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Pavelski, Sharks down Flames

Oct 20, 2013 - 7:32 AM San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Behind a four-point night from Joe Pavelski, the San Jose Sharks continued their recent dominance on home ice with a 6-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Pavelski scored twice and assisted on two others to help lead San Jose to its 11th straight win at HP Pavilion dating back to last season's playoffs.

"Just a competitive guy that has real good hockey sense," San Jose head coach Todd McLellan said about Pavelski.

Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who struck three times on the power play to bounce back from their only loss this season, a 4-3 shootout setback Thursday in Dallas.

Brent Burns and Scott Hannan also tallied for San Jose to support a 16-save effort from Antti Niemi.

Rookie Sean Monahan paced the Flames with a goal and an assist, with Karri Ramo stopping 30-of-35 shots in defeat.

"It was the worst game we've played. We made some bad decisions that cost us some goals. We made bad decisions and went to the box for unnecessary reasons and there was a little bad luck," Calgary head coach Bob Hartley said.

Pavelski wasted little time making his presence felt. The veteran center forced a turnover from Flames defenseman Kris Russell deep in the Calgary zone during the opening minute, then fired a centering pass that Burns converted alone in close on Ramo just 59 seconds in.

Burns had a chance to make it a 2-0 lead shortly afterward when awarded a penalty shot by being slashed from behind by T.J. Brodie, but Ramo got a piece of his backhander try. San Jose also had a goal by Tyler Kennedy waved off when it was ruled he batted the puck in with his hand.

Hannan's long attempt from near the left boards found its way in with 53 seconds left in the period, however, to enable the Sharks to enter the intermission with a two-goal edge.

Calgary capitalized on a San Jose penalty not long into the second period to cut its deficit in half, with Monahan connecting off a behind-the-net pass from Sven Baertschi for the youngster's fifth goal of the season. The Sharks countered with a power-play tally of their own around six minutes later, though, going up by a 3-1 count when Pavelski tipped in Marleau's shot from the left circle.

Another Flames' infraction led to the Sharks extending the margin further prior to the conclusion of the period. With Shane O'Brien in the box for high- sticking, Pavelski fed Marleau for a one-timer from the right doorstep with 2:01 remaining in the middle session.

Calgary was able to briefly turn the momentum around, however, netting a pair of goals within a span of under 2 1/2 minutes early in the third period to pull within one.

With the Sharks on another power play, the Flames' Lee Stempniak caused a turnover that created a partial breakaway. Niemi turned aside his initial attempt, but Mikael Backlund poked the rebound into an open right side with 1:33 elapsed into the frame.

Jiri Hudler cut the lead to 4-3 with a high riser that got over Niemi's glove with Calgary on a transition rush, but another penalty later on put the Flames back in a two-goal hole.

Couture blasted a shot from the point that Pavelski successfully re-directed by Ramo, giving the Sharks a 5-3 advantage with under 10 1/2 minutes left.

The Flames pulled Ramo in the final stages, with Couture sealing San Jose's win with an empty-net score with 1:22 to play.

Game Notes

Marleau has now scored in five straight games and has notched a point in all eight of San Jose's contests this season ... Hudler extended his point streak to seven games, having notched four goals and five assists during the run ... Sharks center Joe Thornton finished with two assists ... San Jose has outscored the opposition by a 44-19 margin during its 11-game home tear ... The Sharks reassigned forward Bracken Kearns to Worcester of the AHL prior to the game.