SAN JOSE– Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton each scored two points Sunday night as the streaking San Jose Sharks (5-0) outlasted the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 at HP Pavilion.
Marleau had become only the second NHL player to record four consecutive multi-goal games to begin a season when he tallied two Saturday against Colorado. The Canucks ‘limited’ Marleau to one goal, along with one assist, while dropping to 2-2-1 for the year.
The Sharks finish the six-game homestand with dates against Anaheim Tuesday, Edmonton Thursday and Nashville Saturday.
Marleau’s power-play goal at 14:27 of the second period gave San Jose a 3-1 lead.
After San Jose posted a 2-0 lead after one period, the Canucks moved back into contention briefly in the second period when Alexandre Burrows stopped goaltender Antti Niemi’s shut-out bid at 11:05. A Burrows drive from the right circle was kicked aside by Niemi but the puck bounced off the left skate of Dan Boyle and back into the netting for Burrows’ first goal of the season.
San Jose had its first power play unit on the ice for the 1:51 needed to produce the Marleau goal. Boyle and Logan Couture assisted on Marleau’s point-blank goal.
The Sharks made it a three-goal lead 8:14 into the third period on a power-play goal. Marleau and Thornton assisted as Pavelski drilled a low shot past one defenseman and goaltender Cory Schneider for his second goal of the night.
The penalty boxes welcomed some occupants before the puck was first dropped. When Burrows began a confrontation with Couture at center ice, Clowe stepped in and soon both Clowe and Burrows were sent off for two-minute unsportsmanlike minors.
As the teams skated four aside, the Sharks claimed a 1-0 lead 43 seconds into play.
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic received a pass from Brad Stuart and drove a hard shot from the high slot. The rebound dropped to the bottom of the left circle where Thornton lined a shot into the top left corner of the net past Schneider.
A Vancouver turnover in the defensive zone led toSan Jose’s 2-0 advantage in the first period. Alexander Edler tried to complete a cross-ice pass to his defensive partner, only to have an advancing Pavelski make the steal. Pavelski followed with a snapshot that skimmed past Schneider and into the net at 3:26 for his first goal of the season.
NOTES: Stuart’s interference penalty late in the first period gave him 500 PIM for his NHL career. When Clowe earned 35 penalty minutes, including 24 in the closing minute of the second period, he passed Stuart by reaching 525 PIM…HP Pavilion was sold-out for the 113th consecutive regular season game…Marleau and Thornton share first place among NHL scorers with 13 points each…Marleau has scored more goals (9) than the Sharks have allowed this season (8).
