The San Jose Sharks have put themselves into a corner, and Patrick Marleau is one of the reasons why. Marleau was one of their top players in the regular season, but the St. Louis Blues have held him off the scoresheet so far in their first round series.
The Sharks tried to shake things up in Game 4 on Thursday by putting Marleau on the second line with Ryane Clowe and Marty Havlat. Marleau felt they had good opportunities, but in the end, Marleau’s biggest contribution was taking a bad penalty that resulted in the Blues’ game-winning goal.
“I’m trying to focus on the next shift and next play,” Marleau said. “Obviously, it would be nice to have some points and get some wins for us, but there’s another game ahead of us and hopefully we can do it there.”
If Marleau can’t bounce back in Game 5 on Saturday, then that might be it for the Sharks playoff run.