Ducks Lose Season Opener Against Sharks, 2-0
SAN JOSE (AP) — Martin Jones earned the shutout in his first home start with San Jose and Patrick Marleau scored twice to lead the Sharks to a 2-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.
After missing the playoffs for the first time since 2003, the Sharks are off to a fast start in 2015-16 under new coach Peter DeBoer.
They opened with a dominating 5-1 win in Los Angeles and followed that up with a strong effort in the home opener against their other Southern California rival. Jones made 27 saves, and Marleau got his first two goals of the season.
Frederik Andersen made 42 saves in the season opener for the Ducks, who have lost eight straight games in San Jose.
The Ducks were the last NHL team to play their opener and had a little different look than usual when they took the ice. Longtime linemates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry were split up for most of the night in hopes of giving Anaheim a more balanced team.
The move failed to lead to early goals as Jones was up to the task. Acquired in a trade from Boston in the offseason, the former Kings backup has made quite the first impression in San Jose.
He stopped the final 19 shots he faced in beating his former Los Angeles team 5-1 in the opener and followed that up with his eighth career shutout.
Jones robbed Jiri Sekac twice and also was able to stop a 2-on-1 from Andrew Cogliano and Ryan Kesler late in the second period with help from an aggressive backcheck from Brent Burns.
Then in the final minute of the period, the Sharks broke through when Marleau knocked the rebound of Logan Couture's shot past Andersen for the game's first goal.
Andersen kept the Ducks within one with back-to-back saves midway through the third period. He stoned Joe Thornton on a breakaway and then stopped Joonas Donskoi on a rebound from the slot on the same shift.
But San Jose broke through with the insurance goal when Marleau beat Andersen on a wraparound.
NOTES: Jakob Silfverberg played for Anaheim after being hurt in the final exhibition game by an illegal hit to the head from San Jose's Raffi Torres. Torres was suspended 41 games for the hit. ... The Sharks raised a banner for the late George Gund III, the team's original owner. ... Marc-Edouard Vlasic played in his 672nd career game, most ever for a Sharks defenseman. ... The Ducks are 5-17 in season openers.
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