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Marleau scores 300th, 301st goals

Dec 27, 2009 - 7:11 AM SAN JOSE, Calif.(AP) -- Patrick Marleau got a milestone out of the way early - and the San Jose Sharks made quick work of the Anaheim Ducks, too.

Marleau scored his 300th and 301st career goals in the first 15:19 and the Sharks beat Anaheim 5-2 on Saturday night.

"Paddy was in the right spot at the right time," Joe Thornton said. "He's playing great. Three hundred goals is quite an accomplishment."

Marleau scored the milestone goal at 2:15 of the first period, taking a pass from Dany Heatley and drilling the puck past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

The former Sharks captain added No. 301 on a power play with 4:41 left in the period when he controlled Heatley's rebound and beat Giguere. Marleau has scored four of his 25 goals this season against Anaheim. It was his 38th two-goal game.

"The first was just driving the net up the middle and somehow the puck found its mark," Marleau said. "The second one came with me standing front of Giguere and there was guy in front of me and already knew he was screened so I just jumped over to the side and Joe and Dany (Heatley) did the rest."

The Sharks, tied with Chicago for the Western Conference lead, have won four straight, while the Ducks have lost two in row. Before the Sharks (23-8-7) went on their winning streak they suffered through a five-game winless streak.

Coach Todd McLellan credited a good morning skate giving the team an edge in its first game in three days.

"When you have a three-day hiatus, you need to get back to the competitive part of the game," McLellan said. "It gave us a chance to wake up a little bit this morning and get our legs. It left us with a pretty good feeling heading into the night."

Heatley added his 23rd goal of the season at 7:41 of the second period, beating Giguere off his own rebound. Joe Thornton assisted on the first three goals to push his NHL-leading total to 44. He also leads the league with 54 points.

"My goal was just a broken play," Heatley said. "I tried to shoot it through the "D" and it just came back to me and I shot it again. It hit him in the face and came right back to me."

San Jose made it 5-0 with two quick goals midway through the second. Ryane Clowe's shot caromed in off Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer on a power play, and Jamie McGinn scored 15 seconds later.

Although Anaheim outshot San Jose 32-25, it continued to struggle getting goals. In their last three games, the Ducks have made 130 shots and just scored six goals.

"We had all kinds of shots," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "On one power play we had six scoring chances. We just didn't find a way to put it over the line. That's the difference with a 2-0 game. It makes it 2-1 and then we get back into it."

Anaheim's Kyle Chipchura broke up Nabokov's bid for his 50th career shutout with 1:04 remaining in the second, and Bobby Ryan added a third-period goal for the Ducks.

Evengi Nabokov made 30 saves for his 20th win of the season. Nabokov continues to be able to defend against teams that get off a lot of shots. Over his last four games, the San Jose goalie has made 131 saves on 138 shots.

NOTES: Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf left the game with a leg laceration in the second period. ... The Sharks are 6-0-0 when McGinn scores a goal. ... Sharks LW Ryane Clowe played in his 200th NHL game. ... Heatley has 26 points in his last 21 games. ... The Ducks are 0-11 on the power play over their last three games.