TORONTO _ The ghosts of Patrick Marleau and John Tavares haunted the Sharks again.
Tavares netted a pair of goals and Marleau scored his first against his former-team as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Sharks, 5-3, Wednesday night.
Marleau, who left the Sharks after 19 seasons to join the Maple Leafs (18-8) in July 2017, scored on the power play at 1:53 in the second, making it a 4-2 game. The goal gave him game-winners against 30 different clubs, the only player in NHL history to do so. Tavares, who flirted with the Sharks in unrestricted free agency last summer before signing a seven-year, $77 million contract with Maple Leafs, scored the opening goal with the man advantage at 3:38 of the first and he found the net again in the final minute of the opening frame to give his squad a 3-1 edge.
Auston Matthews, who suited up for his first game since Oct. 27 after missing 14 games with an upper-body injury, recorded three points. He scored the Maple Leafs second goal at 11:19 of the first, the second of his team's three power-play goals, and their fifth goal at 10:59 of the third. He also set up Tavares' first goal. Mitch Marner collected three assists, all in the first period.
As Matthews rejoined the Maple Leafs lineup, the Sharks were forced to make due without Timo Meier, who suffered an upper-body injury in the team's overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Without Meier, the Sharks struggled to match up with the Maple Leafs forward depth. Kevin Labanc took Meier's spot on Logan Couture's line, committing a pair of stick infractions that led to power-play goals.
The Sharks penalty kill went 3-for-4 on the night after going 54-for-57 in a 21-game span dating back to Oct. 11.
Tomas Hertl scored on the power play at 10:40 of the first, his first goal in nine games. Joe Pavelski recorded his team-leading 16th at 4:18 of the second, giving him nine goals and 13 points in nine games.
Melker Karlsson scored the Sharks' third goal late in the third. Couture picked up a pair of assists in the loss.
Aaron Dell started in goal for the Sharks, making 24 saves on 29 shots. He's surrendered 11 goals in his last two starts after pitching back-to-back shutouts.
The loss dropped the Sharks (12-9-5) to 0-2-1 on their five-game road trip. They return to action in Ottawa on Saturday.
