Minnesota Wild honors Patrick Marleau, then flattens San Jose Sharks

The Minnesota Wild recognized Patrick Marleau on Saturday for joining Gordie Howe atop the NHL’s career games played list, taking time during a stoppage in play in the first period to honor the Sharks great for playing in his 1,767th NHL game.

Otherwise, the Wild played rude hosts, scoring five unanswered goals in the first and second periods in a 5-2 drubbing of the Sharks at Xcel Energy Center, handing San Jose its fifth straight loss.

Brent Burns gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at the 12:02 mark of the first period, but it was all Wild from there. Mats Zuccarello, Joel Eriksson Ek and Zach Parise all scored in a 72-second span as Minnesota took a 3-1 lead by the 15:47 mark of the opening period.

The Sharks also allowed goals to Kirill Kaprizov and Nico Sturm in the second period, as goalie Martin Jones allowed five goals on 24 shots. Josef Korenar replaced Jones at the start of the third period.

Joel Kellman also scored for the Sharks with 2:15 left in the third period.

As his achievement was being announced by the public address announcer in the first period, Marleau received a standing ovation from the roughly 3,000 fans in attendance, as well as stick taps from his teammates and the Wild players.

Marleau, 41, is set to become the sole owner of the NHL record for games played on Monday when the Sharks play the Vegas Golden Knights.