Sharks 4, Flames 1
CALGARY -- Patrick Marleau scored twice and Martin Havlat scored once in a three-goal second period to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames in Sunday's season opener for both teams.
The Sharks trailed after a first period in which they were outplayed by a wide margin, but roared back to spoil the return of the NHL to the Scotiabank Saddledome for both the hosts and the sellout crowd.
The Flames opened the scoring midway through the first period when Lee Stempniak converted during a power play, but couldn't extend the lead.
Steve Begin hit the crossbar during a shorthanded breakaway and prized rookie Sven Baertschi rang a shot off the post, much to the chagrin of the Flames.
That inability to at least double the lead proved costly just past the midway point when Marleau was on the spot after Joe Thornton stripped the puck from Flames defenseman Mark Giordano and gave a perfect pass to Marleau in the slot.
After Havlat scored to give the Sharks a lead by converting on a rebound, Marleau netted his second by also being on the spot for a rebound.
Dan Boyle rounded out the scoring with a late power-play goal.
NOTES: Flames G Miikka Kiprusoff played the 600th game of his career. He went into the season needing three wins for 300 as a Flame, a mark he will be the first in franchise history to reach ... The Flames didn't have any players make their NHL debut. Rookie Sven Baertschi played five NHL games last season ... The Sharks had D Matthew Irwin play his first NHL game ... San Jose had 11 players skate for teams in Europe during the NHL lockout, including Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture and Antti Niemi ... Scott Gomez, who was bought out of his contract with the Montreal Canadiens, is travelling with the Sharks, and even skated early in the day when the team had ice. The Sharks are getting a sense of Gomez's fitness level.
