Gameday 9 (Sun, 27 Jan) - Results

Buffalo v Washington 2-3 - Alex Ovechkin opened his scoring account for the 2012-13 season, and it went a long way to ensure the Washington Capitals are no longer winless. Ovechkin's first tally of the season proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon for the Capitals against the Buffalo Sabres at Verizon Center. Washington became the last team in the NHL to claim a victory this season, while the Sabres dropped their third straight game. The victory is the first as an NHL head coach for Adam Oates. Joel Ward and Jason Chimera had two points each, while Michal Neuvirth had another strong start in net with 23 saves. Ryan Miller made 28 saves for Buffalo, but the offense sagged without top scorer Thomas Vanek. Ovechkin potted his first of the season with his team on the power play at 5:11 of the third period to give Washington a 3-1 lead. One of the alterations Oates has made is shifting the Capitals into more of a 1-3-1 look on the power play, and that has moved Ovechkin down from the left point to an area near the top of the circle. That's where he was to receive a pass from Mike Green for a one-time blast past Miller. John Erskine gave the Capitals only their second lead of the season at 3:18 of the second period. His shot from the left point hit a couple of Buffalo players on the way in, and moved enough to fool Miller. Erskine had not scored a goal since Game 4 of the second round of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and this was his first in the regular sesaon since April 5, 2011. Tyler Ennis put the Sabres in front at 9:34 of the opening period. A Washington turnover gave Buffalo an odd-man rush on the counterattack, and Ennis flipped a backhander shot past Neuvirth after a pass from Steve Ott. It was Ennis' first tally of the season, and only the third this season by someone not on Buffalo's top line. Vanek, Cody Hodgson and Jason Pominville have three each for the Sabres, but Vanek was out of the lineup because of a muscle strain. Ward has been the closest thing to an offensive force for the Capitals in this early season, and he collected his third goal of the campaign to level the score. Ward got between two Buffalo defenders in the slot, and he was able to put home the rebound of a Chimera shot from near the goal line to the left of Miller. Ward now has three goals this season, while no other Washington player has more than one. He has five points to lead the team, while Chimera, who had two assists in this contest, and Mike Ribeiro have four each. Those three have been together on a line for the past two games. Without Vanek, the Sabres' offense struggled, especially during a second period that featured only six shots on net for the road team. Marcus Foligno did cut Washington's lead to 3-2 midway through the third period. Foligno set up at the top of the crease and muscled his way to a rebound goal at 10:13. It was his first of the season after producing six (and seven assists) in 14 games after being called up late in the 2011-12 campaign. Ovechkin missed a chance to make it a two-goal game when his shot at an empty net hit the side of the goal in the final minute.

Pittsburgh v Ottawa 2-1 - James Neal scored in regulation and again in the shootout and Evgeni Malkin sealed the deal in the breakaway competition as the Pittsburgh Penguins earned a 2-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place on Sunday night. Ottawa controlled the play through the early part of the game, but the Penguins (3-2-0) struck first, when Malkin picked off a long breakout pass by Zack Smith. Malkin blew past Smith along the left boards, then sent a cross-ice pass to Neal, who one-timed a rocket past Craig Anderson's glove hand at 13:31 in the first period. Less than a minute later, the Penguins nearly went up 2-0 when Brandon Sutter snuck up on Anderson and almost slipped a backhanded shot past his left pad. The puck went wide of the post at the last second, and the Ottawa crowd breathed an audible sigh of relief. Ottawa almost tied the game in the dying seconds of the period, when on a shorthanded breakaway, Erik Condra tore up the ice into the Penguins' zone. But Kris Letang caught Condra before the Ottawa forward was able to get a decent shot on Fleury (31 saves). The Senators would tie the game in the second period, when Jason Spezza's shot on Fleury from the top of the left circle hit the goaltender in the chest, allowing Fleury to cradle the puck in his arms. He then dropped the puck, and Greening was able to capitalize on a tap-in in front of the net at 13:44. Sidney Crosby almost put the Penguins up 2-1 when a giveaway by Erik Karlsson along the boards was picked up by the Pittsburgh captain. Crosby fired a wrist shot on Anderson, but the goaltender saw the puck in time to make the stick save. Neal, Crosby and Malkin all beat Anderson in the shootout. Fleury denied Milan Michalek in the opening round, before Jason Spezza and Kyle Turris each found the back of the net. The Pittsburgh captain acknowledged that it wasn't the slickest game, but that the Penguins needed a boost to break their two-game skid. Daniel Alfredsson was a late scratch on Sunday due to the flu, but MacLean anticipates that he will be at practice on Monday, and will likely be available for the Senators' next game against the Washington Capitals at home on Tuesday. Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Pens coach Dan Bylsma said Niskanen will be re-evaluated once the team returns to Pittsburgh.

