Two superstars stepped up to the ice Thursday night to give the San Jose Sharks a win in their second round of the the playoffs.
Joe Pavelski started the second round the same way he ended the first, scoring big goals for the San Jose Sharks. Pavelski scored the first of three goals in a 1:19 span in the first period and added a second power-play goal early in the third to lead San Jose to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night in Game 1 of the second-round series.
Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi added first-period goals to help the Sharks end a string of four straight home losses in series openers.
"It was exciting," Pavelski said of the first-period outburst. "You get in those once in a while with momentum. You definitely want to keep building on it. Three goals isn't safe by any means as you saw. They battled back."
But Pavelski made sure the Red Wings couldn't finish the job, scoring on a two-man advantage in the opening minute of the third period to restore a two-goal lead. That proved to be his third game-winning goal and seventh overall in his breakout postseason.
"He's a stud right now for us," teammate Joe Thornton said. "We want him to keep it going."
Patrick Marleau was scratched from Game 1 of the San Jose Sharks' second-round series against Detroit because of an undisclosed injury.
The Sharks were the more rested team having had four days off since knocking off Colorado in six games. The Red Wings opened the series less than 48 hours after winning Game 7 in the first round at Phoenix, but showed no signs of fatigue in rallying back.
Game 2 will be Sunday night in San Jose.
