Marleau scores in OT to make Sharks a winner
Patrick Marleau scored by converting a rebound 2:59 into overtime as the Sharks beat Buffalo 2-1 on Saturday to improve to 2-0 to start their sixgame road trip and end an eight-game skid against the Sabres.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic had a goal and assist, goalie Martin Jones stopped 30 shots and San Jose won for just the second time in 16 visits to Buffalo — and for the first since Dec. 2, 2005, in Joe Thornton’s first game with the franchise.
“Feels good,” Marleau said. “Hopefully, we can get 10 in a row now.”
Vlasic set up the winner. The Sharks were applying pressure in the Sabres zone, and his shot from the high slot hit the right post and caromed to the left of the net. Marleau controlled the puck and snapped it into the open side.
San Jose has won two straight for the first time since a 4-0 start.
Ryan O’Reilly scored for Buffalo, whose threegame win streak ended.
O’Reilly tied the game at 6:27 of the third period when Sharks defenseman Paul Martin had difficulty handling Rasmus Ristolainen’s dump-in inside the San Jose blue line. O’Reilly stripped Martin of the puck, drove alone into the right circle and slapped a shot into the top far corner.
Jones stopped 12 of 13 shots he faced in the final period, including a clutch stop with 2.3 seconds left to preserve the tie. Buffalo’s Jack Eichel zoomed up the left wing and got a shot off while driving to the net. The rebound bounced into the slot, where Marleau kicked it toward the net. Jones stopped the puck, then covered it with his blocker hand.
“That’s as well as I’ve seen him play,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said of Jones. “I thought he was excellent. We needed him to be our best player.”
San Jose’s power-play unit opened the scoring 1:48 in to end a six-game drought. The Sharks worked the puck around to the left point to Vlasic, and he blasted a shot into the far corner with Marleau screening goalie Chad Johnson.
It was San Jose’s sixth power-play goal of the season — all of them scored in road games.
Kings 4, Oilers 3: Nick Shore scored the go-ahead goal with 1:39 left in the third period for host Los Angeles. Jonathan Quick made 22 saves, improving his career record against the Oilers to 16-1-5 in a matchup of teams with the best and worst records in the Pacific Division. The Kings have beaten the Oilers seven straight times at Staples Center. Teddy Purcell, Taylor Hall and rookie Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers. Draisaitl has five goals and eight assists since his promotion from the minors.
Avalanche 6, Canadiens 1: Nathan MacKinnon scored twice in 13 seconds in Colorado’s three-goal first period as the Avalanche handed Montreal its first home loss in regulation this season. Mikhail Grigorenko, filling in on the top line for the suspended Gabriel Landeskog, had a goal and set up both of MacKinnon’s scores. Reto Berra stopped 39 shots.
Predators 7, Jets 0: Calle Jarnkrok scored twice and Pekka Rinne made 20 saves as host Nashville dealt Winnipeg its fifth consecutive loss.
Panthers 5, Lightning 4: Brandon Pirri, who scored on a penalty shot in the second period, had the lone shootout goal as visiting Florida won. Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos had a penalty shot in overtime, but Roberto Luongo made the save.
Blue Jackets 5, Coyotes 2: William Karlsson scored his first two goals of the season as Columbus ended its seasonopening six-game home losing streak. Boone Jenner added a goal and two assists for the Blue Jackets.
Blackhawks 4, Blues 2: Patrick Kane scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period to extend his points streak to 12 games for visiting Chicago. Kane’s 12th goal of the season gave him nine goals and 11 assists during his streak.
Stars 3, Wild 2: John Klingberg scored at 3:18 of overtime as host Dallas extended Minnesota’s losing streak to three games. Klingberg and Jamie Benn each had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who had all six shots on goal in overtime.
Bruins 3, Red Wings 1: Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Torey Krug scored secondperiod goals as Boston won at home for just the second time in eight games this season.
Maple Leafs 4, Canucks 2: James Reimer made 43 saves as host Toronto won its third in a row.
Devils 4, Penguins 0: Cory Schneider made 21 stops for his first shutout of the season and Mike Cammalleri had a goal and two assists for host New Jersey.
Flyers 3, Hurricanes 2: Jakub Voracek scored 37 seconds into overtime to complete visiting Philadelphia’s rally from a 2-0 deficit as the Flyers
won for just the second time since Oct. 24.
Rangers 2, Senators 1: Former Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle scored the shootout winner for visiting New York.
Briefly: Sabres defenseman Mike Weber is expected to be out at least two weeks after having knee surgery Friday. ... Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky was put on injured reserve with an elbow injury. He’s expected to miss a few weeks. ... The Flyers placed center R.J. Umberger and defenseman Mark Streit on injured reserve. Streit is expected to miss six weeks with a pubic plate detachment that will be repaired surgically Tuesday.