Eurolanche

Dropped by Sharks

Back-to-back games? A backup goalie? It doesn’t matter much to the San Jose Sharks, who just keep rolling along.

The Sharks won their third consecutive game with relative ease Sunday night at the Pepsi Center, skating to a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche behind Patrick Marleau’s hat trick and a solid effort from backup goalie Thomas Greiss.

The Sharks, who have used a 6-1-1 run to take over first place in the Pacific Division, seemed to play keep-away with the puck for the better part of the first two periods one night after their 4-1 triumph in Dallas.

Marleau, who has 9 goals and as many assists in a 13-game stretch, put the Sharks ahead for good early in the second period with his second goal, and Greiss made sure the lead would stand up while making his second start in the past seven games.

Marleau completed his hat trick with an empty-net, power-play goal with 43 seconds remaining in the third period.

While the Sharks have gone 11-2-1 since Oct. 21, the Avalanche haven’t won consecutive games since a five-game streak on the road from Oct. 10-17. Sunday’s loss was the Avalanche’s seventh in 10 home games.

The Avalanche didn’t help their cause by taking six minor penalties; the Sharks had one.

The Sharks took over after Matt Duchene opened the scoring for the Avalanche at 7:25 of the first period by taking a cross-ice pass from Ryan Wilson and blasting the puck behind Greiss from the right circle.

Marleau scored the next two goals. He tied the game at 12:16, one second after a Sharks power play expired. Marleau got behind Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson and poked the puck into an open net after taking a pass from Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Marleau and Vlasic combined to put the Sharks in front at 7:35 of the second period. Marleau skated into the slot and deflected Vlasic’s shot by goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Joe Pavelski, who has made a habit of scoring goals at the Pepsi Center, gave the Sharks a two-goal cushion at 16:47, shortly after Greiss made a big save against Johnson. Joe Thornton moved behind the net, drew Avalanche defenseman Kyle Quincey to him and fed Pavelski for a shot that beat Giguere to the short side.

-by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com-