Sticking with Martin Jones saved the Sharks' season

Whether the San Jose Sharks actually had faith in their on-paper No. 1 goaltender to save their season or simply saw Martin Jones as the less-bad option heading into Game 6 doesn’t really matter at this point.

Despite cries for the contrary, head coach Peter DeBoer stuck with his guy for San Jose’s last two elimination contests, and damn did that ever work out wonderfully.

The 29-year-old netminder, who ranked 47th in save percentage among qualified goaltenders this season, came up massively for the Sharks in Games 5 and 6 — stopping 88 of the 91 pucks he faced in willing San Jose back from a seemingly inescapable 3-1 hole.

Jones was especially savage in Sunday’s series-tying effort, stopping a playoff franchise record 58 shots over 90-plus pressure-packed, no-margin-for-error minutes as the Sharks pulled out a 2-1 double-OT win to send this one to a Game 7.

He was tremendous, often spectacular. Athletic, but calm. He was tracking better than we’ve seen all year and looked sharper and more focused than he had in any other contest this season. And he did it all while staring down a three-time Stanley Cup champion at the other end — out-duelling Marc-Andre Fleury despite the Sharks netminder facing thirty more shots than the Golden Knights stopper.

Even crazier and more impressive than the actual performance itself were the circumstances leading up to it and how, seemingly out of nowhere, Jones went from being the team’s biggest hindrance to the Sharks’ most important contributor.

This season-saving toe save in Game 5 was one of the best — and most important — stops of the Sharks’ season and of Jones’ career.

There hasn’t been a single stretch of games this season where Jones looked capable to carry an elite team far into the postseason, and the first four contests of this series didn’t do anything to help change that perception. Following a Game 1 victory in which Jones was quiet but solid, the Sharks goaltender was pulled in Game 2 after allowing three goals on seven shots and followed that up by being victimized for six tallies in Game 3 and once again being yanked in Game 4.

So, after pulling his starter in two of the first four games of the series, one couldn’t be blamed for expecting DeBoer to turn to backup Aaron Dell for the rest of the series with the Sharks on the brink. For whatever reason — whether it was an unwavering confidence in Jones or a lack thereof in Dell — he didn’t stray from his No. 1 guy, and the Sharks are gearing up for a Game 7 in their own barn as a result after two straight Ws driven by their goaltending.

Many (pretty much everyone) pegged Jones’ pending performance as, easily, the biggest question mark surrounding San Jose’s postseason chances, but if you read anything into their head coach’s comments before the Sharks-Golden Knights series began, DeBoer’s faith in and loyalty to his No. 1 netminder should come as absolutely no surprise.

“They should have a stat that says ‘belief in your goaltender.’ If they had that stat, Jonesy would be batting 1.000 with our group. There’s not been one mumble or whisper within our group about him or our confidence in him to get the job done,” DeBoer said.

It’s a sentiment players, expectantly, echoed after the big Game 6 win.

“The confidence in this room in Martin Jones has not wavered once. I’m sure the media has written and talked about what they wanted, but the main thing is the confidence in this room never wavered,” forward Logan Couture said.

If you weren’t convinced before, the Sharks are clearly going to ride or die with Jones in Game 7. For the moment, at least, everyone seems just fine with that.

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