The San José Sharks earned their third win of the season in style, defeating the New Jersey Devils 5-2 at home, marking their first home victory of the year.
The win was much-needed after the Sharks dropped their first five home games, including two in overtime.
It also served as early revenge for a 3-1 loss to the Devils on Oct. 24.
San José now stands at 4-6-3, sitting seventh in the Pacific Division, while New Jersey remains atop the Metropolitan Division with a 9-4-0 record.
The Sharks came out firing, scoring 42 seconds into the game.
Left winger William Eklund scored his fifth goal of the season, assisted by center Philipp Kurashev.
Eklund said the team’s chemistry has noticeably improved as the season has progressed.
“It’s been better and better, we’re starting to know each other more, how we play and be a new team,” he said.
It was a total team effort for San José, as each of the five goals came from a different player, with three scored in the first period.
Eklund added that early scoring chances helped spark momentum.
“I had a lot of chances in the beginning but didn’t score, but now I’m starting to finish my chances,” Eklund said. “We’re just relying on each other, working really well together, and creating chances out there.”
In the opening period New Jersey scored its first goal with one minute remaining when center Dawson Mercer found the back of the net off assists from center Jack Hughes and defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
Mercer scored a brace, two goals in the game with his second coming at the 4 minute 19 second mark of the third period – providing the Devils’ only offensive spark despite a season-low two goals.
The Sharks also shone on defense, recording 27 blocked shots while goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic faced 31 shots and made 29 saves. “I thought we were pretty disciplined in our own end, very detailed, and we were putting our bodies on the line, guys were blocking a lot of shots tonight,” Nedeljkovic said. “There were a couple of times when pucks were coming through traffic and I didn’t really have a good sightline on them, but they ended up never getting through.”
Despite the win, San José has areas to improve. The team committed 17 giveaways, standing sixth in the NHL with 226 total giveaways, according to an NHL stats webpage.
Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said he’s proud of the team’s ability to close out games after struggling to finish strong earlier in the season.
“They scored the power-play goal there, and there was not much panic. We just kept playing and started getting their legs back into the game,” Warsofsky said. “We’ve coughed up some leads, that’s what happens, you can put on your heels a little bit, so I’m glad that we matured in how to play in that situation.”
Following the win over the Devils, the Sharks recorded back-to-back victories for the first time this season with a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche last Saturday.
Their streak ended Sunday with a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in a back-to-back matchup.
The Sharks are scheduled to return on the road, facing the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Climate Pledge Arena.
