NEW YORK _ Martin Jones validated an old-hockey cliche Monday, serving as the Sharks best penalty killer on a night where his teammates couldn't stay out of the sin bin.
Jones stopped all 10 of the short-handed shots he faced against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, allowing the Sharks penalty kill to go 6-for-6 en route to a 4-1 win.
With a shutout against the New Jersey Devils on Friday, Jones put together a shutout streak of 133:46 before Mika Zibanejad beat him with a shot to the near post at 4:23 of the third.
The penalty kill is putting together an impressive streak of its own with 16-consecutive kills. In the aftermath of its 2-for-5 performance on opening night, the penalty kill is 30-for-31 (97.0 percent).
Jones, who blocked 33 of the 34 shots he faced, made a number of remarkable saves in the game. He stopped a Rick Nash redirection of a Zibanejad shot in the first. In the second, he stuck with David Desharnais, knocking down his shot with his glove after the Rangers center tried to pull him out of position from the doorstep.
Later in the period, Jones slide across the crease to thwart a Chad Kreider one timer from the lower-left circle.
Jones wasn't the only Sharks (4-4) to stay aflame against the Rangers.
Logan Couture, who was named the NHL's third star of the week after notching five goals and seven points in three games last week, opened the scoring at 1:56 of the first with his team-leading seventh goal, firing a puck past netminder Henrik Lundqvist on a delayed Rangers penalty.
In doing so, Couture, who recorded his second-career hat trick against the New York Islanders Saturday, managed to score his fourth goal in a span of 35:30. Couture also set up the Sharks fourth goal at 2:51 of the third, stripping the puck from Lundqvist on a dump-and-chase play and feeding Melker Karlsson in front of the net.
The game also proved to be noteworthy for rookie defenseman Tim Heed, who picked up his first NHL goal at 12:48 of the first, squeaking the puck through Lundqvist's pads on an odd-angle shot from near the goal line.
Joonas Donskoi notched the Sharks third goal on a partial breakaway at 19:22 of the second, zinging the puck inside the far post from the lower-left circle. Joe Thornton picked up an assist on the play, tying Jari Kurri for 20th place on the NHL's all-time scoring list with his 1,398th career point.
