SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The San Jose Sharks officially closed the book on the 2015-16 season Wednesday night, unveiling the Western Conference Champions banner they earned less than five months ago in a flashy pregame ceremony that riled up a sold-out SAP Center crowd.
Then it was time to get a first look at this season's Sharks team, which, for one night at least, looked as deep and skilled as everyone had imagined.
Brent Burns scored a go-ahead goal 3:20 into the third period as the Sharks earned a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings for their seventh straight victory in a season-opening game.
Logan Couture assisted on Burns' goal and also scored on the power play in the first period. Sharks goalie Martin Jones, playing in his 100th career NHL regular season game, finished with 21 saves to improve to 8-2-1, including last season's playoff series, against his former team.
On Burns' goal, Couture won a battle for the puck along the wall and kicked it back to Joonas Donskoi, who skated toward the net and tried to find Mikkel Boedker in front of the Kings' net. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty slid to block the pass, but the puck went straight to a streaking Burns, who scored from in close for a 2-1 Sharks lead.
Similar to last season's opener in Los Angeles, the Kings struck first with a goal in the opening two minutes.
With Couture in the box for tripping, Tyler Toffoli took control of the puck to the left of Jones and scored on the short side as he fired it over the Sharks' goalie's left shoulder for a 1-0 Kings lead 82 seconds into the game.
But like they did last year at Staples Center after Nick Shore scored the opener on the first shot Jones saw, the Sharks settled down toward the end of the first period.
The Sharks turned things around after they had some early trouble cleanly exiting their own zone and establishing a forecheck.
Just 53 seconds after Tommy Wingels drew an interference penalty on Kyle Clifford at the 13:12 mark, Couture buried a wrist shot from the top of the circles that beat Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
Quick got into an altercation with Joe Pavelski after the Couture goal, as he tried to put back the rebound with the puck in the crease after one of the officials initially waved off the goal. Replays showed Couture's shot went off the post and the in-net camera before it ricocheted in front of the goal.
Quick had to leave the game after the first period with what the Kings described as a lower body injury. Backup Jeff Zatkoff, who signed with the Kings as a free agent in July, came on in relief and seven saves in the second.
The fourth line of Wingels, Melker Karlsson and Matt Nieto created a handful of scoring chances in the first half of the game, and were part of an overall effort that kept the Kings largely hemmed in their own zone.
The Sharks limited the Kings to one shot on goal over the last 11 minutes of the period, and finished the first with a 15-7 advantage in shots. Los Angeles also had just four shots in the first 13 minutes of the second period, and had 14 shots through two.
It was just the first game, but the Sharks ability to pressure the puck with all four lines was what they had in mind when they brought Boedker aboard with a four-year contract in July.
Wednesday's game was the first time fans at SAP Center had seen Boedker with linemates Couture and Donskoi. The line skated together Friday in Arizona, a 3-1 loss to the Coyotes, but haven't had a ton of time to gel since Couture and Boedker, not to mention Joe Thornton, Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, returned from the World Cup of Hockey early last week.
Pavelski was on the first line with Thornton and Tomas Hertl, another trio that had only had a handful of practices and one game together before Wednesday.
"The first period or two was pretty good. We did a few things we liked," Pavelski said Wednesday morning of the game against Arizona. "It definitely could have gone a little better in certain areas. But the power play, with that unit, it's always a work in progress. ... We weren't very sharp with it.
"But with the first game coming in live, you understand the importance and the urgency. Your compete level and instincts take over."
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Wednesday morning he was interested to see how everybody would transition out of what was an unusual training camp.
"Guys have been all over the place," DeBoer said. "I feel good about it, but I'm interested to see it live."
