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Leafs top Sharks to give Wilson 600th win

Jan 12, 2011 - 8:05 AM San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Carl Gunnarsson notched the game-winning goal amidst a three-goal flurry in the third period, as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged San Jose, 4-2, at the Shark Tank.

Clarke MacArthur tallied twice and Phil Kessel also scored for Toronto, which has won four straight games and improved to 5-1-0 overall in 2011. James Reimer was strong with 40 saves in the victory.

Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson recorded his 600th career win.

"Well, it's pretty special. I mean, obviously, I think only six other guys have done it. You don't see it very often," Wilson said. "The best thing is that we managed to find a way to do it here...It's great...It's a great month because I've got this, the 13-hundreth game and then he's (his late father, Larry) inducted into the American League Hall of Fame at the end of the month. So it's pretty neat."

Patrick Marleau scored both goals for the struggling Sharks, who lost their fifth consecutive game and fell to 2-7-0 in their last nine overall. Antti Niemi allowed three goals on 25 shots in the setback.

A power-play goal at 7:30 of the third -- a backhander from the slot through traffic by MacArthur -- gave the Leafs a 2-1 lead, but Marleau tied it back up only 65 seconds later.

Marleau stole the puck in the neutral zone and skated in on a partial breakaway. His initial shot was saved, but Marleau followed his own rebound and chipped the loose puck over the shoulder of Reimer.

The score changed again, though, less than two minutes later. When Dion Phaneuf unleashed a one-timer from right point, the puck hit several sticks from both teams on its way to the net, and it eventually went under Niemi's pads. Gunnarsson, one of several players around the crease, was credited with the goal with 9:50 remaining in regulation.

Reimer was solid down the stretch and the Sharks pulled Niemi for the extra attacker, but MacArthur's empty-netter inside the final minute sealed the win.

The Sharks grabbed a 1-0 lead midway through the opening period. Joe Thornton held control along the goal line to the left of the net and sent a blind pass behind him into the near circle for Marleau, who was in perfect position for a successful snap shot one-timer at the 10:12 mark.

Following a scoreless middle session, San Jose carried its one-goal edge into the third period but saw it slip away when Kessel scored his 19th goal 3:27 into the stanza. Tyler Bozak crossed the blue line down the right side and passed across to Kessel, who corralled the puck inside the left circle, maneuvered around San Jose blueliner Dan Boyle, then deked around Niemi and easily deposited the disc into the open net.

"I had arguably the worst game I have had all year," Boyle said. "I'm in no position tonight to say anything about anybody else. Most of the guys played well. I take a lot of pride in what I do out there. Tonight I was way off. It was a very, very bad, terrible game."

Game Notes

Sharks forward Logan Couture, who leads all NHL rookies in goals with 19, left the game with a lower-body injury. He collided on a knee-to-knee hit in the neutral zone with Toronto's Colton Orr...This was the Leafs' fifth straight road win...Wilson is a former coach of the Sharks...This was Toronto's first win in San Jose since March 26, 1997...Toronto was 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Sharks ended scoreless on four chances with the extra skater.