The opening period of the Colorado Avalanche-San Jose Sharks Saturday matinee was dominated by Patrick Marleau's seventh and eighth goals of the season (both on the power play) as the hosts took a 2-0 lead.
What prompted the power play time for the Sharks was a hit by Brad Stuart on Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog that led to Stuart having to answer the bell with Ryan O'Byrne:
As you saw, Landeskog quickly left the ice and limped to the dressed room. He would return in the second period. O'Byrne was given five minutes for fighting, two minutes for an instigator, two minutes for the face shield, and a 10-minute misconduct. Marleau's two goals would come 1:18 apart.
So should Stuart be expecting a call from Brendan Shanahan? Like Drew Remedda notes, Stuart's shoulder is down, but the principle point of contact is with Landeskog's head and that's a no-no in the NHL. Landeskog doesn't make any last-second movements with his head or puts himself in a vulnerable position. He's just following through on a neutral zone dump-in. We'll bet there will be a phone call between Stuart and Shanahan before San Jose's next game Sunday afternoon.
Landeskog returning to the game is a great sign, though we'll keep our relief in check for a few days until the young Swede shows no evidence of injury (see: Perron, David).
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
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