San Jose’s Patrick Marleau became just the second player in NHL history to score multiple goals in the first four games of the season, leading the unbeaten Sharks to a 4-0 victory over visiting Colorado on Saturday.
Marleau netted two first-period power play goals to become the first player to achieve the feat since the Ottawa Senators’ Cy Denneny in the NHL’s inaugural 1917-1918 season, the league said on its Web site.
Already the league leader in goals, Marleau struck twice in 80 seconds against the Avalanche to take his total to eight in the first four games.
“I’ll take them as they come, trying to do the same thing, trying to work and going to those same areas,” he told reporters. “My linemates have been playing great, too.”
Asked if he had been hoping for a hat-trick in one of those two-goal games, Marleau replied: “It’d be nice, but I’m not going to get greedy.”
The Sharks center also picked up an assist on Joe Thornton’s second-period power play goal to give him 11 points this season.
“I don’t know if he can keep scoring two goals every night, but he can keep his play up the way it’s been,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “He’s been skating extremely well. A ton of confidence. He’s prepared to shoot the puck. He’s engaged physically. It’s a great reward for him. He came focused to play.”
Both of Marleau’s goals came after a big hit on Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog by Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart.
Avalanche defenseman Ryan O’Byrne confronted Stuart after the hit and a long fight followed.
O’Byrne received 19 penalty minutes, including a 10-minute misconduct. Stuart was penalized five minutes for fighting.
Landeskog missed the rest of the first period before returning for the second.
Rookie defenseman Matt Irwin delivered the Sharks’ other goal, also in the second period.
Sharks netminder Thomas Greiss had 24 saves in his first start of the season to record his first NHL shutout.
The Avalanche (2-2), who had won two in a row before Saturday’s game, fell to their ninth consecutive defeat on San Jose ice.
Blackhawks 3, Blue Jackets 2
Jonathan Toews scored the game-winner early in the third period and Corey Crawford had 24 saves to help Chicago match the best start in franchise history with a 3-2 victory on Saturday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets, running the Blackhawks’ record to 5-0-0.
The only other time the Blackhawks began a season 5-0-0 was 1971-1972.
Patrick Kane had two assists for the Blackhawks, who have a 40-23-7 record all-time against the Blue Jackets.
Crawford, who won for the fourth time this season, was solid all night, but particularly when the Blackhawks were a man down.
Steve Mason held his own with 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost their third in a row.
A goal by Derick Brassard was waved off in the second period when the officials ruled Nick Foligno interfered with Crawford.
Mark Letestu gave Columbus a 1-0 lead and Artem Anisimov scored late to make it interesting for the Blue Jackets, who have been outscored 12-3 in their losing skid.
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Kings 4, Coyotes 2
‧ Rangers 6, Maple Leafs 2
‧ Flyers 7, Panthers 1
‧ Blues 4, Stars 3
‧ Flames 4, Oilers 3
‧ Ducks 3, Predators 2
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB