Last season Brent Burns was the toast of the NHL. He was a human highlight reel, scoring goals at a record pace. This season has been the exact opposite. That is until recently.
In 2016-17, the 32-year-old collected career highs in goals (29) and points (76) en route to winning the Norris Trophy. Burns was the catalyst for San Jose's offense on most nights and seemed primed for a repeat performance. Especially, with a team that had very little offensive options entering October.
Thirty-one games in and Burns is nowhere near the pace he put up a season ago. His six goals and 14 assists are respectable, but definitely not acceptable for someone with such lofty expectations.
At 17-11-4, the Sharks hold a playoff spot nearly halfway into the season. San Jose is 3-0-2 in their last five games and Burns is a big part of that. The big fellas offensive game is finally starting to show up. The bearded one has five of his six goals over that five-game span, including two multi-goal games.
If he continues to find the back of the net, it definitely bodes very well for a Sharks team that is finding its identity and making a name for itself in both the Pacific Division and Western Conference.
If you had told me before this season started that after 30 games, San Jose would sit third in the Pacific without their best goal scorer- well - scoring goals... I'd tell you to go kick rocks. Funny enough, that's where we are today and there are no rocks in sight.
The Sharks trail the Kings by six points for first place with three games in hand. They have three games left until Christmas break with the final game against L.A.. It's not totally crazy to imagine San Jose, led by a white-hot Brent Burns, spending Christmas tied for first place. Really, it's not.
Thanks for reading, Steve