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Marleau, Setoguchi help Sharks roll over Oilers

Jan 10, 2009 - 6:47 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- The captain, a rookie and a sophomore helped keep the San Jose Sharks rolling.

Captain Patrick Marleau scored a pair of goals and Brad Staubitz netted his first career tally as the Sharks skated to a 4-1 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

Devin Setoguchi recorded a goal and two assists and Evgeni Nabokov made 25 saves for the Sharks, who improved to 3-1-2 in their last six games overall but just 2-2-3 in their last seven on the road.

"When you start the night, you set out for the win. But more importantly was the effort, the input into the game," said San Jose coach Todd McLellan, who earned the honor to coach the Western Conference in this season's All-Star Game in Montreal later this month by virtue of the victory. "(I was) proud of the players, the way the responded (after Tuesday's loss at Calgary). They played hard in areas that aren't always fun to play in, not always offensive areas."

Defenseman Denis Grebeshkov scored the lone tally for Edmonton, which lost All-Star blue-liner Sheldon Souray and Zack Stortini to injuries while falling to 2-2-0 on its five-game homestand.

"It looked like we were playing the game with handcuffs on the way we were moving the puck," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "We had been fairly decent at moving the puck from the back end, but tonight, that came to a screeching halt. ... It got ugly at the end, with everyone on their own program."

Entering with an astounding 47-7-7 record since February 21, San Jose received a break - literally - 30 seconds into the game, when Edmonton's Robert Nilsson was unable to get off a shot during a breakaway due to a broken stick.

Things got worse for the Oilers - who have lost four of six - when Setoguchi beat goaltender Dwayne Roloson to the stick side with a slap shot from above the right faceoff circle during a power play at 7:54 for a 1-0 lead. The 22-year-old Setoguchi was chosen to play for the sophomores in the NHL YoungStars Game during All-Star Weekend.

With Edmonton on the man advantage, Grebeshkov knotted the contest less than four minutes later, receiving a pass from behind the net by Andrew Cogliano and unleashing a wrist shot from the top of the slot that sailed past the stick side of Nabokov.

It was all downhill from there for the Oilers, however.

A native of Edmonton playing in just his 11th NHL game, Staubitz let go a slapper from the right point that hit the glove of Roloson before entering the net with 5:44 remaining in the first, putting the Sharks ahead for good.

"It was great. Pretty excited to contribute to the team," Staubitz said. "It was a highlight for me, a dream come true. Being able to get my first NHL goal in this barn was great.

"I had a bad angle. I couldn't see, but then I saw (defenseman Alexei) Semenov throw his hands up, so it was exciting. I'll be able to tell my friends that I went high glove on my first NHL goal."

With 36 seconds to go, Marleau made it 3-1 by snapping the puck past the glove of Roloson from the right faceoff circle for his 20th goal of the season. Defenseman Rob Blake registered his 500th career assist on the play.

Mathieu Garon started the second period in relief of Roloson, who allowed three goals on just 10 shots, and kept San Jose in check until Marleau cashed in during a power play late in the session.

While in the left circle, Marleau received a cross-slot pass from Joe Pavelski and rifled the puck high to the glove side of Garon with 2:55 left, staking the Sharks to a 4-1 advantage.

"Patty's the captain, and he wasn't happy with the effort the other night," McLellan said. "He takes a huge leadership role in making sure the team is prepared. If he's not playing that way, probably most of the other team isn't, so I was really happy with him."

Prior to Marleau's second goal, Souray left the game with an upper body injury and did not return. Edmonton's lone representative for this season's All-Star Game, Souray was slashed on the left hand by San Jose's Tomas Plihal seven minutes into the middle period.

"I'm hoping it was more precautionary than anything," MacTavish said. "We'll see how he comes through it tonight and what he's like tomorrow. It would be damaging if there was anything further than that."

Just over six minutes into the third, Stortini got into a fight with Staubitz and injured his left knee while falling. The 23-year-old remained on the ice in pain for several moments before being helped to the locker room.

"He's in a lot of pain," MacTavish said. "We all saw the replay and it looked Joe Theismann-like. That he was even on his feet afterward was an accomplishment."

"We just went down funny," Staubitz said. "Maybe his foot got caught in a rut, I'm not sure. You don't like to see that, and I hope it's not too serious."

Oilers captain Ethan Moreau was disappointed the team did not play better in front of Roloson.

"He's battled really hard for us, and that's the type of game where you want to score for him and win it," Moreau said. "He didn't have his best night, but he has won some games for us, and it would have been nice to win a game for him."

Garon made 20 saves.