Brent Burns is picking up where he left off at the end of last season as a force to be reckoned with.
Brent Burns is a beast. And Brad Stuart is still sitting out.
These are just a couple of things which came out of Sharks Ice on this Friday the 13th as Team Teal finished up its first team scrimmage.
Dan Boyle scored two goals for the teal-sweater-sporting Group B practice squad who beat the white-clad Group A squad 5-1 in the first of several full-team scrimmages in the 2013-2014 preseason.
Curt Gogol scored the lone goal for Group A. Other “teal team” goals came from familiar Sharks Tommy Wingels, Joe Pavelski, and Brent Burns.
Burns is reportedly already in top form, picking up where he left off at the end of last season as a force to be reckoned with on the front line. The six-foot-five defenseman-turned-forward told the media modestly:
“It’s early. Just getting my legs, trying to get some chemistry.”
One veteran notably absent from Friday’s scrimmage was defenseman Brad Stuart, who had also missed Thursday’s skate.
Head coach Todd McLellan characterized Stuart’s ailment as a “lower body thing” that started plaguing him during offseason workouts. No timetable was given for his return, though keeping Stuart off the ice appears more like a precautionary measure than a serious problem.
McLellan explained on Thursday:
“We didn’t want to put him in a situation where we might set him back at all. … I would venture to say that if we were in Game 1 of the playoffs versus Day 1 of training camp, he’d probably be playing. But we’re not prepared to put him in that situation.”
A slough of vets that made an impact at the first team scrimmage. Former San Francisco Bulls product Daniil Tarasov tallied an assist on Boyle’s second goal.
The Sharks will have one more scrimmage Saturday and a practice day Sunday before they head to Rogers Arena for their first preseason game on the road against the Vancouver Canucks.
Follow @SFBay and @ChelenaGoldman on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of the San Jose Sharks.
