SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Center Joe Thornton had a laugh and gave an enthusiastic wave to the fans at SAP Center in the second period of Monday's game against the New Jersey Devils as he was recognized for picking up his 900th point as a member of the San Jose Sharks.
One period before, Patrick Marleau wore a big smile after scoring the 486th goal of his NHL career, moving him into 48th place all-time in that category.
After limping home from a six-game road trip, the Sharks finally had a reason to be in good spirits as they began a five-game homestand with a 4-0 win over the Devils.
Chris Tierney scored shorthanded, Logan Couture added a power play goal and Martin Jones made 26 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Sharks snapped a three-game losing streak. Brent Burns also scored.
It was the Sharks' second straight game without Tomas Hertl, who, it was announced prior to the start of the game, was diagnosed with a right knee sprain and will be out indefinitely.
Hertl, who suffered the injury last week and was placed on long term injured reserve earlier Monday, will undergo what the team labeled a "minor procedure" on Tuesday.
Hertl suffered the right knee injury, his third in less than three years, on Thursday against St. Louis on a second period check on Blues' forward Jori Lehtera. Hertl then flew back to the Bay Area on Friday for an MRI.
The Sharks suffered what first looked like another scary injury in the third period, as Tierney caught a puck in the face at the 17:08 mark.
Reid Boucher's shot toward the Sharks goal ricocheted off Tommy Wingels' stick and up under Tierney's face shield. Tierney stayed on the ice momentarily and was helped off the ice to the Sharks' dressing room, but returned to the game a few minutes later.
With the Sharks killing a penalty to Matt Nieto, Tierney opened the scoring just 1:59 into the first period. After collecting a loose puck inside the Sharks' zone, Tierney went in on a 2-on-1 with Joel Ward and beat Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid with a wrist shot to the top corner.
Marleau scored his fifth of the season at the 6:43 mark of the first period from right in front of the net. His first shot near the crease was stopped by Kinkaid, but as the puck hung in the air, he batted it in for a 2-0 Sharks lead. The goal moved him past Brian Bellows on the NHL's all-time goal scoring list.
With Hertl out and the Sharks looking to spark an offense that managed just four goals in their last three games, Marleau played the game on the top line with Thornton and Joe Pavelski. It was the same spot he had in the third period of Saturday's game against the Arizona Coyotes after starting that game as the third-line center.
The Sharks weren't happy about coming away from their game against the Coyotes with just one point when they could have easily had two. But the framework of that game was one they wanted to re-establish: throw pucks at the net, get traffic in front, crash for rebounds and wear down the Devils in their own zone.
"The biggest thing is we're a goal short a night," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Monday morning. "Where do we find that? A little more traffic and little more finish five on five, but we're getting enough chances."
The Sharks came into Monday with just one power play goal in their last 20 tries with the man advantage, clearly not enough for a team that's been starved for offense.
That changed in the second period, as a Thornton pass to the front of the net went off Matt Greene's skate right to Couture, who had a mostly open net to shoot at for his fifth of the season at the 10:33 mark. The assist helped Thornton reach 900 as a member of the Sharks.
"Obviously our power play has to get us one," DeBoer said Monday morning. "We've always been a good power play team, and that's usually been good for almost a goal a night for us. That's a critical part of our game too."
Taking Hertl's spot on the active roster was Danny O'Regan, who made his NHL debut Monday after he was recalled from the Barracuda.
O'Regan, 22, was the Sharks' fifth-round pick in 2012 and centered a line with Wingels and Micheal Haley.
"It's really just been a dream come true," O'Regan said of the recall. "I've been dreaming of this opportunity for my whole life and for four or five years since I've been with the Sharks. I'm just really excited."
