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Marleau, Sharks hang on for 11th straight win over Blackhawks

Mar 8, 2008 - 6:22 AM By Rory Spears PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Chicago Blackhawks brought back a pair of heroes from the past, but it had no effect on their current fortunes against the San Jose Sharks.

Captain Patrick Marleau snapped a tie with 5 1/2 minutes left in the second period and Joe Thornton recorded two assists as the Sharks extended their winning streak against the Blackhawks to 11 games with a 3-2 triumph on Friday.

Jonathan Cheechoo and defenseman Kyle McLaren also scored for San Jose (39-21-8), which won its eighth straight game overall and climbed within one point of the idle Dallas Stars (41-24-5) for first place in the Pacific Division.

"We have to keep going strong towards the playoffs," Marleau said. "Things are starting to come together for us. We are just not there yet, so we have to keep working at it."

Prior to the game, the Blackhawks honored former legends Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita in a pregame ceremony. Hull and Mikita recently were chosen to serve as team ambassadors after enjoying illustrious careers with the Blackhawks in the 1960s and 1970s.

A crowd of 21,908, the largest of the season at the United Center, saw the Blackhawks strike first as defenseman Brent Seabrook staked his team to a 1-0 lead just 3:35 into the game with a power-play goal.

"We were all pumped up tonight," Seabrook said. "With this crowd, and to see those guys out there was great. It was a great ceremony, it was just too bad we couldn't get them and the city a win tonight."

The lead was short-lived as Cheechoo tied it at 1-1 just 17 seconds later, beating goaltender Patrick Lalime from the doorstep after receiving a pass from Thornton.

"Joe Thornton was a beast out there," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "He controlled the game and made it tough on Chicago's young defensive guys all night."

After McLaren put the Sharks ahead at 12:45, the Blackhawks forged a 2-2 tie when rookie Jonathan Toews netted his 19th of the season with 1:51 remaining in the first period, tipping in All-Star defenseman Duncan Keith's slap shot from the left point.

However, Toews was not pleased with the team's performance.

"We had big hits and played physical at times, but we didn't do what we needed to do tonight," Toews said. "In the offensive zone, we didn't do enough things we needed to do to score enough goals to win."

The contest remained even until the 14:31 mark of the second, when Marleau stole the puck from Seabrook in the offensive zone and beat Lalime to the stick side with a wrist shot.

"There was a high level of energy in the building all night," Marleau said. "We tried to harness it ourselves because they came out pumped up."

The Blackhawks appeared to knot the game with 31 seconds to go in the third, but Rene Bourque's goal was waved off after a video review.

The puck floated toward the right side of the crease, where Bourque knocked it into the net with his right hand. The referee immediately signaled no goal, and the replay officials upheld the call.

"The puck came right to me and it hit off my glove," Bourque said. "I was afraid it wouldn't count. My hands moved towards the goal, and I guess that's what they saw."

"We weren't worried," Wilson said. "We had our own video and we knew they weren't going to count the goal."

All-Star Evgeni Nabokov made 17 saves in recording his 38th win, a new franchise single-season record.

Lalime finished with 20 saves for Chicago, which had gone 10-3-1 in its previous 14 games. The loss also kept the Blackhawks (33-29-6) four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"It was a great night, but we have to put this behind us," Seabrook said. "We have a game on Sunday and we have to go get two points."