In his first game back with the San Jose Sharks, Patrick Marleau struck twice as the Sharks finally got their first win of the season, a 5-4 decision over the Blackhawks in Chicago.
“Just to be able to contribute like that, you feel good,” Marleau said. “But I would’ve taken the two points over anything. It was just so exciting to be back and playing and being with this bunch of guys.”
Barclay Goodrow scored the game-winner in the third period after the two clubs exchanged goals through the first 40 minutes of play.
Aaron Dell made 26 saves to get the win.
Andrew Shaw scored two goals for the Blackhawks who dropped to 0-2-0.
“We don’t look at personal stats,” Shaw said. “Two points for the team would have been way better than any individual stat. We just don’t think we played a full 60. We took some shifts off and it ended up in the back of our net a few times. They’re little mistakes that can be fixed, so we have to learn from it, move on, and get ready for the next one.”
Brent Burns had a strike in the win, his 200th NHL goal.
“I don’t even know if that counts,” Burns said. “In a week, it’ll be a one-timer, top corner. Hopefully, my son’s sleeping and he didn’t see it, and I can tell him a good story.”
Dominik Kubalik (first NHL goal) and Dylan Strome also scored for Chicago.
Kevin Labanc also scored for the Sharks.
“Just good momentum changers for us,” Joe Thornton said. “He’s (Marleau) a goal-scorer. That’s what he does. Getting a 500-goal scorer five games into the year was huge for us. It was the boost we needed tonight.”
[WATCH: All Sharks vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Corey Crawford made 29 saves in the loss.
“Would have liked us to respond a little better to the adversity that we faced because we’re going to face a lot this year. So that’s a bit of a message to the team,” Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “We got to do things we talk about for 60 [minutes] and then we’re a good enough team. We have good enough players.”
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