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Streak extends to four games More Marleau, more goals 1/26/13 - By Mike Lee - Patrick Marleau has always had a knack for scoring goals. What he's doing right down is downright unreal. The Sharks forward scored a pair of goals for the fourth consecutive games to lead the Sharks to a 4-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday in an afternoon matinee at HP Pavilion. The Sharks only needed one of Marleau's goals to win their fourth straight game, keeping their perfect record intact. Thomas Greiss made 24 saves to record his first career shutout. That shutout may have had a very different ending, if not for a single play that set the tone for the entire game. With the Sharks scratching to regain some momentum in the contest after Colorado dictated much of the opening period, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog carried the puck up the left wing through the neutral zone. Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart lowered the boom on Landeskog, knocking him into February with an open-ice hit. Colorado defenseman Ryan O'Byrne immediately went after Stuart, engaging him in front of the Sharks net. O'Byrne made the mistake of instigating and not removing his visored helmet, which earned him 19 minutes in penalty minutes. The Sharks benefited with a four-minute power play that they would use to setup Marleau's daily scoring binge. San Jose converted at 16:09 of the opening frame with Marleau swatting home a loose puck in front of the Avalanche net. Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped a Dan Boyle blast from the slot, but the puck bounced to the top of the crease, where Joe Pavelski pushed it far enough forward for Marleau to sweep it into the Colorado goal. San Jose used a little more finesse 78 seconds later to cash in on the back half of the double minor to O'Byrne. Boyle started a passing sequence from the top of the right circle, hitting Joe Thornton with a pass through the slot to the off wing. Thornton immediately found Marleau cutting to the net from the right post, sliding a perfect feed through traffic. All Marleau had to do was receive the pass and slip into a wide open net. PA Parenteau kicked off the 2nd period with a tripping penalty that would setup the Sharks 3rd power play goal of the game. Pavelski threw the puck into a scrum in front of the net, where Marleau and Ryane Clowe bounced it around until it ended up on Thornton's stick. Varlamov dropped to his pads to defend against the bouncing puck, but he was out of position once Thornton dug it out of the pile and flipped it home. Any notion of a Colorado comeback was thwarted by the Sharks instance on keeping the puck away from Greiss. Colorado could only muster 5 shots on net in the middle period. Rookie defenseman Matt Irwin eliminated all doubts with just under three minutes remaining in the period when he pumped a shot from the left point past Varlamov. The Colorado netminder had to deal with lots of traffic in front of the net, which screened Irwin's shot. The Sharks continued their offensive approach to the game in the 3rd period by putting 17 shot s on goal. A Greg Zannon delya of game penalty midway through the period didn't help Colorado's cause. Things got chippy late in the game as tempers flared. Three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on top of three 10-minute misconduct infractions. SHARE THIS STORY: What did you think of this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums

What did you think of this story? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums Scoring 1 2 3 T COL 0 0 0 0 SJ 2 2 0 4 1st period - 1, SJ, Marleau 7 (Pavelski, Boyle), 16:09, (pp). 2, SJ, Marleau 8 (Thornton, Boyle), 17:27, (pp). 2nd period - 3, SJ, Thornton 2 (Clowe, Marleau), 2:32, (pp). 4, SJ, Irwin 1 (Havlat, Clowe), 17:05 3rd period - None. Penalties 1st period - Desjardins, SJ (roughing), 6:08; Couture, SJ (high sticking), 8:46; O'Byrne, COL (instigator), 15:40; O'Byrne, COL (instigator - face shield), 15:40; O'Byrne, COL (fighting major), 15:40; O'Byrne, COL (10 min misconduct), 15:40; Stuart, SJ (fighting major), 15:40. 2nd period - Parenteau, COL (tripping), 0:42; Mitchell, COL (hooking), 14:54. 3rd period - Zanon, COL (delay of game - puck over glass), 11:35; McLeod, COL (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:41; Bordeleau, COL (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:41; McLeod, COL (10 min misconduct), 17:41; Bordeleau, COL (10 min misconduct), 17:41; Desjardins, SJ (10 min misconduct), 17:41; Burish, SJ (unsportsmanlike conduct), 17:41; Johnson, COL (interference), 17:59. Goaltending Shots Saves COL - Varlamov 26 22 COL - Giguere 17 17 SJ - Greiss 24 24 Shots On Goal 1 2 3 T COL 8 5 11 24 SJ 7 19 17 21 Power Play Conversion COL 0 of 2 SJ 3 of 6 3 Stars of the Game Patrick Marleau Matt Irwin Thomas Greiss Attendence 17,562 Officials Referees: Hasenfratx, LaRue. Linesmen: Wheler, Heyer.

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