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Quick Bite: Sharks led by Marleau in four-goal game

Posted on by Brendan Kennealy

The Sharks (30-16-2) defeated the Colorado Avalanche (13-30-2) in the second game of a home-and-home in Denver on Monday night by a final score of 5-2.

San Jose started off very slow, as the Avalanche took the first four shots of the game, but luckily for the Sharks, Martin Jones denied the early Avalanche attack. The Sharks finally recorded their first shot just under five minutes into the contest.

The Sharks then received their first power play at the 5:47 mark of the first period, but only managed two shots on goal during the man advantage. The Sharks entered the game with the 20th ranked power play in the league (16.9 percent).

The Sharks first major scoring chance of the first period came just past the 13:00 mark when Brenden Dillon slung a shot to the net, which was blocked by Nathan MacKinnon and ricocheted to Mikkel Boedker, but he missed the net wide.

San Jose kept their foot on the gas throughout the second half of the first frame, and the pressure finally paid off when Brent Burns lit the lamp for his 20th goal of the season. He received a pass from behind the net, and sent a beautiful wrist shot just outside the right face-off circle at a sharp angle that beat Avs goalie Spencer Martin with 59.8 seconds left in the first period. David Schlemko and Logan Couture picked up assists on the goal. The Sharks entered the game 23-7-1 when scoring the game’s first goal.

Jones made an absolutely brilliant save a minute into the second period with a toe save on Carl Soderberg.

Following the Jones save on Soderberg, the two teams had just one shot a piece over the next seven minutes before Melker Karlsson picked up a two-minute minor at the 8:52 mark. The Avalanche tied the game at 1-1 when Jarome Iginla rocketed a one-timer past Jones on the power play.

San Jose dominated puck possession through the middle part of the second period, but were unable to net the puck. The Avalanche went through an eight-minute stretch without putting a shot on net.

After matching one another in the first period with nine shots per team, both teams put four shots on net in the second period to get each of their totals up to 13 shots on goal through 40 minutes.

The Sharks came out hot in the third period with a great shift by Karlsson’s line, followed by the Captain Line as they generated four shot attempts, but only one got through to the Avs goaltender.

At the 17:07 mark Patrick Marleau netted his 13th goal of the season and his 494th of his career off of a shot by Marc-Eduoard Vlasic to grab a 2-1 lead for the Sharks. Boedker picked up the second assist.

Two minutes later, Martin denied Dillon from his first goal of the season on a 2-on-1 attempt by the Sharks to keep the Avalanche alive. However, Marleau wouldn’t have anything with keeping the Avalanche in the game as he netted his second goal of the night on a backhanded wraparound. Burns and Couture picked up assists on the terrific finish.

Marleau just couldn’t keep his name off the game log, however as he picked up a two-minute hooking penalty on his next shift, which the Sharks were able to kill off with ease.

Marleau came out of the penalty box and immediately was fed a beautiful pass by Joe Pavelski on a 2-on-1 and cashed in on it to complete the natural hat trick (in 7:42) and pushed the Sharks ahead 4-1. It was Marleau’s first hat trick since Nov. 20, 2011, which was on the road against the Avalanche.

The Avalanche would jump back into the game with a goal by Nikita Zadorov even though there was an immense amount of goaltender interference happening in the Sharks goal crease. The Sharks challenged the goal, but the referees confirmed that the goal was a good goal.

San Jose received a two-man advantage shortly after the Avalanche goal, but the Sharks were unable to capitalize on the power play.

Once more, the man, the myth, the legend Patrick Marleau netted his fourth goal of the third period with a breakaway goal to retake a three-goal lead at 5-2. The last time an NHL player scored four goals in the third period was Mario Lemieux on Jan. 26, 1997.

It marked Marleau’s first career four-goal game of his career. He joined Tomas Hertl and Owen Nolan as the only players in Sharks history to score four goals in a game.

While the Sharks extended their winning streak to five games, the Avalanche fell to 2-15-1 in their last 18 games.

The Sharks will return to the ice tomorrow on the road tomorrow night against the Winnipeg Jets. Puck drop will be at 5:00 PM.

Notes

  • Joonas Donskoi left the game in the first period and headed to the locker room. Donskoi did not return to the contest.
  • Matt Duchene was a late scratch for the Avalanche as he had the flu. The Avalanche did not have an additional player at the ready, so they played with just 17 skaters.
  • Burns’ 20th goal marked just the third 20+ goal season by a Sharks defensemen, joining himself (27 goalis in 2015-2016) and Sandis Ozolinsh (26 goals in 1993-1994)./

FTF Three Stars

  1. Patrick Marleau
  2. Brent Burns
  3. Martin Jones
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