San Jose Sharks' Patrick Marleau, centre, celebrates his goal with teammates, Joe Thornton, left, and Joe Pavelski as Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, from Finland, looks away during second period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Alta., Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
January 20, 2013 - 5:54 PM
CALGARY - Patrick Marleau scored a pair of goals Sunday to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames in the season-opener for both clubs.
Martin Havlat and defenceman Dan Boyle also scored for the Sharks during a three-goal burst in the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski each had a pair of assists.
Lee Stempniak replied for Calgary, which led 1-0 after the opening period.
With the victory, the Sharks spoiled the debut of new Flames head coach Bob Hartley.
As other NHL teams have done at home-openers to soothe hurt fan feelings post-lockout, the Flames deeply discounted food, drink and merchandise Sunday. The Saddledome stores were doing a brisk business 90 minutes prior to the game.
The Flames also guaranteed a minimum $50,000 payout to the winner of the 50-50 draw both Sunday and Monday.
Attendance was not announced, but Flames media spokesman Sean Kelso said it was a sellout at 19,289. There were a few pairs of seats empty, however, and the odd string of three and four vacant.
The Flames did not apologize for the lockout as some teams did, but expressed appreciation for their fans' loyalty.
The Saddledome greeted the Flames warmly during pre-game introductions. One glaring indicator of fan discontent was a sign in the lower bowl that read "We were held hostage by greed", but the sign disappeared after one period.
Calgary outshot San Jose 16-9 in the first period, but the Sharks caught fire in the second with a 14-4 margin.
San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi made 30 saves for the win. Miikka Kiprusoff, playing his 600th career games, stopped 25-of-29 shots for Calgary.
Boyle scored on a two-man advantage with a minute remaining in the game.
Marleau scored his team's first and third goals in the second period. San Jose took advantage of Calgary's loose defence around Kiprusoff to score their three second-period goals from close range.
Marleau took a feed from Boyle and paused to make Kiprusoff stretch before making it 3-1 at 18:10. Kiprusoff lost control of a save off his chest and Havlat banged the loose puck in at 15:05.
Marleau tied the game at 13:52 with a power-play goal. Stempniak scored a power-play goal at 12:21 of the first period for Calgary's first goal of the season.
The Flames were without off-season acquisitions Jiri Hudler and Roman Cervenka on Sunday. Hudler attended his father's funeral in the Czech Republic on Friday.
Cervenka, another Czech forward, has yet to be cleared to play because of anti-coagulant medication he took following the discovery of blood clots.
Sharks defenceman Brent Burns was out of the Sharks lineup with a "lower-body injury." Forward Scott Gomez, recently bought out of his contract by the Montreal Canadiens, skated with the Sharks during their optional pre-game skate Sunday.
Notes: Calgary hosts the Anaheim Ducks on Monday before heading to Vancouver on Wednesday for three games in four nights to start the lockout-shortened season. ... San Jose is in Edmonton on Tuesday to face the Oilers. The Sharks don't play their home-opener until Thursday against Phoenix.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013