SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The San Jose Sharks on Saturday continued to distance themselves from the struggles they endured on home ice throughout the 2015-16 regular season.
That's not to say that any of the success they've enjoyed at SAP Center so far has been easy.
After winning its first three games at home by a combined four goals, the Sharks withstood some pressure from the Nashville Predators in the third period before they earned a 4-1 win Saturday to close out their homestand with a perfect 3-0 record.
Joonas Donskoi scored in the first period and Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels both scored 17 seconds apart early in the second as the Sharks took a 3-0 lead. Joe Thornton scored an empty-netter with 1:20 to go in the third, as the Sharks improved to 4-0 on home ice for the first time since 2013.
James Neal gave the Predators some life as he scored an even strength goal with 42 seconds left in the second period, but Martin Jones was able to preserve his third straight win with 10 saves in the third.
Coach Pete DeBoer hasn't had that many stress-free moments behind the home bench so far this season, as the Sharks beat Los Angeles 2-1 on opening night, Anaheim 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday and Columbus 3-1 on Thursday.
Still, no one's going to complain about their 4-0 start at home, a far cry from last season's start when they had to wait until their 10th home game to pick up their fourth victory at SAP Center.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since Game 7 of the 2016 Western Conference semifinals, a 5-0 Sharks win.
This win wasn't quite that comfortable, although the Sharks scored first for the third straight game.
With a loose puck coming into the Predators' zone, goalie Pekka Rinne raced out of his net to chase it near the top of the right faceoff circle. Donskoi gathered it instead, cut to the middle of the ice and put a shot on net that was blocked by Yannick Weber. Joel Ward followed up the play but his shot attempt went wide.
The Sharks kept the puck in the zone and after Couture had a whack at it from in close, a second effort from Donskoi finally got it to cross the goal line through Rinne's pads.
Goals by Pavelski on the power play and Wingels at even strength 17 seconds gave the Sharks a 3-0 lead by the 3:04 mark of the second period. Jones began the period, though, with a huge save on Craig Smith's breakaway attempt.
The Predators are among a handful of playoff-caliber teams that are struggling to find a rhythm early in the season, as they entered Saturday with just one win and three points in their last six games.
While Nashville came into the game with the NHL's top ranked power play at 37 percent (10-for-27), it had managed just seven even strength goals all year.
On their California swing _ a 3-2 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday and a 6-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday _ the Predators scored once on the power, once short handed and once at even strength.
Presumably, that would have played right into the hands of the Sharks, who allowed just two even strength goals in the first two games of their homestand. The Sharks also entered Saturday with 12 straight penalty kills, a streak that started with their 3-0 loss to Detroit last Saturday.
"The end of that trip was a little bit of a wakeup call to our group," DeBoer said Saturday morning. "Our attention to detail and our compete level have to both be there every night, and that's what made us successful last year. I think the guys have kind of dialed that in the last two games."
Unlike some other team the Sharks have faced this season, the Predators feature a handful of defensemen that make a noticeable effect on offense. Nashville's defense corps is led, of course, by P.K. Subban and Roman Josi, who came into Saturday with a combined eight points.
The best way the Sharks figured they were going to keep those players off the scoresheet was to hem them in their own end.
"It's a big responsibility on our forwards to make sure that we finish our checks," DeBoer said. "To make sure you're always above them, make sure they're not getting in behind you because that's where their offense starts."
