Blackhawks 5, Sharks 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks' befuddling struggles at home continued Wednesday night.
Returning from a historic 6-0 road trip, San Jose was a step behind Chicago all night in a 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks in front of a sellout crowd at SAP Center.
The Sharks lost three straight on home ice, and four of the last five. While boasting a 10-3 record on foreign ice, San Jose is only 3-6 at home.
Left winger Patrick Marleau scored his eighth goal of the season at 11:20 of the third period to cut Chicago's lead to a goal. Marleau skated from the right circle to the left dot, deked once, and wristed a shot past Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, who was screened by San Jose right winger Joel Ward.
But the defending Stanley Cup champs answered back, and it was an ex-Shark who supplied the finishing touches. Left winger Andrew Desjardins pounced on a rebound to score on the backhand at 12:27 for a 4-2 advantage. Desjardins was traded from San Jose to Chicago at last season's trade deadline.
Center Andrew Shaw added an empty-net goal at 19:17 to close out the scoring.
Chicago scored the only goal of the middle period to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith simply wristed a shot from the left boards above the circle that slipped past San Jose goalie Martin Jones, who was screened in front by Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Keith's third goal of the season came at 12:20.
Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane earned his second assist of the game.
The Blackhawks dominated territorial play and the shot clock to escape the opening period with a 2-1 lead.
Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook scored his fifth goal of the season on a shot from the left point that beat Jones, who was screened again. Kane extended his points streak to 17 games with the primary assist on the goal scored at 8:39.
The Sharks, who were outshot 8-0 before recording their first shot at 13:08, struck on the power play for the first time at home at 14:56 when Brent Burns scored his league-leading ninth goal from a defenseman. Burns one-timed a cross-ice feed from center Joe Pavelski to snap an 0-for-21 drought on the power play on home ice to start the season.
Chicago struck again at 16:24 when center Jonathan Toews capped a two-on-one break with a shot into the top right corner over Jones' shoulder. Sharks defenseman Mirco Mueller was alone as partner Matt Tennyson made an ill-advised pinch inside the Blackhawks' blue line.
NOTES: LW Dainius Zubrus made his debut for San Jose after signing a one-year, two-way contract with the team Monday. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Zubrus, 37, becomes the oldest member of the team as he joins his sixth organization after having spent the previous eight seasons with New Jersey. Zubrus is expected to fill a fourth-line role and contribute to the penalty kill. ... Blackhawks C Teuvo Teravainen missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Coach Joel Quenneville said he expects Teravainen to return Friday. ... Sharks D Justin Braun missed a game for the first time this season due to an upper-body injury. Coach Peter DeBoer termed him day-to-day. ... Chicago caps its six-game road trip with games in Anaheim on Friday and Los Angeles on Saturday. ... The Sharks, who next host Calgary on Saturday, play three of their next four at home. ... RW Viktor Tikhonov and D David Rundblad were healthy scratches for Chicago, while C Ben Smith (concussion) and LW Micheal Haley did not dress for San Jose.