It did not take Patrick Marleau long to make an impact in his return to the San Jose Sharks.
In his first game back with the team, Marleau scored two goals in the Sharks’ 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks to help snap their season-opening four-game losing streak and deliver their first win of the year.
Marleau’s first goal game just 19 minutes into the first period when he deflected an Erik Karlsson shot behind Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford to tie the game at two.
Here is a look at the goal.
He added his second goal with less than three minutes to play in the second period, again tying the game.
Barclay Goodrow added the game-winner for the Sharks just five minutes into the third period.
After agreeing to terms on a one-year contract on Tuesday, the Sharks made Marleau’s signing official one day later. His appearance in the lineup on Thursday extended his consecutive games streak to 789, the sixth-longest streak in NHL history.
He spent the first 19 years of his career with the Sharks before signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent for the start of the 2017-18 season. After spending two years in Toronto he was traded to Carolina this summer and immediately bought out by the Hurricanes, making him an unrestricted free agent. He remained unsigned until this week.
He is the Sharks’ all-time leader in games played, goals, and total points.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.