S.J. tops Toronto in Patrick Marleau’s return
The Sharks’ surprising contributor from the blue line struck again Monday night.
Though Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns continues to look for his first goal of the season, rookie Tim Heed is filling the offensive void. His power-play goal broke a tie early in the third period and the Sharks spoiled Patrick Marleau’s return with a 3-2 win over Toronto at SAP Center.
Heed scored his second goal with a slap shot from above the right circle into the upper far corner of the net. It was San Jose’s only conversion on four power plays, and it was a result of Timo Meier drawing a retaliatory cross-check from ex-Sharks center Dominic Moore.
“Their defenseman was a bit more on the strong side there, so I was looking on the far side,” Heed said. “I hit it pretty good, and it was a good feeling.”
Forward Joel Ward scored his first goal of the season into an empty net at 17:47 before Toronto’s Nazem Kadri redirected his seventh goal of the season at 18:50 to cut the Leafs’ deficit to one.
The Leafs, who managed nine shots in the final two periods of their total of 18 for the game, couldn’t muster enough energy to mount an attack or even draw a penalty in losing for the fourth time in five games.
The Sharks, coming off a five-game East Coast trip, improved to 3-3 at home.
“I think the road trip we learned a lot about ourselves, how we need to play and what guys can give us,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. “Now it was really good ... to come back (in the) first game after a long trip like that to play probably our best game of the season.”
The emotionally charged night began with a video tribute to Marleau, who — after 19 seasons in San Jose — is in his first season with the Maple Leafs.
“It was humbling,” said Marleau, who had two shots on goal. “Extremely special to be honored like that by the Sharks and the fans. I’ll never forget it.”
Sharks goalie Martin Jones made 16 saves as San Jose moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season at 6-5.
“We stayed out of the box,” Pavelski said. “That team really feeds off the rush and we didn’t give them much for free. You saw a couple of times when we did they’re a dangerous team. It was all about us making good reads, smart decisions, battling pucks out and trying to get them stuffed in their end.”
San Jose scored the only goal of the second period as the game was tied 1-1 after 40 minutes.
Following a Toronto turnover in the defensive zone, Heed pumped a drive toward the net that Pavelski tipped past goalie Frederik Anderson at 7:58 to tie it.
Pavelski’s third goal of the season capped a sequence that included a second assist from Joe Thornton that represented his 1,399th career point. That puts Thornton alone in 20th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Dale Hawerchuk is Thornton’s next target with 1,409 points.