New Jersey v Montreal 3-4 - Andrei Markov scored a power play goal at 4:22 of overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 win Sunday against the New Jersey Devils, the defenseman's third straight game-winning goal to fuel his team's three-game win streak. Markov's career high in goals is 16 in 2007-08, the last time he played a full 82-game season. His four goals in four games puts him a quarter of the way there just a week into the season. Markov has made a history of being a major difference-maker for the Canadiens. In 2009-10, the last time Markov played a significant number of games, the Canadiens were 29-16-8 in the 53 regular season and Stanley Cup Playoff games where Markov was dressed and 15-23-2 when he wasn't. Though he managed to play the final 13 games of last season after completing his rehabilitation from his second straight reconstructive surgery on his right knee, he was nowhere near the player he's been so far this season. Markov showed one of his biggest qualities as a player on the overtime winner. Early in the overtime period Markov pinched to try and get the winning goal, but that turned into a 3-on-1 break the other way, with Ilya Kovalchuk ringing a shot off the post. However, when the time came to pinch again during a power play in the final minute of overtime, Markov swooped in from the point yet again to put away a rebound of a missed Rene Bourque shot to win the game at 4:22. Brendan Gallagher scored his first NHL goal, Brandon Prust got his first in a Montreal uniform and Alex Galchenyuk had a pair of assists for the Canadiens (3-1-0), who handed the Devils (3-0-1) their first loss of the season. David Clarkson and Patrik Elias each had a goal and two assists and Elias reached the 900-point mark for his career for the Devils, who lost at the Bell Centre for the first time since March 11, 2008 after winning their last eight visits to Montreal. Martin Brodeur, who snapped his own personal Bell Centre winning streak at seven games, stopped 28 shots for the Devils in their only visit to his hometown this season, while Price made 22 saves for the Canadiens. The Canadiens came out flying in the first period, jumping out to a 2-0 lead while spending practically the entire first 20 minutes in the Devils zone. It could have been a much different opening period if Travis Zajac's shot were about inch further to the right on a 2-on-1 break with Kovalchuk 40 seconds after the initial faceoff, but Zajac's shot rang off the post to the right of Price. Ryan White opened the scoring for Montreal at 2:25 after some great work by Travis Moen, who fought for position in front to tip an Alexei Emelin point shot and created a juicy rebound that White buried into an empty net. Gallagher made it 2-0 at 13:35 off a 2-on-1 break with fellow rookie Galchenyuk, one-timing a perfect feed past Brodeur then jumping into Galchenyuk's arms as the Bell Centre roared. Gallagher got his first NHL point on Galchenyuk's first NHL goal last Tuesday against the Panthers only to have the favor returned against the Devils. As badly as the Canadiens dominated the Devils in the first period, the tables were turned in the second as New Jersey was a completely different team, pinning Montreal deep in the zone for nearly the entirety of the first 10 minutes. The pressure paid off when Mark Fayne's point shot was tipped in front by Elias at 3:26 to make it 2-1 Montreal, but the Devils couldn't tie it up before the second intermission. Montreal went ahead by two goals at 2:00 of the third period on a great play by Galchenyuk, who intercepted a clearing pass at the Devils blue line and set up Prust for his first goal in a Canadiens' uniform. But Prust and Galchenyuk were the source of the Devils' second goal as both players were called for high-sticking during the same sequence, giving New Jersey a 5-on-3 power play at 4:32 of the third. Clarkson capitalized less than a minute later, converting a feed from Elias for his third goal of the season at 5:23. The Devils tied it 3-3 at 13:02 after twice being down by two goals when Elias beat the Canadiens defense to a puck deep in their zone, then set up Zubrus in front for his first goal of the season.

