Joel Ward, Martin Jones help Sharks defeat Jets

SAN JOSE -- Martin Jones made 26 saves and Joel Ward scored a shorthanded goal in the first period to help the San Jose Sharks defeat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 at SAP Center on Monday.
Rookie forward Timo Meier and defenseman Brent Burns scored in the second period for the Sharks (26-16-2), who ended a two-game losing streak. Chris Tierney and Joe Thornton scored in the third.
Jones made 11 saves in the first period when the Jets had numerous scoring chances.

"They came out ready to play," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said of the Jets. "The first five minutes Jones] made some big saves, allowed us to kind of get our legs going. And then I thought we really started to play. I really liked our game from then on. It's just a commitment to be the harder team. This is a league where there's so much parity that if you're not the more committed team or at least as committed as the other team you're not going to win."
**[WATCH: All Jets vs. Sharks highlights**
Backup goaltender Michael Hutchinson made his second straight start for the Jets (20-23-4) and allowed four goals on 31 shots. Josh Morrissey scored with 2:36 remaining, ending Jones' shutout bid. Forward Mark Scheifele scored with 19 seconds left from close range after Jones' failed attempt to score into an empty net.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead on Ward's goal at 11:54 of the first period. Ward won a faceoff in San Jose's defensive zone, tracked down a loose puck in the neutral zone and beat Hutchinson from the right circle.
The goal was Ward's fourth of the season and second shorthanded.
San Jose was coming off a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and hadn't scored since the first period of a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, a span of more than 100 minutes.

Meier made it 2-0 at 2:45 of the second period when he beat Hutchinson on a breakaway. Ward ignited the play when he advanced the puck along the right sideboards in the neutral zone despite taking a big hit from Jets defenseman Mark Stuart. Ward went to the locker room but returned later in the period.
"I looked up and nobody was there, went to play the puck, and turned around and just saw a big white jersey in front of me," Ward said. "It was a hockey play. It was a good hit. I tried to get the puck out obviously, and next thing I knew I was on my back and heard the horn go off. I wasn't too sure what happened after that."
Burns increased San Jose's lead to 3-0 at 7:08 of the second with a power-play goal, and Tierney scored at 11:41 of the third on a wrist shot. Thornton scored into an empty net with 9.3 seconds left.
"We just gave up a little too much in the second period," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "If we could have gotten one then we would have tied it up and it would have been a different game. We were trying to do too much out there. When things aren't going your way, sometimes you just try to do a little too much and it ends up costing you the game."

Goal of the game

Meier beat Hutchinson from the slot on a breakaway for his second goal of the season.

Save of the game

With 14:14 left in the first period, Jets forward Nic Petan skated left-to-right behind the Sharks' net and tried to score on a wraparound, but Jones stopped him and covered the puck.

Unsung performance of the game

Defenseman Justin Braun led the Sharks with six hits and assisted on Ward's goal. He also blocked a shot and had a takeaway.

Highlight of the game

Ward scored his second shorthanded goal of the season in the first period, snapping a shot over Hutchinson's glove from the right circle.

They said it

"We weren't real thrilled with the way we played last game, so it was a really good effort for us. We need to make sure we stay hungry and compete like that every night." -- Sharks goaltender Martin Jones on bouncing back after a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday
"They dominated. You can't let guys like Thornton and [Joe] Pavelski have that much time with the puck, and they made us pay. We started off well tonight. We were getting the puck behind their net and creating some offense, but we couldn't capitalize and then they started to take over the game and we never got it back." -- Jets forward Mark Scheifele on the first two periods

Need to know

Jets forward Patrik Laine (concussion) missed his fifth straight game. ... Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi (upper body) missed his second straight game and remains day to day.

What's next

Jets:Host the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Sharks:At the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)
Video: Meier, Jones lead Sharks to 5-2 win