SAN JOSE -- Fortunately, there are usually two to three games in a week so the Sharks didn't have to wait long to get over their loss to the Florida Panthers.
The Sharks at one point trailed the Anaheim Ducks by 13 points in the standings and they scored twice in the third period to win it 3-2.
The victory puts San Jose in sole possession of first place in the Pacific for the first time since December 6.
Overall, the Ducks and Sharks are pretty evenly matched. But of course, given the Sharks home record of 26-5-4, they're nearly unbeatable except against some of the worst teams in the East. But put them up against the best competition and they have that home ice advantage. Granted Anaheim has a game in hand but this win could be critical in San Jose's quest to claim the top spot in the Pacific at season's end.
As Brent Burns put it after the win ,"Obviously, the next one becomes the biggest game of the year. It's always every game. I think you look at every game as so important. Now that this one's done you've got to move on."
But in the other dressing room, it was a different tune coming from the Ducks Corey Perry who said, "It's not over until the last game of the season. We're still pushing to be that number one seed and we know we've got to keep playing every single night and it's going to happen."
We'll see what happens. The Sharks have 99 points with 11 games left while the Ducks have 97 points and 12 games remaining. Game highlights
Contenders
Brent Burns - all over the ice in this one. He took seven shots and had six missed shots. Besides his goal and assist he also put a backside hit on Corey Perry which seemed to rattle the veteran winger. Hopefully Perry isn't injured.
Teemu Selanne - not the most liked former Shark but still, the fans rose to the occasion when a brief video tribute was played and then the camera focused on the veteran from the bench and he waved to the fans to a lengthy ovation. He also scored a goal. Not bad for one of the greats of his generation playing well into his 40s.
Corey Perry - always a nemesis of the Sharks, he takes a shot at what was at the time, the go-ahead goal on a dump in where the Sharks couldn't clear the puck out of their zone. On a mini breakaway, Perry takes a shot just outside the blue paint. Teemu Selanne is credited with the goal but Perry continues to be a thorn in the side of the Sharks.
Pretenders
Luca Sbisa - took out Tommy Wingels with a blatant hit and was whistled for roughing. The Sharks will take it and scored a rare power play goal as a result.
Officials - They barely called any penalties in favor of San Jose despite some very hard hits by Anaheim. Marc-Eduoard Vlasic is called for interference against Teemu Selanne which was extremely debatable. Selanne had just dumped off the puck and Vlasic screens Selanne and is given two minutes as a result. However the Ducks were called for hooking Joe Pavelski and replays there showed two sticks barely touching Pavelski's jersey. Either way, two questionable calls from the striped shirts.
Notes
Patrick Marleau scored his 29th goal of the season, moving into 66th place on the NHL's all-time goals list. Marleau surpassed former Shark, Vincent Damphousse. ... Since the 2009-10 season, Marleau ranks 6th in goals scored with 113. ... Joe Thornton took sole possession of 46th place on the NHL's all-time points list with a goal and two assists. He now has 1187 points. ... Burns scored his 20th goal of the season, the first time he has reached that milestone in his career. Burns also recorded his 19th assist of the season on Joe Thornton's goal. He has three assists in his last four games. ... Joe Pavelski had an assist on the Thornton goal. He now has 33 assists on the season, one shy of his career-high. ... Marc-Edouard Vlasic tallied his 19th assist of the season. ... James Sheppard had a game-high eight hits.
In case you missed it, the one major highlight of the Panthers game was the Sharks teaming up with the Make-A-Wish foundation and granting 18 year old Sam Tageson who has a life-threatening heart condition to be a Shark for a day. He participated in morning skate, had his own press conference and became the first non-player to skate through the Shark head during the pregame introductions.
This first video is from Sam's helmet cam.
Here are the "highlights" from Sam's day as a Shark
and on Wednesday, Sam spoke about his special day on the NHL Network
Up next, Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals invade the Shark Tank. Faceoff is 7:30 PM Saturday night.