SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The San Jose Sharks provided a bit more evidence Tuesday that they've eradicated one of their bigger issues from the 2015-16 season.
The Sharks scored four goals in a 10:44 span in the second period _ including two from Joonas Donskoi in less than two minutes _ in a 4-1 pasting of the Calgary Flames in their first game back at SAP Center after a four-game road trip.
Patrick Marleau and Paul Martin also scored in the second, and Martin Jones finished with 20 saves as the Sharks improved to 11-4 at home and moved back into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.
Joe Thornton, playing in his 1,400th career game, and Joe Pavelski each had two assists.
The Sharks needed to try something different this year after they owned an abysmal 1-8-1 record last season in their first game back at home after a multi-game road trip, the biggest reason why they finished 18-20-3 in their own building.
One thing they did was start to stay overnight in the last city of their road trips before they flew back to San Jose. This week, the Sharks stayed in frigid Chicago on Sunday night before they returned to the Bay Area on Monday morning.
They did the same thing in October, staying in Detroit one more night at the end of a five-game trip before getting on a plane. The first game back turned into a 2-1 win over Anaheim on Oct. 25.
They had all kinds of energy Tuesday.
The Sharks outshot the Flames 25-16 through two periods, and scored two goals on their first seven shots of the second period.
A shot by Marc-Edouard Vlasic from just inside the Flames' blue line hit a body in front and bounced right to Marleau, who stickhandled to the side and fired a backhand behind Flames goalie Chad Johnson for his ninth of the season and 490th of his career. The goal tied him with Norm Ullman for 47th on the NHL's all-time scoring list.
Martin then scored in a similar fashion, as his shot from about the same spot as Vlasic's went off Michael Frolik's stick and bounced past Johnson for his second of the season.
Donskoi then scored the first of his two goals, breaking a 22-game scoring drought in the process.
Tommy Wingels got the puck behind the net, knocked it away from Johnson and found an open Donskoi, who scored his third of the season with 5:37 to go in the second. Just 1:56 later, Donskoi intercepted a clearing attempt from Mikael Backlund and beat Johnson for the first two-goal game of his career.
The Sharks on Tuesday began a stretch where the Sharks play five of six games against Pacific Division teams.
The Sharks play Edmonton on Friday before starting a three-day Christmas break. They then play Anaheim on Dec. 27 and start a home-and-home series against Los Angeles at Staples Center on Dec. 31. The Sharks host the Kings on Jan. 3 in their first game of 2017.
By the time Tuesday's game started, the Sharks, Ducks and Oilers were tied for first place in the Pacific with 39 points, the Flames had 36 points and the Kings had 35.
"It's a key time of year," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. "You have to limit the distractions, you have to take care of business. You want to enjoy this break and you want to enjoy it at the top of the division."
_Forward Joel Ward was scratched for the second time in three games. Ward sat out Friday's game in Montreal but was in the lineup for Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. Playing on the fourth line with Tommy Wingels and Melker Karlsson, Ward finished with 13:38 of ice time and was around the net for at least a couple of chances but didn't have a shot on goal.
"I thought he did a good job. I saw some good things," DeBoer said of Ward, who has two goals and nine points in 31 games this season. "We talked to him about that. Definitely a step in the right direction."
_Defenseman David Schlemko was also out of the lineup for the Sharks as Dylan DeMelo will be with Brenden Dillon on the Sharks' third defense pair. It was the first time this season Schlemko was be a healthy scratch.
"We've got a lot of bodies here, a lot of options so some tough decisions to make," DeBoer said.
