Sharks Lose To Hurricanes Despite Marleau's 2 Goals
SAN JOSE (AP) -- Eric Staal scored a short-handed goal and Cam Ward made 41 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes get their first win on American soil, beating the San Jose Sharks 5-2 Tuesday night.
Erik Cole, Patrick Dwyer, Chad LaRose and Joni Pitkanen also scored for the Hurricanes, who ended a two-game slide and won for the first time since sweeping the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, Finland.
Patrick Marleau scored twice for the Sharks, who have yet to win a home game. Antti Niemi made 26 stops, but has allowed nine goals over his past two games.
Staal scored Carolina's first short-handed goal of the season 6 minutes into the game. The Sharks allowed a short-handed goal for the second consecutive game.
The Hurricanes, still a week away from playing their first home game, scored the first three goals.
Following Staal's early goal at 5:56, Cole scored on a rebound for his first of the season at 17:35 of the first.
LaRose picked off a pass early in the second period to set up Dwyer's goal, making it 3-0.
Marleau redirected Dan Boyle's shot for a goal at 6:34 of the second period and followed that three minutes later as he managed to squeeze the puck between Ward and the near post.
Staal stole the puck from Doug Murray in the far corner and flipped across the net for an easy score for LaRose to give the Hurricanes a 4-2 lead at 2:11 of the third period.
Pitkanen scored his first of the season at 7:05 of the third to cap the scoring.
Notes: Staal needs one goal to match Geoff Sanderson (196) for fifth in franchise history. ... Sharks C Joe Thornton recorded an assist and has at least a point in each of his first four games.
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