Marleau lifts Sharks in OT

Times wires
Wednesday, February 23, 2011

PITTSBURGH — Patrick Marleau scored his second goal of the game at 4:56 of overtime and the Sharks won their fifth straight, 3-2 over the Penguins on Wednesday.

Improving to 14-2-1 in their past 17 games, the Sharks moved a point ahead of the Coyotes, who lost to the Lightning, to take over the Pacific Division lead.

Tyler Kennedy scored twice for the Penguins, including tying the score by stuffing in a rebound with 50 seconds remaining in regulation.

"It's just a sign of our perseverance," Marleau said. "You don't want to see that happen, but when it does happen, you want to see guys forget about it right away."

Pittsburgh is winless in its past three (0-1-2) and is 2-5-2 since Evgeni Malkin sustained a season-ending knee injury to join Sidney Crosby (concussion) on the injury list.

And the Penguins might be down another key player. Defenseman Brooks Orpik did not return after taking Marleau's shot off his right hand in the first. The had appeared to be wrapped after the game. Coach Dan Bylsma said he would update Orpik's status today.

Game highlights: Tyler Myers had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Miller made 40 saves to lift the host Sabres to a 4-1 win over the Thrashers in front of new Buffalo owner Terry Pegula. … Recent acquisition Craig Anderson made 23 saves and the East-worst Senators ended a 10-game home losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the Panthers.

Ratings: Sunday's Penguins-Blackhawks game on NBC was watched by 1.9 million people, making it the most-watched non-Winter Classic regular-season game in five years, the network said.

Blackhawks: Coach Joel Quenneville returned after missing a week because of gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a small ulcer.

coyotes: The league suspended forward Scott Upshall for two games for a hit into the boards Tuesday on Flyers defenseman Oskars Bartulis. Upshall got a boarding penalty. Bartulis left the game with an upper-body injury. Upshall missed Wednesday's game against the Lightning and will miss Friday's at Columbus.

Ducks: The team called up goalie Ray Emery from AHL Syracuse after a three-game conditioning stint. Emery had surgery in April for the hip condition that ended two-sport star Bo Jackson's career in the 1990s.

Stars: General manager Joe Nieuwendyk said though his priority is re-signing center Brad Richards, who can be an unrestricted free agent this summer, he has also spoken to other teams about trade possibilities. "All options are in play here," he said. "(A trade is) certainly not my first choice."

Thrashers: The team signed general manager Rick Dudley, who helped build the Lightning and Blackhawks' Stanley Cup-winning teams, to a four-year contract extension.

First Period—1, Pitts., Kennedy 13 (Cooke, Engelland), 5:48. Penalties—Orpik, Pit (hooking), 9:16; Engelland, Pit (cross-checking), 17:21.

Second Period—2, SJ, Couture 25 (Setoguchi, Demers), 3:01 (pp). Penalties—Adams, Pit (hooking), 1:31; Thornton, SJ (hooking), 10:23; Niskanen, Pit (tripping), 17:24.

Third Period—3, SJ, Marleau 23 (Heatley), 5:28. 4, Pitts., Kennedy 14 (Staal, Cooke), 19:10. Penalties—Setoguchi, SJ (holding), 11:26.

Overtime—5, SJ, Marleau 24 (Couture, Vlasic), 4:56. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—SJ 11-9-14-4—38. Pitts. 6-9-8-3—26. Power-play opportunities—SJ 1 of 4; Pitts. 0 of 2. Goalies—SJ, Niemi 22-15-3 (26 shots-24 saves). Pitts., Fleury 27-15-4 (38-35).

First Period—1, Buffalo, Myers 9, 7:13. Penalties—Byfuglien, Atl (delay of game), 11:06; Pominville, Buf (hooking), 14:35.

Second Period—2, Atlanta, Ladd 22 (Little, Antropov), 5:31 (pp). 3, Buffalo, Gaustad 9 (Gerbe, Weber), 18:52. 4, Buffalo, Pominville 15 (Vanek, Myers), 19:22. Penalties—Enstrom, Atl (delay of game), 1:57; Morrisonn, Buf (interference), 5:18; M.Stuart, Atl, major (fighting), 9:22; Gaustad, Buf, major (fighting), 9:22; Thorburn, Atl (goaltender interference), 10:39; Boulton, Atl, major (fighting), 13:08; McCormick, Buf, major (fighting), 13:08; Butler, Buf (slashing), 14:10.

Third Period—5, Buffalo, Ennis 13 (Hecht, Butler), 1:54. Penalties—Gerbe, Buf (holding), 11:04. Shots on Goal—Atlanta 10-18-13—41. Buffalo 10-18-11—39. Power-play opportunities—Atlanta 1 of 4; Buffalo 0 of 3. Goalies—Atlanta, Pavelec 18-18-8 (39 shots-35 saves). Buffalo, Miller 25-18-5 (41-40).

First Period—1, Ottawa, Butler 4 (Greening, Foligno), 11:13. Penalties—Hordichuk, Fla, major (fighting), 2:49; Lessard, Ott, major (fighting), 2:49; Stillman, Fla (interference), 4:08; Skille, Fla (hooking), 6:12; Benoit, Ott (holding), 8:07; Kovalev, Ott (high-sticking), 15:23; Carkner, Ott (tripping), 16:28; Olesz, Fla (holding), 19:28.

Second Period—2, Ottawa, Shannon 6 (Spezza, Kuba), :36 (pp). 3, Fla., Higgins 11 (Clemmensen), 4:18. 4, Ottawa, Butler 5, 10:38. Penalties—Carkner, Ott (roughing), 4:38.

Third Period—5, Ottawa, Michalek 15 (Carkner, Spezza), 16:49. 6, Ottawa, Spezza 11 (Shannon, Kuba), 18:38. Penalties—Dvorak, Fla (tripping), 1:19; Clemmensen, Fla, served by Booth (delay of game), 6:03; Z.Smith, Ott (high-sticking), 11:31; Ellerby, Fla (tripping), 13:41. Shots on Goal—Fla. 7-9-8—24. Ottawa 11-8-15—34. Power-play opportunities—Fla. 0 of 5; Ottawa 1 of 6. Goalies—Fla., Clemmensen 6-6-3 (34 shots-29 saves). Ottawa, Anderson 15-15-3 (24-23).

First Period—1, Edmonton, Penner 21 (Horcoff, Hemsky), 14:17 (pp). Penalties—Porter, Col (high-sticking), 13:48.

Second Period—2, Edmonton, Gagner 13 (Paajarvi, R.Jones), 7:08. 3, Edmonton, Hall 21 (Eberle, Gilbert), 15:49 (pp). 4, Colo., Hejduk 19 (Duchene, Liles), 17:36 (pp). Penalties—Peckham, Edm (hooking), 7:46; Horcoff, Edm (hooking), 10:24; Dupuis, Col (roughing), 14:09; Vandermeer, Edm (cross-checking), 16:32.

Third Period—5, Edmonton, Eberle 14 (Cogliano, Peckham), 11:08. 6, Edmonton, Foster 5 (Gilbert, Hall), 12:55. Penalties—Eberle, Edm (hooking), 1:55; McLeod, Col (high-sticking), 14:44. Shots on Goal—Edmonton 3-13-15—31. Colo. 13-16-10—39. Power-play opportunities—Edmonton 2 of 3; Colo. 1 of 4. Goalies—Edmonton, Dubnyk 8-7-6 (39 shots-38 saves). Colo., B.Elliott 13-20-8 (31-26).