Written by Rick Sadowski at NHL.com
Patrick Marleau had the first four-goal game of his NHL career, scoring them on four shots in the third period, to help the San Jose Sharks to a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Monday.
San Jose (30-16-2) won its season-high fifth game in a row to remain one point behind the first-place Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division.
Marleau is the 12th player in NHL history to score four goals in a period, and the first since former Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux on Jan. 26, 1997 against the Montreal Canadiens.
“It was a good period to have,” said Marleau, who had gone seven games without a goal and has 16 this season and 497 in his NHL career.
Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic set up Marleau for his first goal, which came on a tip at 2:53 to break a 1-1 tie, and his fourth on a breakaway at 16:23 for a 5-2 lead.
Marleau said he started thinking about a hat trick after he scored his second goal at 5:57 on a wraparound, jamming the puck between the left post and goalie Spencer Martin’s skate to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead.
“[Sharks forward Logan Couture] said something to me on the bench, ‘Let’s go get that third one,'” Marleau said. “That’s when you’re thinking about it and guys are rooting for you, so it makes it fun.”
Marleau completed his hat trick at 10:35 shortly after serving a hooking penalty, converting Joe Pavelski’s pass on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 4-1.
“Great player,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “Still a lot of gas left in the tank, a lot of juice left in those legs. Considering our schedule and his age (37), to play a game like that, that’s an exceptional feat. It’s an exceptional feat when you’re 22, never mind 37 in the middle of seven games in 11 nights. He’s a great player. It was great to be part of it.”
Colorado (13-30-2), which lost its sixth consecutive game (0-5-1), was short one forward after center Matt Duchene was scratched because of illness shortly before the opening faceoff.
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