Jeremy Roenick weighs in on Patrick Marleau's start

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

Whether it's superstition or merely concern about overthinking his mechanics, San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau prefers to enjoy rather than analyze why he has netted nine goals in his first five games.

"I try not to dissect it too much," Marleau said. "But to get off to a start like this is something special. Obviously I'm not doing it alone. I'm playing with the two Joes. And our D has been playing well, too."

Marleau leads the NHL scoring race with nine goals and 13 points. But his two Joes, Thornton and Pavelski, have 13 and 10 points respectively. With 36 points in five games, that trio is a primary reason why the Sharks are 5-0. The line owns 14 (60%) of the team's 23 goals.

By scoring two goals in each of the first four games, Marleau was the first NHL player to record four consecutive multi-goal games to start a season since Cy Denneny accomplished that in 1917-18. He's also the first Sharks player to score in the first five games of any season.

"You just want to keep feeding him because he was so hot," Thornton said of the streak. "It just seemed like he was always around the goalie, around the blue paint...for it to keep going in like it has, I've never seen anything like it."

COLUMN: Top NHL surprises

Because the Sharks haven't yet been able to win a Stanley Cup, Marleau hasfaced plenty of criticism during his time in San Jose. But even his harshest critic, former teammate and current NHL analyst Jeremy Roenick, is paying homage to his dominance

"I'm totally impressed with his start," Roenick said. "I hope he continues to do that all year, because it will help him and it will help the San Jose Sharks have a better chance to win the Stanley Cup."

In a memorable 2011 television moment, Roenick called Marleau "gutless" for a play he failed to make in a playoff game against the Detroit Red Wings. Roenick has always said Marleau was very talented but needed to show more passion. Roenick likes what he sees from Marleau this season.

"I think Patrick is doing the things he needs to do to score goals," Roenick said. "He's going to scoring holes. He's going to the high-traffic areas. If you look at his goals, he's had probably more prime scoring chances than anyone else in the National Hockey League. And Joe's putting the puck on his stick. If it leads to a Hart (trophy), or a Rocket Richard (trophy) or a Stanley Cup, it's great for him and even better for the Sharks."

Roenick believes the Marleau-Thornton-Pavelski trio has the perfect blend of abilities.

"I think his line is the best line in hockey right now," he said. "In my opinion, (Marleau) is playing with the best playmaker in hockey ... and he has a gritty, gritty player in Pavelski who is a workhorse who can take a beating and give a beating to get into the corners."

Pavelski takes a lot of the faceoffs for the line.

"Joe just does a lot of the little things right," Thornton said. "Patty and I are always on the forecheck, and he's always the third guy back He's kind of the rover for us. He does a lot of the hard work for us... "You always find him in the hard areas of the rink. He is always near the front of the net or digging pucks out of the corners for us."

Marleau was named one of the NHL's Three Stars of the Week, along with Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford and Tampa Bay LIghtning forward Martin St. Louis. Marleau was also the No. 1 player in the MVP balloting in USA TODAY's NHL power rankings this week.

Thornton and Marleau are longtime linemates, and their chemistry has been a plus during this abbreviated 48-game season when many teams are struggling to get their offenses in sync.

"To have that familiarity to start a short season, short training camp has obviously given us an edge early on," Marleau said. "I still think we can build and get better as a line."

During the lockout, Thornton played in Switzerland and Pavelski played for Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. Marleau decided to stay home to work on his game.

"You get to work more on your skills a little bit more when you've got a lot more time," Marleau said. "It's not systems, systems, just doing different things, like stickhandling, trying to work on shooting."

With 24 shots in his first five games, Marleau is averaging more than a shot per game more than he did last season.

"I'm trying to make a conscious effort (to shoot more)," Marleau said. "But it goes hand in hand. ... I've been a getting a lot of opportunities. When they keep going in, it makes a lot of sense to keep shooting."