Philadelphia v Tampa Bay 1-5 - Anders Lindback made one mistake, and he made it just 59 seconds into the game. But after that, he was faultless, stopping the next 24 shots he faced as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 to extend their winning streak to four. Lindback allowed a weak shot along the goal line from Philadelphia forward Sean Couturier to slip between his skate and the post and into the Lightning net to give the Flyers a quick one-goal lead. That early fluke goal was all the Flyers could muster, despite having six power-play opportunities, including a four minute advantage in the opening period during which they managed just one shot on net. The first period was a penalty-filled, fast and furious 20 minutes that saw both teams accumulating a total of 26 minutes in infraction time. The whistle began sounding when Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier tussled with Philadelphia defenseman Luke Schenn, earning five minutes apiece. For Lecavalier it was his first major penalty since February 3, 2009. Lecavalier later added a power-play goal when he buried a pass from Martin St. Louis behind Flyers netminder Michael Leighton with only 65 seconds remaining in the opening period. The assist was the third of what would eventually be four in the game for St. Louis. The goal capped a first period comeback that saw the Lightning close out the opening period with a 3-1 lead. Teddy Purcell got Tampa Bay on the board with his first goal of the season, a power-play tally set up by some sharp precision passing between St. Louis and Steven Stamkos. Stamkos collected St. Louis' feed in the low slot and sent the puck to Purcell, standing unchecked to the right of the Flyer net. Purcell ended the night with a goal and two assists. Eric Brewer put the Lightning ahead for good at 16:10 when his blast from the left point deflected off Flyer center Maxime Talbot and passed Leighton. Tampa Bay continued its third-period mastery when they scored two goals in the final period. Victor Hedman notched his second goal of the season when he was in perfect position to tap in a rebound of an Adam Hall backhand. Lightning defenseman Sami Salo was credited with his second assist of the game on the play. Stamkos completed the scoring when he directed the puck past Leighton just two seconds after a Lightning power-play had ended. Stamkos scored from in front of the Flyer crease off some sharp passing from St. Louis and Purcell. With the two third-period goals, the Lightning have now outscored their opponents 13-1 in the final period. The loss dropped the Flyers to 2-4-0 on the season and denied them of a three-game win streak. This was the second of two back-to-back games for Philadelphia, after it played the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. Tampa Bay converted on two of five extra-man chances on the night. The Flyers currently lead the NHL in minor penalties. Sunday night, it appeared the entire team was doing everything right, including paying the price with blocked shots. Tampa Bay blocked 26 shots to only eight for the Flyers. Leighton, making his first start of the season for Philadelphia, stopped 20 of 25 shots he faced. The Flyers continue their road trip Tuesday night against the New York Rangers, while Tampa Bay continues its five-game homestand Tuesday against Florida.

Detroit v Chicago 1-2 - After 20 minutes, it looked like the Chicago Blackhawks might steamroll the visiting Detroit Red Wings for their franchise record-setting sixth straight win to open a season. Instead, the visitors from the Motor City overcame a rough first period and made the home team earn its 2-1 victory in overtime on Sunday night at United Center. The winning goal was scored by Chicago defenseman Nick Leddy at 2:45 of the extra session, after he joined a rush to give his team a 3-on-2 in the Detroit zone. Leddy took a pass from Viktor Stalberg and zipped a shot from the left circle past Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard – which gave the Blackhawks the best start in franchise history. Chicago's six straight wins bests the mark of the 1971-72 team, which won five in a row. It also helps to get scoring from the back end, and the Blackhawks (6-0-0) got both of theirs from defensemen. Leddy's goal – his first of the season – ended the game's scoring while Duncan Keith's first marker of the year gave Chicago a 1-0 lead just 2:24 into the game to cap a power play. Johan Franzen scored Detroit's lone goal at 4:30 of the third to tie it 1-1 for the Detroit (2-2-1) – which couldn't convert any of its six man-advantages into goals – including four in the second period, when the Red Wings also frittered away 43 seconds of a 5-on-3 opportunity. Detroit has now scored just two goals in 26 power plays for a paltry 7.7 percent conversion rate. That might be the biggest area where the Red Wings miss retired star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who smoothly quarterbacked their power play for years. The flip side is the job the Blackhawks penalty-killing units did, not only in this game but in all six games thus