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SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Center Patrick Marleau was the hottest player for the San Jose Sharks at the end of the regular season. In the playoffs, he's picked up right where he left off. Marleau scored his fourth goal in as many games with 6:34 remaining to snap a tie and lift the Sharks to a 6-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche and two games to one lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. Selected second overall in the 1997 Entry Draft, Marleau was having a disappointing season before erupting for 10 goals and 16 points in his last 10 games. He carried his hot play into the postseason, recording six goals and four assists during an eight-game points streak. "Any goal feels good, especially the game winner," Marleau said. "We got the win and we have to look foward to the next game." With defenseman Darius Kasparaitis serving a roughing penalty, Marleau fired a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. Left wing Scott Thornton screened Patrick Roy and the puck snuck between the goaltender and the right post to give the Sharks the lead. "(Thornton) was in there screening in front," Marleau said. "I don't know if Roy saw the shot or not, but I just threw it toward the net and it went in short side. It was good. Thorty did a good job in front on the screen." "I got knocked down and I was just trying to get to the front for a screen," Thornton said. "Patrick made a great shot from the wall and it found a hole through all of us and went in. I didn't see it go in the net, but I knew that it was a good shot." San Jose captain Owen Nolan scored an empty-netter, his second tally of the game, to seal the victory for San Jose, which was awarded five power plays in the third period. "I was trying to get back to my physical style and being more aggressive and it paid off tonight," Nolan said. "I haven't been scoring goals and I haven't been doing that. You put a lot of pressure on yourself and you get frustrated. It is a great group of guys in here and they helped me through it." Thornton, Adam Graves and Teemu Selanne also scored for the Sharks, who host Game Four on Wednesday. "I thought it was a (heck) of a hockey game," San Jose coach Darryl Sutter said. "I thought that we played extremely well and we got contributions from everyone. I thought that (goalie Evgeni Nabokov) showed his true colors hanging in there." Defenseman Rob Blake scored twice for Colorado and has four tallies in his last two games after missing Game One. The sellout crowd of 17,496 were vocal early, but Colorado quieted them quickly. Steven Reinprecht gained control of the puck at the blue line and carried it down the slot and into the left faceoff circle. After firing a shot that Nabokov stopped, Blake, who joined the play down low, snuck by Thornton and tapped in the rebound 59 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead. San Jose seemed to tie the game at 5:18, but an early whistle negated the goal. Vincent Damphousse batted the puck over Roy, but the referee lost sight before Damphousse made contact and blew the whistle to stop play. "He blew the whistle," Damphousse said. "The puck was in the air and he blew the whistle. I banged it and it was no question that it was a goal." Thornton atoned for his earlier mistake with 5:20 remaining in the first period, netting his sixth goal in his last 14 playoff contests. While stationed behind the net, San Jose center Mike Ricci dumped the puck in front. After deflecting off Thornton's stick, the puck caromed off defenseman Adam Foote's skate and slid between Roy's pads to even the score. The Sharks carried the momentum into the second period, scoring twice in the first 5:36 to take a 3-1 lead. Nolan capitalized on a bad clearing attempt by Roy at 3:20 and fired a shot from the left wing boards that Graves deflected 2:16 later to give San Jose a two-goal advantage. Roy plucked the puck out of the air with his glove and drifted into the right circle. After dropping the puck, the three-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner banked a clearing shot off the right wing boards. Nolan intercepted at the right point and drilled a shot into a vacated net to put San Jose ahead. "(Roy) hasn't made too many mistakes this series," Nolan said. "The last game, he got to every puck and he was making great plays with it. Fortunately tonight we got to him a little bit. A couple of bad passes and it bounced our way." At 5:36, Nolan controlled the puck in the left corner and skated up the left side. From the outside of the left circle, he ripped a wrister that Graves tipped between Roy's left arm and body for his third goal of the postseason. But Colorado was far from finished. Blake, who missed Game One with a lower leg injury, continued his torrid play, scoring his second goal of the game and fourth of the series at 8:56. Joe Sakic carried the puck into the San Jose zone and left a drop pass for Blake at the right point. The Norris Trophy finalist carried down the slot and wristed a shot from the edge of the left circle that snuck past Nabokov, who was off balance after colliding with Nolan. "These scores are crowd pleasers," Sakic said. "Not so much to us, but the crowd loves them." With Nolan serving a roughing penalty, the Avalanche drew even. Sakic unleashed a slap shot from the right circle that Nabokov stopped with his left pad. Peter Forsberg, who was on the right side of the net, grabbed the rebound and fired it to Chris Drury on the left side. Drury dished the puck to Alex Tanguay, who knocked it past Nabokov from the doorstep with 3:11 remaining to tie the game, 3-3. Three minutes later, Colorado grabbed the lead when Forsberg snuck out from behind the net and stuffed the puck inside the left post. "Forsberg is so quick behind the net," Nabokov said. "I have to stop that type of shot. He fooled me two times in a row." "There was a bit of momentum crossover tonight," Colorado right wing Dan Hinote said. "It was a roller coaster ride tonight. We made a big comeback but couldn't control the momentum swing." The Sharks were awarded four power plays in the first 10 minutes of the third, including two abbreviated two-man advantages, but only could manage one goal. "It definitely made a difference in the way we played," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said of the calls. "Being shorthanded takes away from your game plan and you have to give your penalty killers more ice time." "Tonight we played very disciplined and we only had two penalties and they took a lot," Damphousse said. "We took advantage of it. We moved the puck very well and they got a little tired. That was the difference." One second after Stephane Yelle's holding penalty expired, Selanne fired a one-timer from just below the left circle between Roy's pads at 3:31 even the score for the third time, 4-4. "They put pressure on us all night," Roy said. "We wanted this one badly so we could start out with a win at their home. They pushed us hard tonight. I thought that they got luck on all five goals." Less than two minutes earlier, Sakic nearly gave Colorado a two-goal lead. While shorthanded, the Colorado captain stole the puck at his own blueline and was off to the races. With San Jose defenseman Brad Stuart closing in, Sakic fired a wrister that Nabokov stopped with his right pad to keep the tide from turning. "That was a key save, but we never gave up on each other and kept battling," Nabokov said. "We dominated most of the game and we had to win." "That would have been a crushing blow for us," Nolan said. "We wouldn't have given up, but it definitely would have been a setback." San Jose scored twice on seven power-play chances after netting just two goals on its previous 31 advantages in the postseason. |
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