Although the statistical semantics of a fluky goal cost Patrick Marleau a game-winning goal Monday, they fail to obscure the central issue: The Sharks rookie produced in the clutch for the second time in three games.
Marleau has always dreamed about scoring the big goal with the game on the line, and in the past week against Detroit and Toronto, he delivered victories in the third period.
``I always want to be the guy with the puck in the last minute,'' Marleau said. ``I like putting pressure on myself that way. Hopefully if I am that guy, I can come through for the team. I'm always ready for another challenge.''
He gets another one tonight when he skates at Madison Square Garden for the first time to face the New York Rangers with Wayne Gretzky. Thanks to those two victories against Detroit and Toronto sandwiching one over Anaheim, the Sharks enter this game one point out of a playoff spot and two points behind seventh-place Chicago.
Marleau scored the winner Thursday against the Red Wings to cap a night of two-goal comebacks for the Sharks in the 5-4 triumph. It was also his first three-point game in the NHL. Then he snapped a 1-1 tie against the Maple Leafs on Monday.
The goal should have stood as the official game-winning goal, but after Todd Gill's empty-netter, Darby Hendrickson scored on a quirky pinball-type sequence that caught goalie Mike Vernon out of the net with 0.8 seconds left.
Regardless, Marleau again was the decisive factor. It was his 12th goal of the season, which tied him with Stephane Matteau for second on the team behind Jeff Friesen.
Although Marleau piled up 125 points in 71 regular-season games last season with his juniors team in Seattle, Sharks Coach Darryl Sutter said it was his postseason performance that solidified has draft stock.
``He made his biggest mark in the playoffs with his ability to create and elevate his teammates,'' Sutter said.
Sutter is hoping for a similar effect this season with the post-Olympic portion of the schedule.
``You don't look at it like he's 18,'' Sutter said. ``He's had 60 games, then some time off. Now maybe he can take off.''
Marleau found the Olympic break to be a useful time to mentally review what he had experienced in the first part of the season. He didn't watch any videotapes of games during the break because he thought it would be more helpful simply to gather his own thoughts.
``Over the Olympic break, I got to think about a lot of stuff,'' Marleau said. ``I'm trying to learn from mistakes. I've still got to shoot more, but game by game hopefully I can do more.''
While fuss over his being the youngest player in the NHL is inevitable, Marleau has shown the maturity to handle the attention and to realize it also might be irrelevant.
``Everybody wants to be the guy who makes the winning contribution,'' Marleau said. ``It doesn't really matter what your age is, once the puck is dropped, it's how good you play.''
With 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists), Marleau is tied for with Vancouver's Mattias Ohlund for sixth place in overall rookie scoring. His steady learning curve, though, is perhaps the more telling story in this case.
Consider that Marleau had just three points in his first 18 games, which means he has 21 points in his past 39 games.
``Patrick is willing to learn and Darryl is not afraid to put him in during the key situations,'' said Matteau, who assisted on the goal against the Maple Leafs. ``You can tell the kid has some talent and it's a pleasure to play with him. Great speed, great hands.''
Earlier in the season, Sutter had talked about how breaking the losing mentality that had set in the past two seasons was not going to be an overnight process. But for Marleau and fellow rookies Andrei Zyuzin and Marco Sturm, they walked in with a clean slate.
``Our team is exactly where I said we'd be,'' Sutter said. ``We're staying in it. We won't go away. And the kids are a big reason.''