far. Chicago is now ranked second in the League in penalty killing, after killing off 22 of 23 advantages for the opposition (95.6 percent). The Blackhawks have also killed all 15 opposing power plays they've faced in road games. Spearheading the effort are unheralded fourth-line forwards Marcus Kruger and Michael Frolik plus goalie Corey Crawford (29 saves) – who improved to 5-0-0 with this win and now has a 1.78 goals-against average. Crawford was forced to make several big ones in this game, including one off a tipped point-blast by Kronwall in the first that preserved the early 1-0 lead. Chicago, however, controlled most of the first period – making Howard (25 saves) come up with a number of impressive stops to keep his team in the game. Despite gritting out a 3-2 victory Saturday night in Columbus, the Blackhawks came out flying. Keith's goal put the Blackhawks up quickly, after a holding call on Kent Huskins led to a power play. During the advantage, Detroit's Patrick Eaves lost his stick in a corner battle and Marian Hossa gained control of the puck. He slid it out to Seabrook at the point, who found Keith in the left circle. That turned out to be Chicago's lone man-advantage of the first, but the Blackhawks' puck-possession game was so dominant that it felt like they had several more in the period. Detroit turned the momentum in the second by drawing four penalties and putting the pressure on Chicago's penalty kill units, but the Blackhawks were up to the challenge. Chicago also blocked 20 shots in this game, including four each by defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson, Seabrook and Johnny Oduya. Seabrook now leads the NHL with 19 blocked shots, while Hjalmarsson's 16 ranks third. Detroit finally tied it 1-1 on Franzen's goal early in the third, his first of the season, which he scored after a long shot by Henrik Zetterberg deflected off Keith's skate in the low slot. The puck went right to Franzen's stick and he used Keith as a screen to fire it through Crawford's pads. The goal also continued a Blackhawks' shutout dry spell. Chicago hasn't had a shutout since beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-0 on April 21, 2011 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and hasn't had a regular-season shutout since March 23, 2011 – when Crawford shut out the Florida Panthers on home ice. Considering the outcome of this game, however, the shutout spell is just an obscure stat to the Blackhawks. Heading into a six-game road trip that starts Wednesday in Minnesota, Chicago is only concerned with continuing its strong start.

NY Islanders v Winnipeg 4-5 - The Winnipeg Jets only made a quick two-game stop at MTS Centre this weekend, but it was long enough to display the best and worst of their qualities. The Jets churned out a 5-4 overtime win against the visiting New York Islanders on Sunday night after surrendering a second-intermission lead. Two goals late in the third period erased a three-goal New York outburst earlier in the period that set up Evander Kane's winning strike 1:59 into overtime for the Jets (3-1-1), who own a three-game winning streak. A New York (2-2-1) offensive-zone turnover set up an odd-man rush before Kane pushed the rebound of a heavy Olli Jokinen shot under Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. The win against a New York team that had taken three of four meetings between the clubs last season came after the Jets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night in a 4-2 come-from-behind win. In both home wins, the Jets erased two-goal deficits. New York used three goals in the opening 9:53 of the third period to erase a one-goal lead Winnipeg had taken into the second intermission. Matt Moulson deflected a shot past Jets goaltender Al Montoya that snapped a 2-2 tie. Mark Streit pushed the visitors' lead to 4-2 before the Jets stormed back with goals from Dustin Byfuglien and Alexander Burmistrov spaced 65 seconds apart that tied the game at 4-4 with 5:56 remaining. Montoya, signed in the offseason after spending the past two seasons with the Islanders, made his Jets debut against his former teammates and turned in a 21-save evening. The Islanders took an early lead before falling behind a goal early in the second period. However, the visitors used Nabokov's strong work to hold the deficit at one goal before John Tavares tied the game 2-2 in the first minute of the third period. Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom slipped at his own blue line and allowed Tavares to break in and beat Montoya under the crossbar 22 seconds into the period for his first goal of the season. David Ullstrom also scored for the Islanders, a pesky bunch that hung in the game despite registering just 15 shots over the first two periods. Nabokov, who had a night off in Friday's 4-2 road loss to the Boston Bruins, returned to action to make 30 saves. The Islanders surrendered a 2-1 lead against Boston in the loss and lost the game on two Bruins third-period goals The Jets also picked up offensive contributions from Alexei Ponikarovsky and Bryan Little, who scored their first goals of the season. Byfuglien's third-period power play goal with 7:01 remaining sliced the Islanders' lead to one goal and snapped the Islanders' run of 16 consecutive kills to start the season. Indeed, the Jets continued to push after Byfuglien's goal and quickly tied the game. Burmistrov snapped a high shot past Nabokov that tied the game. Ullstrom's second goal of the season put the Islanders up1-0 on their second shot of the game 2:34 into the game and pushed his scoring streak to four games. The Jets, however, are now 3-0-0 in games in which they have allowed the first goal. Kyle Wellwood scurried behind Nabokov's net before backhanding a short saucer pass into the low slot that Ponikarovsky tipped past Nabokov at 10:15 for a 1-1 game. Winnipeg broke the tie five minutes into the second period. Nik Antropov's work along the boards deep inside the offensive zone put the Islanders under heavy pressure. Andrew Ladd collected the puck behind the New York goal line and directed a pass to Antropov inside the bottom right circle. Antropov redirected the pass into the slot to Little, who banged a shot past Nabokov for a 2-1 lead. The Jets' speed and transition game flustered New York for much of the game. The Islanders landed themselves in early penalty trouble, putting the Jets on three power plays in the opening period. New York, which began the evening having killed off all 13 opposing power plays that they had faced over the season's first four games, held the Jets scoreless on all three chances. But the penalty kill, so dependable for the Islanders early in the season, sputtered under late pressure that set up Byfuglien's game-tying goal.

Minnesota v St Louis 4-5 - After finishing a six-game stretch over nine days, the St. Louis Blues can feel good about coming away with 10 of a possible 12 points. It was one of the toughest stretches of their 48-game season, but the Blues can take pride in the fact they were knocked around a few times and were able to stand up in the face of adversity against some tough teams. Sunday's overtime win over a tough Minnesota Wild squad was the culmination of getting kicked, only to get back up and stand victorious. Vladimir Sobotka's tip-in of a Andy McDonald pass gave the Blues a 5-4 win against the Wild on Sunday night at Scottrade Center improving St. Louis to 5-1-0 on the season and keeping pace with the 6-0-0 Chicago Blackhawks for the top spot in the Central Division. It's the Blues' best start since the 1997-98 when the Blues began 7-1-0. McDonald fed Sobotka in front, and the Blues' fourth-line center chopped the puck past Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom 2:16 into overtime. The Wild fell for the third time in a row (0-2-1 in that span). Wade Redden scored his second goal as a Blue and in as many games, Patrik Berglund and Barret Jackman added goals, David Perron, Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk each assisted on two goals. Zach Parise scored twice and set up another. Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu each added a goal and an assist and Tom Gilbert and Ryan Suter each added a pair of assists. Redden's second goal in as many games, he had two in 75 games with the New York Rangers in the 2009-10 season, gave the Blues a 1-0 lead. Behind the net, David Backes found a streaking Redden in the left circle, and the veteran defenseman made no mistake with a one-timer past Backstrom 9:16 into the game. Minnesota's best chance came early in the game, when Marco Scandella's shot from the blue line deflected in the crease and off the post. Brian Elliott then robbed Matt Cullen in tight on the rebound. The Wild were effective in their shooting percentage in the second period, scoring three times on only four shots. Parise was in on all three goals, scoring a pair of power-play goals. The first tied it up 1-1 when his shot from a tough angle caromed off the left skate of Elliott 2:04 into the period. Parise gave the Wild a 2-1 lead, taking a flip pass from Koivu and curling a shot around Elliott 10:52 into the period. Then in a 4-on-4 situation, Parise's drop pass to Koivu in the right circle set up the Wild captain, who snapped a shot over Elliott's shoulder at 14:40. Play continued but after review, it clearly hit the back of the pipe and came out for a 3-1 Minnesota lead. Berglund cut the lead to 3-2 just 58 seconds later, taking Perron's cross-ice feed and beating a sprawled Backstrom. The Blues came out humming in the third period, swarming the Wild goal. But three missed power play chances hurt their cause. However, they got the equalizer on Stewart's redirection of Pietrangelo's shot from the right point to tie it 3-3. Jackman gave the Blues a 4-3 lead at 13:47 on a shot from the right point, off a drop pass from Vladimir Tarasenko, but Heatley's goal with 4:08 left, on a tip of a scrum in front of Elliott tied the game 4-4. Officials needed video review to see if Heatley touched it with a high stick, but the goal stood. The Blues continued to come at the Wild in bunches and needed the extra session to claim the extra point. They are now off until Thursday.

