Canadian Olympic gold medalist Patrick Marleau of Swift Current, Saskatchewan has been named the National Hockey League First Star of the Week according to nhl.com on Monday. Marleau, a center for the San Jose Sharks, was recognized for passing Gordie Howe’s record for most regular season games played in National Hockey League history on April 19. Marleau played his 1768th game, which passed Howe’s prior record of 1767 games.
In the record-breaking game, the Sharks lost 3-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Marleau had 23 shifts in 17 minutes and 21 seconds worth of ice time, and one shot on goal. After playing another game this past week against the Golden Knights, and a game against the Minnesota Wild, Marleau finished the week with 1770 games played. Marleau then played his 1771st career NHL game on Monday night against the Arizona Coyotes.
This past week, Marleau had one assist in three games. The point came on a goal by Tomas Hertl in a 5-2 Sharks loss to the Golden Knights on April 23.
For the season, Marleau has four goals and five assists for nine points in 48 games. He is a -8 with 10 penalty minutes, two power-play points, 48 shots on goal, 111 faceoff wins, 15 blocked shots, 37 hits, 19 takeaways, and seven giveaways. Marleau won his gold medals for Canada in men’s hockey at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
