SAN JOSE — Joonas Donskoi broke out of his post-injury slump Saturday, recording three points including the game-tying goal with 15.6 seconds remaining in regulation, setting the stage for Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s heroics in overtime.
Donskoi had registered just three points in 10 games since he returned from an injury on Dec. 14 after serving as one of the Sharks lone-offensive catalysts over the first two months of the season.
The reemergence of the player that captain Joe Pavelski referred to as “the father”, as in Don-Father, should give the Sharks (22-13-6) optimism heading into the second half.
“That’s the Joonas we need,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “When he’s feeling healthy and on his game, he can be a dominant guy like we saw tonight.”
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Here’s what we learned in the Sharks 6-5 overtime win over the Arizona Coyotes (10-28-7) at SAP Center:
1. The Sharks can’t afford to trade Dell before the deadline.
General manager Doug Wilson would probably like to get a return on Aaron Dell before he leaves the team in unrestricted-free agency this summer. Unfortunately, Wilson can’t afford to part ways with his backup netminder before the trade deadline.
DeBoer stated the obvious as bluntly as possible Saturday night: “we need great goaltending in the second half.”
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At this point, it’s unclear whether the Sharks are going to be able to count on getting great goaltending from Martin Jones alone.
After a five-day layoff, the Sharks were expecting to spend the first period looking for their legs, playing against a team that returned to action Friday night. Instead, the Sharks jumped all over the Coyotes, holding them without a shot in the first 8:20 of the opening frame.
Despite their first period dominance, the Sharks went into the first intermission tied 3-3 because Jones surrendered three goals on six shots in just 14:01.
He failed to seal off the left post on the Coyotes first goal, he gave up the second off a 46-foot shot from the point and he coughed up the third by allowing Christian Fischer to slip a backhander between his right skate and the post when the defense had the middle of the ice closed off.
The Sharks came back to earn two points, in part, because Dell kept them in the game by making 13 saves on 15 shots.
The truth is that Jones hasn’t been anywhere close to being “great” since the calendar turned from November to December. He gave up four or more goals in his first six starts of December and has posted an .884 save percentage since Dec. 2.
Jones has also been yanked from two of his last four starts, including an exit after 40 minutes in Dallas on New Year’s Eve when he surrendered four goals on 22 shots.
In a perfect world, the Sharks would package Dell in a trade before the deadline for a scoring winger or a fourth line center. Realistically, the Sharks are going to be in a tight playoff race for the remainder of the season and they can’t afford to spin their wheels at any point with inconsistency in between the pipes.
In short, they need Dell, who’s posted a career .928 save percentage in 37 NHL appearances, as an insurance policy in the event that Jones continues to be unreliable down the stretch.
2. DeBoer makes a plea for a fourth line center.
DeBoer might just be speaking with brutal honestly or perhaps he’s giving Wilson a gentle nudge through the media.
Either way, DeBoer made his needs clear Saturday.
The Sharks search for a fourth line continues after Barclay Goodrow and Melker Karlsson posted minus-four ratings Saturday. Marcus Sorensen, who was benched for the third period, recorded a minus-two.
The problem, according to DeBoer, is the gaping hole in the middle of the Sharks fourth line that opened up when Chris Tierney received his promotion to the third line in the third game of the season.
“The tough part there is the centermen drive your line,” DeBoer said. “Right now, we’ve got wingers playing center and it puts them in tough situations. I don’t necessarily blame them for some of the things that are happening; they’re playing out of position.
“We’ve survived to this point, but there’s nights we get exposed and tonight was one of them.”
Translation: I need a fourth line center or we’re going to have a tough time making the playoffs.
3. Trading Martin won’t be easy.
Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman put into words Saturday what everyone has been reading in their tea cups: the Sharks are probably looking to trade Paul Martin.
Martin has yet to play since he rejoined the team on Dec. 28, and when Dylan DeMelo came down with the flu on Jan. 7, Tim Heed got his number called ahead of the veteran defenseman.
Wilson declined to comment on the matter.
The problem here is that trading Martin won’t be easy.
He’s owed another $4.85 million next season, so it’s likely that the Sharks would need to retain a large chunk of his salary to find any takers. But the bigger question is whether Martin can still play in the wake of his offseason ankle surgery and that’s what prospective buyers will be needling Wilson about over the phone.
Martin looked completely outmatched while posting a minus-two rating against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 7 and the reviews of his four-game conditioning assignment with the AHL Barracuda are underwhelming.
Is a contending team really going to swing a deal to acquire his services if DeBoer doesn’t trust him enough to pencil him into a game?
Stay tuned.
