last season. It's evident Thornton is making it a point to shoot more this season and its paying off. His power play goal was another thing of beauty. He timed his shot perfectly along with the screen in front of John Gibson.

- Mikkel Boedker scored a pair of goals last night to give him 17 in 119 games as a Shark. Obviously the production is not acceptable for a guy that signed a four-deal deal last season, but he's making strides and he too is a guy that needs to shoot more because he's got a pretty good shot. On a positive note, he is a plus player for the first time in his NHL career.

- Joe Pavelski did not score. He has just nine goals this season and something like 15 goals in his last 61 stretching back to last season. The lack of production is a bit concerning considering the captain has scored 25 or more goals six times in his career. At 33, it may be time to start wondering if Pavelski is on the backside of his solid career.

- Aaron Dell is going to make it hard for Pete Deboer to sit him when Martin Jones return from his injury. Dell is 12-3 with a 2.17 GAA and .929 save percentage in 15 starts. He's won his last four starts and the 12 wins is a new career high. He was exceptional last night and kept the game in San Jose's favor with two excellent breakaways stops on Rickard Rakell and Andrew Cogliano. Either one of those goes in and it feels like we have a different outcome

- The Sharks power play is deadly right now. They have the leagues best power play since the beginning of December and the pair of PPG's last night broke the Ducks spirit and put to rest and hopes of a comeback.

- The Ducks cut San Jose's lead to 3-1 with a late PPG in the second period and then trimmed the lead to one early in the third period. It looked like the third period way going to be the Sharks Achilles heel once again. Not this time. The Sharks kept the pressure on Anaheim and scored three more times to put the game away. All in all it was a picture perfect road game.

- The regulation win moved San Jose a full five points clear of the Ducks and three points clear of the Flames and Kings for second place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks have one game in hand on L.A. and two games in hand on Anaheim.

The Sharks have a day off before hosting the smoking hot Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading,
Steves

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