After nearly two weeks off because of the Olympic break, the Sharks returned back to business defeating conference rival Detroit Red Wings 5-1.  This time, all five goals came on the powerplay, a new franchise record.

Tonight’s win extends the Sharks’ winning streak to four games.  Prior to the break, the Sharks defeated division rival Phoenix Coyotes 6-3 at home. 

 "We had a great day on the powerplay today," said defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, who scored the Sharks’ fourth goal.  "It’s all about moving the puck real well and shooting it at the right moment."

They sure did. 

The Sharks maintained a 2-1 lead over the Red Wings through the middle of the third period until they broke out with three unanswered goals coming from Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Ehrhoff.

"I thought [Manny] Legace was playing well through the first period and a half or so and then finally we got a few through him," said Sharks’ forward Jonathan Cheechoo, who had a goal and two assists on the night.

"We had a lot of energy," said head coach Ron Wilson.  "We took advantage of the fact that they were missing some important people."

The Red Wings played without four of their Swedish players who are resting after winning gold at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.  Nicklas Lidstrom, Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom weren’t in the lineup for Detroit. 

The Sharks managed to pounce early in the game.  Nils Ekman initiated the offense with a goal 3:34 into the game.  Thornton sent a pass to Ekman who skated his way toward the net and gave the Sharks the early 1-0 lead.  Ekman slid the puck between Legace, who was too late in closing his pads.

"Since we picked up Joe, we’ve had one of the most dangerous power plays in the league," said Wilson. 

And it showed.

Thornton connected again, this time feeding Cheechoo who put in his 35th goal of the season at 6:54 in the second period.  Thornton picked up his second of three assists on the night after deking Andreas Lilja on the two-man advantage.  The pass went across the crease to an awaiting Cheechoo who didn’t hesitate on the shot.  Both Chris Chelios and Kirk Maltby were serving the penalties for the Red Wings during the two-man advantage.

"It was a pretty nice play," said Cheechoo.  "Patty played catch there and spread the defense out.  It was a mini 2-0 with the net."

The Sharks’ defense slipped however late in the second period and the Red Wings seized on the opportunity.  Red Wings’ defensemen Brett Lebda picked up his third goal of the season under two minutes remaining in the period.  Lebda picked up the drop pass from Brendan Shanahan and successfully sent a shot past Sharks’ goalie Vesa Toskala to cut the lead to one goal.  Toskala made 28 saves on the night and remains unbeaten in regulation in the last 11 games (9-0-2).

Detroit began to show signs of slowing down midway through the third period.  After serving his hooking penalty, Ekman burst out of the penalty box and pounced on a pass sent from his zone.  He managed to receive a penalty shot, but failed in the attempt after Legace robbed him with his left leg pad.

That penalty shot started all the raucous.  Three minutes later Marleau scored on the rebound off a deflected shot by Ekman.  Nearly a minute later Marleau fed Ehrhoff a pass across the blueline who successfully one-timed a hard slapshot past Legace.  Prior to the goal, Ehrhoff had a one-time opportunity, but failed to connect. 

"We were moving the puck really well and I just let it go," said Ehrhoff who participated in the Olympics.  He represented Germany with teammate Marcel Goc.

After feeding his line three assists, Thornton topped it off with his own goal that squeezed between Legace’s pads with seven minutes remaining in the game.  After tonight’s game, Thornton moves with three points of the scoring title.  New York Ranger Jaromir Jagr leads the league with 88 points. 

The Sharks will travel to Edmonton this Friday to face-off with the Oilers.  After tonight’s win, the Sharks moved within four points of the final playoff spot currently held by the Oilers.