Vancouver v San Jose 1-4 - The puck hadn't even dropped Sunday night at HP Pavilion and there were already two players in the penalty box, San Jose Sharks forward Ryane Clowe and Vancouver Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows. It was that kind of night between what have become bitter Western Conference rivals. In a physical game filled with penalties, fights and crushing hits, the Sharks beat Vancouver 4-1 and improved to 5-0, their fastest start in franchise history. Getting two goals from Joe Pavelski and one from both Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, the Sharks snapped Vancouver's streak of four straight victories at the Shark Tank. The Canucks, who had a goal from Burrows, fell to 2-2-1. The game turned chippy as the Sharks and Canucks lined up for the opening faceoff. Sharks forward Logan Couture and Burrows made contact with each other in the circle. Clowe quickly got involved, and both he and Burrows earned unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Patrick Marleau's historic streak of multi-goal games to start a season ended at four, but he still scored a goal and had an assist. He also got to see some other strange history made. For the first time ever, the Sharks started a game 4-on-4 because of penalties before the puck dropped. The Sharks got tremendous goaltending from Antti Niemi, who made 23 saves, and a perfect night from their penalty killers, who went 7-for-7 against one of the NHL's most dangerous power plays. Clowe had a busy night that ended early when he received a game misconduct with 26.5 seconds left in the second period. Clowe was sent to the box for high sticking and quickly received two more minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Then, when he slammed his stick against the wall of the penalty box, he was hit with a 10-minute misconduct penalty and a game misconduct. For the game, Clowe had a franchise record eight penalties for 35 minutes. He traded punches with and got the better of Vancouver's Zack Kassian late in the first period, both went to the box for five minutes. Midway through the second period, Clowe delivered a big hit to defenseman Christopher Tanev, blasting him into the boards behind the Canucks' net. As a team, the Sharks had 13 penalties for a season-high 51 minutes. Vancouver had 12 for 33. Just 43 seconds into the game, Thornton gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season. Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic set the scoring play in motion when he launched a hard shot from the left circle. Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider blocked Vlasic's shot, but when defenseman Jason Garrison tried to clear the rebound, he sent it the right to Thornton, who beat Schneider with a shot from the slot. The Sharks took advantage of another Vancouver mistake to take a 2-0 lead at 3:26 of the first on Pavelski's first goal of the season. With the puck deep in his zone, Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler tried to make a cross-ice pass, but Pavelski easily intercepted and quickly fired the puck past Schneider. Niemi made a handful of huge saves in the first period. He stopped Jannik Hansen on a breakaway just seconds before Pavelski's goal. Later in the period, Henrik Sedin fired a shot from the low slot that Niemi handled. Then, on a Canucks’ power play late in the period, Niemi made back-to-back saves on a pair of shots by Burrows. The Sharks also dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 18 of 24 draws in the first period. Vancouver cut San Jose's lead to 2-1 at 11:05 of the second, when Burrows scored on a shot from the right circle. Niemi actually rejected the puck, but it bounced off left skate of Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle and found the back of the net. The Sharks answered at 14:27 of the period on Marleau's power-play goal, and this time San Jose took advantage of a well-placed skate. With time winding down in the power play, Couture fired a shot toward the net from the left circle. The puck pin-balled off bodies in front of the net, bounced off Marleau's right skate and shot past a sprawling Schneider, who actually gave it an extra shove with the back of his glove. Trailing 3-1, the Canucks had 3:34 left on a four-minute power play, resulting from Clowe's meltdown, as they opened the third period. But the Sharks escaped unscathed, thanks to their penalty kill. Pavelski made it 4-1 with a power play goal with 11:46 left to play, taking a pass from Thornton and sending a one-timer from the right circle past Schneider. Marleau scored two goals in each of the Sharks’ first four games and almost got his second goal late in the third, but was denied by Schneider.