SAN JOSE – Patrick Marleau’s goal in the fourth round of the shootout gave the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday at sold-out HP Pavilion.
The win lifted San Jose to 9-6-3, good for 21 points in the bunched Pacific Division standings. The Sharks improved to 6-0 against Northwest Division competition this season.
The Sharks complete the three-game home stand with dates against Detroit on Thursday and Nashville on Saturday.
“A big win,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. “We played a pretty solid game throughout.”
TJ Gagliardi’s goal that gave San Jose a 2-1 lead in the second period held up for more than 33 minutes.
Gagliardi, who played 171 games for Colorado before joining San Jose in a trade last season, tapped in James Sheppard’s feed with 2:55 gone in the period.
Gagliardi’s first goal of the season and 35th of his career looked to be the game-winner. The Avalanche spoiled that plan when Mark Olver’s shot from the edge of the crease tied the score with 3:19 left in the third period.
San Jose could not convert on a power-play opportunity late in the third that carried into the overtime. After the overtime session, the clubs each scored one goal in the first three rounds of the shootout. Michal Handzus connected in the first round for San Jose. PA Parenteau’s goal in the third round set up the Marleau heroics.
Marleau’s snapshot between the pads of Semyon Varlamov made it 2-1 in the shootout. Antti Niemi stopped John Mitchell’s bid for a tying goal to lift the Sharks to their second win in the past 11 games.
After the Sharks scored at least three goals each game in building a 7-0 start to the season, the club came up with only one three-goal effort in the next 10 games while earning five of 20 possible points.
Logan Couture ignited the San Jose offense in the game’s first minute.
When Colorado defenseman Matt Hunwick tried to move the puck out of the Avalanche zone, San Jose’s Marty Havlat blocked the clearing try and forced the puck behind the goal line. Joe Thornton collected the puck and found a streaking Couture in the slot for the solid one-timer past Varlamov.
Couture’s goal, his seventh of the season, came with 25 seconds gone in the first period. Thornton’s helper was his 15th of the year. Havlat’s assist was his third to go with his three goals.
“That first shift was a big one for us,” Thornton said.
Niemi, playing in his 15th game this season, allowed one goal while making 10 saves in the first period for the Sharks.
Chuck Kobasew gained his second goal of the campaign when he was able to reach past defenseman Jason Demers to jam the puck in the net past Niemi at the 12:13 mark.
San Jose moved into a tie for seventh place in the division, trailing division leader Anaheim by six points.
