Oilers 2 - 3 Sharks
Final
  for this game

Marleau leads Sharks past Oilers

Dec 18, 2011 - 9:06 AM San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Patrick Marleau scored the game-winner in the third period as the San Jose Sharks took a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Martin Havlat and Joe Thornton each added a goal for the Sharks, who have won two straight. Antti Niemi made 23 saves in the win.

Jordan Eberle and Ryan Jones each scored for the Oilers, who have dropped three straight and five of six. Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 34 shots in the loss.

"I thought we attacked better. We had more time in the offensive zone," Oilers head coach Tom Renney said. "We played hard. That's as important as anything at this point in time."

With the score tied in the third, San Jose took the lead as Joe Pavelski made a quick move around the left side of the net and sent the puck over to the right for the easy slam by Marleau for a power-play goal and a 3-2 advantage 6:11 in.

"He made a good wrap on it and I was able to sneak in the back door and get the goal," said Marleau. "We've just been trying to simplify things and it's been working."

Niemi made nine saves, including a couple of stops on an Edmonton power play halfway through the frame, to give the team the win.

A give-and-go between Michal Handzus and Havlat saw Handzus send it back to the right for the easy tap in and a 1-0 San Jose lead 8:36 in.

Edmonton tied the game with 2:44 left in the first when Eberle used good stickhandling down the left wing to get around the defender and cut into the front before stuffing it in the right side.

Skating shorthanded, the Oilers took a 2-1 lead 5:28 into the second as Jones picked off an errant pass in the neutral zone and buried his breakaway chance for his 10th goal of the year.

San Jose, though, tied the game with 5:27 to play in the second when Marc- Edouard Vlasic fired a pass from the right point to the low slot where a wide open Thornton had no trouble sneaking it in.

Game Notes

The Sharks host Tampa Bay on Wednesday...Edmonton, which finished a three-game road trip with three losses in regulation, hosts Detroit on Monday...San Jose has taken three of four from Edmonton in each of the past three seasons.






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