SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Brent Burns delivered a clutch goal on a night he reached a milestone that is a testament to his durability.
Burns scored midway through the third period of his 1,000th career game and led the San Jose Sharks to a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
"It's just nice to score a goal again, it had been so long. It's nice to contribute — I feel good about that," Burns said.
Burns scored his fifth goal at 10:21 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie, and the Sharks snapped a three-game losing streak. The 33-year-old Burns was playing in his 428th consecutive regular-season game. The 2017 Norris Trophy winner as the league's top defenseman hasn't missed a game since November 2013.
"What a great career," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. "For a guy who was drafted as a forward and changed positions and got traded and wins the Norris Trophy as a defenseman. Just the way he approaches the game and what he brings to the rink every day. It's a great accomplishment for him from where he's come from, but it looks like he's got a lot more games left in him."
Burns' goal was controversial, with the Ducks asserting that the play should have been called dead when the puck went into the netting moments earlier.
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said he couldn't challenge what he considered a blown call.
"That's what you chalk it up to," Carlyle said. "You can plainly see there's five players on our hockey club stopped playing, but that happens."
Marcus Sorensen, Melker Karlsson and Tomas Hertl also scored for San Jose. Barclay Goodrow had two assists and Martin Jones had 26 saves.
Jakob Silfverberg and Kiefer Sherwood scored for Anaheim, which lost its fourth straight game after winning four in a row and nine of 10.
The Ducks trailed 2-1 when Sherwood scored his fifth goal at 3:53 of the third period.
Anaheim scored first, getting a power-play goal by Silfverberg — his 10th — midway through the first period.
Karlsson tied it for San Jose with his fourth goal with just under two minutes left in the first period.
Sorensen scored his seventh goal at 5:44 of the second period to give San Jose a 2-1 lead.
Hertl added an empty netter for San Jose with 23 seconds left. It was his 13th goal and 200th career point.
Ducks goalie Chad Johnson came in for starter John Gibson at the start of the second period, who left the game with an upper-body injury. Johnson gave up two goals and turned back 22 shots. Gibson gave up one goal and had 16 saves.
Carlyle said Gibson's injury status wasn't immediately known.
"I always warm up and prepare at the start of the games," Johnson said. "You never know in this league what's going to happen. I was as prepared as I could be for that situation, but you're never fully into it compared to when you know you're going to start and your mindset the whole day is different, but it's part of my job and I'm confident with my ability. It's just kind of getting out there and getting warm and getting into the flow of things. It's difficult, but it's part of the job."
NOTES: Ducks D Cam Fowler (facial fracture) skated earlier this week and is close to returning, but didn't join the team in San Jose. . Sharks D Joakim Ryan was in the lineup after being a healthy scratch 11 straight games. . Anaheim concluded a season-long six-game trip. . The Ducks were 5-0-2 in San Jose going back to 2015. . Sharks veterans C Joe Thornton rejoined F Joe Pavelski on first line, and Hertl moved from second line wing to third line center in lineup shuffle that involved all four lines.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Host Arizona on Saturday.
Sharks: Visit Edmonton on Saturday.
