SAN JOSE -- There was a different look to the Sharks’ two training camp groups on Wednesday.
The early squad featured mostly younger players and prospects, while the later and larger group was comprised of all the NHL regulars with some others sprinkled in. Among the younger players skating with the big boys were Nikolay Goldobin, Barclay Goodrow, Eriah Hayes, Chris Tierney, Taylor Doherty and Matt Tennyson.
Todd McLellan downplayed breaking up the two more diverse groups that were together since the start of camp, though.
“I’ll tell you the same things that I told the players in both groups -- don’t read into anything,” he said. “Taylor Fedun was maybe one of our better defensemen in the game in Vancouver. He made some tremendous plays, yet he was in the early group today. That was the smaller group, just so he could get more reps and get an idea of our language and we could work more hands on with him than in the big group.”
[RELATED: Prospects impress in opener]
Other players in the smaller group included defenseman Mirco Mueller and winger Tye McGinn.
McLellan seemed to reward some of the youngsters for their strong games against Vancouver, as Goldobin and Goodrow were in notable positions. Goldobin took a banged-up Logan Couture’s spot on a line with Patrick Marleau at center and Matt Nieto on the wing, while Goodrow was with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski for the day.
[RELATED: Couture fine after getting hurt in opener]
“I wasn’t at that game in Stockton, but reports were obviously good on both of those players, among others,” McLellan said. “In watching the chances and what video we did have, the evidence was there, they did play well.”
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McLellan liked what he saw of Brent Burns on the blue line in the Sharks’ game in Vancouver, as the 29-year-old goes back to the position he was originally brought to San Jose to play.
“He was good. It takes a little bit to get back into it, but he was fine,” McLellan said. “He was positionally sound, he wasn’t too over-aggressive, he got his shots through, good outlet passes, shift length was fine, a lot of the things that he’s done in the past. He settled in pretty well and he was on the ice against some good players, the Sedins and [Radim] Vrbata for a lot of it. He handled himself well.”
Burns said: “It’s going to take time to get comfortable. The first preseason game it’s kind of hard to judge, but it feels good.”
[RELATED: Sharks fall to Canucks 4-2 in preseason opener]
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John Scott seemed pleased to get his nose dirty early in his first appearance in a Sharks sweater. The towering forward was forced to drop the gloves with Tom Sestito after a thundering check on a Canucks prospect in the first period.
Sestito, who earned an instigation minor and 10-minute misconduct to go with the fighting major, caught Scott a bit off guard.
“I heard some guys from the bench yelling, but I didn’t think he was going to jump me like he did. It happened, he’s got a job to do. It was a good fight, I think I did pretty well,” Scott said.
