 Tomas Hertl scored the game-winner with 2:03 remaining in regulation after Patrick Marleau scored his 499th career goal, helping the San Jose Sharks win for the seventh time in eight games, 3-1 over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. Hertl, who missed 32 games with a knee injury, got his first goal since Oct. 27 when he knocked in the rebound of Brent Burns' shot to help the Sharks match last year's home win total of 18 in the first game back from the All-Star break. Joe Pavelski added an empty-netter to cap a night that nearly included a milestone for Marleau. He had an apparent goal wiped off by an offside call on replay before scoring No. 499 in the second period. Martin Jones made 24 saves. Dennis Rasmussen scored for the Blackhawks, who have lost three straight games. Corey Crawford made 26 saves. After a slow start to the game with few chances for the first 30 minutes, the action picked up in the last half of the second period. It started when Marleau appeared to score when he took the rebound of Logan Couture's missed shot off the back boards and tucked it in for a goal. But the Blackhawks challenged the play, believing Mikkel Boedker was offside on the entry, and replay wiped the goal off the board. Just a few minutes later with Artem Anisimov in the box for holding, Marleau did get No. 499 when he beat Crawford with a shot from the circle for his 18th goal of the season. The Sharks had a chance to add on to the lead, but Crawford stopped Timo Meier on a breakaway. Chicago then got the equalizer when Rasmussen beat Jones with a shot off the inside of the post from the top of the circle on a rush. NOTES: Blackhawks F Marcus Kruger (ill) sat out the game. ... Sharks GM Doug Wilson got a nice ovation after a video tribute for having recently become the fourth man to play in at least 1,000 games and be general manager for at least 1,000 games. ... Chicago went 0 for 3 on the power play and is just 1 for its last 20 with the man advantage. UP NEXTBlackhawks: Visit Arizona on Thursday night. Sharks: Visit Vancouver on Thursday night.)
Time: 10:30 PM EST Venue: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, CA, 95113 The Chicago Blackhawks limped into the All-Star break after two straight difficult losses and in need of a recharge as their upcoming schedule will be challenging, to say the least. The Blackhawks open a six-game road trip Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks with both teams locked in tight battles in their respective divisions. Chicago is 12-9-1 on the road and trails the Central Division-leading Minnesota Wild by four points. Additionally, the Wild have three games in hand and three more matchups with the Blackhawks (30-16-5), including one during this road trip on Feb. 8. San Jose is 17-7-1 at SAP Center and is tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the Pacific Division lead with 64 points, one more than the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks (31-17-2) also have a game in hand over both teams. Chicago won seven of nine between Jan. 5 and Jan. 22 before showing a surprising tendency to implode late against arguably lesser competition. On Jan. 24, Corey Crawford surrendered three third-period goals -- two in a 30-second span -- in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. That prompted coach Joel Quenneville to start Scott Darling two nights later against the Winnipeg Jets. Darling was reached for two goals 42 seconds apart in the first period and yielded two more goals in a 32-second span late as the Blackhawks fell 5-3." We all got to be rejuvenated," Darling said after the loss. "We got to use these two, three days to get away. Rest our brains, rest our bodies. We're not too happy with the hockey we have been playing lately so we need to recharge, pick it up and get excited to go on a big road trip." Not all the Blackhawks rested. Crawford, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith all participated in this past weekend's All-Star festivities in Los Angeles. The biggest highlight for Kane, Toews and Keith came when they were listed on Friday among the NHL's 100 greatest players of all time." Sometimes throughout that whole process, you wonder why you're even there. I remember sitting there with (Keith), and I was like, 'I kind of feel out of place here.' And he was saying the same thing," Kane told the Chicago Sun-Times. For Kane, Keith and the remainder of the team, it's back to business. Chicago has won six of its last nine away from the United Center. In their only visit to San Jose this season, the Blackhawks dropped a 2-1 decision in which Crawford gave up two first-period markers. Artemi Panarin and Kane are the Blackhawks' top scorers on the road with 21 points and 15 points, respectively. But Panarin has been slumping lately. The reigning Calder Trophy winner has just two assists in his last six road games after a seven-game scoring streak from Nov. 23 to Dec. 17 in which he tallied five goals and seven assists. He also has just two helpers in his last seven games overall. A big game out of Kane would move him three spots up the franchise's all-time goal-scoring list. Last season's Hart Trophy recipient is eighth with 266 career goals, one behind Jeremy Roenick and two behind Tony Amonte. Kane scored in Chicago's 4-1 win at home over the Sharks on Dec. 18, but he's been held without a goal in 13 of 14 career games at SAP Center. San Jose (31-17-2) resumes play after its six-game winning streak was snapped Thursday with a 4-1 loss to Edmonton despite outshooting the Oilers 33-20." That's what you expect from two good teams," Sharks defenseman Brent Burns told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Little bounces here and there. We've been on the other end of those the last five or six. The difference in hockey is pretty small." As has been the case all season, the Sharks have been led by their three All-Stars: Burns, Joe Pavelski and Martin Jones. Burns has scored eight goals with 13 assists at home, and leads the team with 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists). That total also places him fourth in the league in scoring, eight points behind NHL leader Connor McDavid of the Oilers. Pavelski also has eight goals with 15 assists at SAP Center, and is second on the club in scoring with 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists). The two are also the only Sharks with more than one point versus the Blackhawks in 2016-17. Burns has three assists while Pavelski has a goal and an assist. Jones is fourth in the league with 25 wins, but also tied for third with 15 losses. Since joining the Sharks prior to last season, Jones is 1-1-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average at home versus the Blackhawks. Chicago's defense will also be pressed to slow down Patrick Marleau, who was named the league's second star of the week on Monday. Marleau posted five goals and an assist in three games. Four of his goals -- including a natural hat trick -- came in the third period of a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 23. Marleau, who needs two goals to be the second player this season and 45th overall to reach 500, has scored 11 goals in 34 career home games versus Chicago. Chicago made a minor transaction on Sunday by recalling defenseman Gustav Forsling from Rockford of the American Hockey League and placing defenseman Michal Rozsival on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 25 with an undisclosed injury. Forsling, a rookie, has a goal and three assists in 32 games with Chicago this season. Rozsival, now in his 16th season, has one assist in 14 games.
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