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Marleau scores twice to keep Sharks undefeated

Oct 15, 2008 - 6:24 AM By Michael Duca PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Patrick Marleau scored a pair of goals as the San Jose Sharks got off to the best start in franchise history with a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Marleau snapped a 2-2 tie with his first goal of the game when Joe Thornton found the Sharks' captain above the right faceoff circle 9:29 into the second period. Marleau unleashed a wrister that Pascal Leclaire could not control and followed his shot, grabbing the rebound and beating the goaltender.

"I'm getting good opportunities," Marleau said. "That goes a long way to build confidence. I got off a quick shot, I was able to pick it out of my skates."

The 29-year-old center sealed the victory at 5:19 of the third with his second goal of the campaign.

After defenseman Dan Boyle was whistled for slashing, Mike Grier stole the puck behind the Blue Jackets' net and pushed it in front. Marleau picked up the puck and beat Leclaire from point-blank range, notching the Sharks' second shorthanded goal of the game to push the advantage to 4-2.

"I got a couple of gifts there," Marleau said. "Our special teams are coming along."

San Jose coach Todd McLellan thought Marleau earned his goals.

"Patty played like a captain is supposed to - he put the team on his back and won this game," he said. "He played well in all phases of the game, including defense."

Less than three minutes later, Andrew Murray turned over the puck to Thornton behind the net. Thornton's centering pass to defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic in the slot was one-timed past Leclaire at 8:17 for the game's final tally.

"We turned it over too many times below the goal line," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We had the game right where we wanted it. We were playing great. We made those mistakes below the goal line, and they came back and haunted us. I think we're not good enough with the puck in our own end."

The goal ended the night for Leclaire, who made just 19 saves. Fredrik Norrena came on and stopped the only shot he faced.

"I made a couple of mistakes around my net that resulted in two goals against," Leclaire said. "It happens, but it's too many tonight."

With the victory, San Jose improved to 4-0-0, marking the first time in team history it has opened a season with four straight wins.

However, McLellan described himself as being "cautiously optimistic" and was quick to dismiss the hot start.

"Our penalty kill gave us momentum there, but Columbus' top line had 19 shots and we had too many turnovers," he said. "There's always something to work on in practice.

"A whole lot of teams will have four-game win streaks this year."

One of Columbus' many new players opened the scoring, as Kristian Huselius unleashed a wrist shot from the right circle beat goaltender Evgeni Nabokov for a power-play goal at 9:01 of the first period. R.J. Umberger set a perfect screen in front of Nabokov, who finished with 31 saves.

With Sharks defenseman Rob Blake in the penalty box for high-sticking, both teams scored early in the second period.

Leclaire took the puck behind his net and tried to clear it up the right wing boards just under five minutes into the session. But Joe Pavelski stole the puck and centered it to a wide-open Jonathan Cheechoo, who fired a wrist shot past Leclaire for a shorthander, evening the game at 1-1.

"I don't get many chances for a shorty," Cheechoo said. "That one was nice."

The Blue Jackets answered 24 seconds later, when blue-liner Christian Backman launched a shot from the high slot that deflected off the stick of San Jose defenseman Douglas Murray and past Nabokov's glove.

At 8:12 of the period, Milan Michalek received a pass from Ryane Clowe and sent the puck toward the net. It took an odd bounce past Leclaire for a power-play goal that knotted the contest at 2-2.