The NHL Redux: Can Martin Jones shake the stigma in San Jose?

Martin Jones isn't really a Shark.

No, that's not soothing fiction being rehearsed as a mantra by members of the Los Angeles Kings' brain trust, which, in its attempts to excite a roster this past summer, failed to keep Jonathan Quick's rising understudy from landing with a division rival.

Though, it's more of an inaccurate truth.

Jones doesn't wear a gray, loosely-kept beard, let alone the strain of failed season upon failed season, like most of his teammates. He isn't supposed to start hot, toil, and tail off. He's not in a decline, or jaded, or a high-priced veteran unwilling to lift his no-movement clause. He's not on one last chance to shut people up.

He's a 25-year-old relative unknown with 34 total appearances entering this season, but one that also owns the championship the Sharks' entire roster, save for Ben Smith, is tirelessly, and, in the eyes of many, haphazardly working toward.

But there he was. Martin Jones, San Jose Shark, in Los Angeles, to the dismay of the Kings, and leading his new club to a rousing victory as the NHL raised the curtain on the 2015-16 season - his first as a starter - two Wednesdays back.

"I kind of had that one marked down on my calendar since the schedule came out," Jones told theScore after his return triumph. "Honestly, I'm happy that it's over and behind me, and I can move on and focus on the rest of the team from here.

"But it was pretty special to go in and get the win there."

The events to which Jones wound up back in Los Angeles on opening night involved a little craftiness, a little deceit, and a willing third party in the Boston Bruins.

Jones' strong performance in support of Quick (he was the fastest goaltender to seven shutouts, ever) and his then free-agent status rendered him a prime trade chip for Kings general manager Dean Lombardi at last summer's draft.

And while he helped wrangle a rather large fish, Jones seemed to be just the third component - almost a throw-in - in a deal that saw the Kings part with their first-round draft selection to land Milan Lucic. But at the same time, the Kings were safely stowing Jones in the Eastern Conference - always the preferred option - and far away from the wars being waged on California ice.

As it turns out, Jones was the center of a much bigger ploy.

Whether it was impressive foresight or all-out orchestration on the part of the Sharks, GM Doug Wilson preyed on perhaps a little inexperience on the part of Don Sweeney, his unpracticed counterpart with the Bruins, and hauled Jones back to the state and into a starting role - just three days after his initial trade.

"It happened so quickly (that) the shock of being traded the first time hadn't really sunk in before getting traded again to San Jose," said Jones. "It was a pretty hectic and exciting time, but it worked out."

Probably much better than Wilson could imagine, and likely worse than Lombardi could even fathom.

Jones has been the best goaltender in the league (Carey Price included) in the early portion of this season, allowing two goals on 110 shots and in the process re-establishing San Jose's franchise shutout mark at 234:33.

The undrafted goaltender's performance works out to a dazzling 0.49 GAA and a .982 save percentage, but, more importantly, four clean, dominant wins for the Sharks, who have started hot before, but for the first time in a long time, appear untroubled by the past - at least with Jones in goal.

"There has just been a good energy, a different energy," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski told reporters after Jones' fourth win Friday versus the New Jersey Devils. "You can feel it. You can feel it through the fans and the players."

For a team like San Jose, which can't afford to see the flow of incoming young talent compromised, a significant price - a first-round pick and a prospect - was paid for a change in goal after they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

The cost to keep Jones, however, was far from significant.

Jones signed a three-year, $9-million deal with the Sharks two days after his trade from the Bruins and five days after his trade from the Kings to become the 29th-highest-paid goalie in the NHL, as Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated noted in his piece.

So far, he's outshone the 28 others and provided indication that he, out of the seven backstops who swapped sweaters at draft weekend, was the correct one to invest in.

It's too early to tell if Jones will help shake the stigma that has subverted San Jose, but the standard he's known since carving out a role in the league - to chase championships - hasn't lowered.

"Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup. That's the bottom line, and I think we definitely have a team that can push for that."

THE TEN

10) Brock McGinn: The Hurricanes rookie scored 55 seconds into his NHL debut Friday night, and added an assist later on for good measure.

9) Anton Khudobin: Khudobin answered the bell, making 34 saves versus the Wild on Sunday to deliver the Ducks their first win. There would have been more than a few questions for the coaching staff had that gamble failed.

8) Andrei Markov: Montreal's pre-game ceremonies can be, at times, silly, and certainly more than a touch irritating for the opposition. Cheers to Markov for helping make it fun. He's also a league-leading plus-8.

7) Ben Bishop: Now the Lightning's all-time leader in wins. He eclipsed Nikolai Khabibulin with 84 and has 42 fewer losses.

6) John Tavares: Seven points and two game-winning goals in his last three games, each Islanders wins.

5) Michal Neuvirth: 61 shots and 61 saves in his first two starts for the Flyers.

4) David Krejci: Krejci has points in all five games this season for the Bruins, suddenly winners of two straight, and appears to be only picking up steam. He has three goals and seven points in his last three games.

3) Jaromir Jagr: The NHL's oldest player by nearly five years (as James Mirtle pointed out Sunday) scored twice Thursday to move within five goals of Marcel Dionne on the all-time list. He's on pace to surpass Brett Hull for third by early December.

2) Connor McDavid: That's more like it. McDavid was beastly Saturday night in Calgary, scoring twice, adding an assist, and providing a show-stopping moment of hockey genius before being thwarted by Jonas Hiller. Oh, and he's managed to extract something out of Nail Yakupov.

1) Montreal Canadiens: A team with Carey Price that laments being defined by the fact that they have Carey Price is a dangerous one.

THE TAKES

1) Evgeni Malkin deserves some love.

Geno opened the scoring in consecutive games to close out the week for the Penguins, who, thanks in part to his two big moments, have survived Sidney Crosby's five-game power outage.

2) Don't underestimate the lift Pascal Dupuis will provide the Penguins.

The most popular guy in the Pittsburgh room returned to practice weeks ahead of schedule in his recovery from a lower-body injury. He may need a few more to completely shake off the rust, seeing as he hasn't been in the lineup for 11 months, but his upcoming return will without question offer a spark.

3) Alex Stalock shouldn't be reprimanded for pulling off his helmet.

Would we question Price or Henrik Lundqvist, if one of them said that a shot to the helmet undid a buckle on his helmet? Doubt it.

4) The coach's challenge needs to be cleaned up.

This Dmitry Orlov ruling is setting a dangerous precedent.

5) Tyson Barrie's suspension was a little harsh.

It's all there. The head was the first point of contact, the skates left the ice, and the injured player is out for the foreseeable future. But it's still a bit harsh for a typically-behaved first-time offender.

6) Edmonton's goaltending won't be a problem.

Cam Talbot hasn't exactly thrilled in his four starts for the Oilers, but he will be pushed and made better. Anders Nilsson has justified his inclusion over Ben Scrivens, stopping 81-of-85 shots against in his two appearances.

7) St. Louis will soon own the league's most impressive start.

They have a chance to win five consecutive Canadian road starts and match Montreal at 6-1 on Tuesday night in the biggest game of this young season.

8) It might not get better than ...

... that Jonas Hiller save.

9) Although this Dustin Byfuglien hit ...

... is damn close.

10) We've soured far too quickly on Todd Richards.

Probably.