Sharks 4, Red Wings 2
Captain Joe Thornton capped his team's three-goal second period with the first of his two tallies and Antti Niemi turned aside 30 shots as the San Jose Sharks remained perfect on their road trip with a 4-2 triumph over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
Ryane Clowe and Patrick Marleau scored nearly six minutes apart, Thornton added an empty-net goal and Martin Havlat collected his fourth assist in as many contests as San Jose improved to 4-0-0 on its current six-game road trip.
The Sharks also continued their mastery of the Red Wings, having eliminated the Hockeytown residents from the Western Conference semifinals in each of the past two years.
Just 3 1/2 minutes after Tomas Holmstrom tied the game by tipping in Pavel Datsyuk's shot, Thornton skated in and beat Jimmy Howard with a wrist shot from the slot. Thornton's second goal of the season extended his points streak to five games.
Niemi made the slim advantage stand up to improve to 6-1-1 in his career against the Red Wings.
Henrik Zetterberg scored and reigning Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom and Datsyuk notched a pair of assists for Detroit, which has dropped three straight after winning its first five games.
Howard returned from a two-game absence after the birth of his son and finished with 26 saves.