Hockey and the Sharks Are Finally Back

By Henry Gula

The San Jose Sharks opened their season in Canada with two solid wins over the Calgary Flames on Sunday and the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

There are many Sharks fans on campus, all of whom are excited about the team's 2-0 start, especially in a shortened season where each game counts for more.

"The Sharks season looks bright," said sophomore Ramsey Fisher. "(Antti) Niemi is off to a great start, the addition of Brad Stuart will strengthen our defensive line and the youth on our third and fourth lines give energy to the big guns on the top two lines."

Patrick Marleau scored a pair of goals Sunday to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames in the season-opener for both teams.

Martin Havlat and defenseman Dan Boyle also scored for the Sharks during a three-goal second period. Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski each had a pair of assists. Lee Stempniak scored for Calgary, which led 1-0 after the opening period.

With the victory, the Sharks spoiled the debut of new Flames coach Bob Hartley. San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi made 31 saves for the win. Miikka Kiprusoff, playing his 600th career game, stopped 25 of 29 shots for Calgary.

Boyle scored on a two-man advantage with a minute remaining in the game.

Marleau scored his team's first and third goals in the second period. San Jose took advantage of Calgary's defense around Kiprusoff to score its three second-period goals from close range. Marleau took a pass from Boyle and paused to make Kiprusoff stretch before making it 3-1 at 18:10. Kiprusoff lost control of a save off his chest and Havlat banged the loose puck in at 15:05.

Marleau tied the game at 13:52 with a power-play goal. Stempniak scored a power-play goal at 12:21 of the first period for Calgary's first goal of the season.

Sharks defenseman Brent Burns was out of the Sharks lineup with a lower-body injury. Forward Scott Gomez, recently bought out of his contract by the Montreal Canadiens, skated with the Sharks during their optional pre-game skate Sunday.

The Sharks fared even better in their second game of the season.

Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture each had two goals and an assist as the San Jose Sharks won their second game in a row to start the NHL season, defeating the Oilers 6-3 on Tuesday night and ruining Edmonton's home opener.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Dan Boyle also scored and Thornton had three assists for the Sharks (2-0-0).

San Jose struck first on a two-man advantage just three minutes into the match as Pavelski fed it to Boyle at the top of the circle and his blast got past Edmonton's starting goalie Devan Dubnyk.

It was a 2-0 game just over a minute later as the Sharks again capitalized on the power play, this time on Couture's wrist shot that fooled Dubnyk.

Edmonton was able to respond on a power play of its own 8.5 minutes into the opening period.

San Jose quickly restored its two-goal lead halfway through the first as Thornton's no-look pass from behind the net found Marleau, who sent home his third goal of the season.

Just over a minute later it was a 4-1 game for the Sharks as Marleau scored high to the glove side on a quick shot from the slot on another power play with Thornton picking up his third assist of the game.

The first period pounding wasn't over yet, however. San Jose added two more goals to make it 6-1 after 20 minutes as Couture scored his second of the game on a rebound with just under two minutes left and Vlasic scored on a screened point shot with 40 seconds remaining.

San Jose out-shot Edmonton 17-7 in the first period. Edmonton got a goal back on a two-man advantage of its own with five minutes left in the second as Justin Schultz, a player the Oilers acquired as a free agent after a league-wide bidding war last summer, scored his first NHL goal to make it 6-2. Edmonton cut the lead in half three and a half minutes into the third.

Both teams are back in action on Thursday as the Oilers remain at home to face the defending Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings, while the Sharks return to San Jose for their home-opener against the Phoenix Coyotes.

"The Sharks are a great thing for the city, and I'm glad the NHL is finally back," said junior Karla Gaitan. "They look good this year!"

"This could be the year!" added Fisher excitedly.