Patrick Marleau’s speed burns opponents night after night and his hands are, I assume, worthy of being displayed in an upscale wedding ring magazine. He showed another fine attribute in Saturday night’s 2-0 beating of the Anaheim Ducks: Stick-to-it-ive-ness. Or sticktoitiveness, if you prefer.
He shoots! He…wait, he doesn’t score? But who’s there to pick up the rebound but Logan Couture, who throws the puck back to Marleau who then buries it to score the first goal of the game. Marleau sticking around a great scoring area despite being denied the first time is a great example of stick-to-it-ive-ness.
Marleau is absolutely gassed here. Yet he slowly carries the puck around the rink, around the net and stays with the play to give the Sharks a much-needed insurance goal. He doesn’t just dump the puck in and head off the ice, he sticks with the play and it pays off in a big way.
After posting the lowest shooting percentage of his career in 2014-15, it seemed Marleau was poised for a comeback season. Or a quick descent into mediocrity, I suppose. It’s still too early to tell which it is, but we’re hoping it’s the former. Marleau shot 8.2 percent last season compared to a career shooting percentage of 13.5 and, through two games, is shooting 20 percent.
So he’s probably not going to score one out of every five times he shoots this year, but…well, we’ll be happy with this. Love you, Patty.
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