The San Jose Sharks (24-12-2) found their way back into the win column with a convincing victory over the Detroit Red Wings this past weekend.
The Sharks scored three goals in the first period enroute to the 6-3 triumph over the Wings.
Joe Pavelski collected a pair of goals, while Joonas Donskoi, Mirco Mueller, Patrick Marleau and Mikkel Boedker had goals of their own.
Marty Jones stopped 32 Detroit shots for his 20th victory of the season.
Wins are all good but this was an especially important win for the Sharks in several ways.
Here are the 10 key takeaways from the game and heading into a Pacific Division showdown with the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
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1. It took the Sharks 40 games to score five or more goals in a game this season. My memory is a bit fuzzy but im pretty sure they did it in game one of last season.
2. The win ended a three game losing streak (0-2-1) and helped the Sharks move back into a first place tie (ANA) in the Pacific.
3. The Sharks offensive outburst chased Wings rookie goalie Jared Coreau after he allowed three goals on 15 shots. Coreau was coming off a shut out of the LA Kings in his last start.
4. Five different Sharks scored a goal for the first time this season. Obviously...
5. Mikkel Boedker scored a goal for thw first time since November 1st. He now has a total of three this season... three. Money well spent...
6. Patrick Marleau has 493 goals following his latest tally - just seven away from the magic 500. With rumors swirling about Marleau's future in SJ, it would be a shame if no. 500 was scored in a different sweater.
7. Joe Pavelski's two goals pulled him even with Brent Burns for the team lead at 15. This gives me some hope that a forward may still end up leading the Sharks in goals this season.
8. Speaking of the captain... Pavelski earned career point number 600 (281g 319a) in just his 765th career game.
9. Mirco Mueller scored his first goal of the season and first in his last 44.
10. The youth of this team is pretty good. - Kevin Labanc is third on the team in goals with seven in 27 games. - Timo Meier had four shots and nine attempts in the Detroit game and was a sparkplug offensively. - And Mueller is filling in admirable while the vets are on the mend.
Sharks next game is Tuesday against the Oilers. Should be a dandy.
Thanks for reading, Steve