By Michael Kelly, The Sports Xchange

DENVER -- Patrick Marleau entered the week seven goals shy of 500 with the hope of reaching the milestone before season's end.

If the 19-year veteran was given another 20 minutes Monday, he might have reached the mark in one night.

Marleau put on a stunning scoring display with four goals in the third period, Brent Burns had a goal and two assists, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2.

Marleau is the 12th player in NHL history to score four goals in one period and first since Mario Lemieux on Jan. 26, 1997, at Montreal, according to the league.

"It's an exceptional feat when you're 22 never mind 37 in the middle of seven games in 11 nights," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "He's a great player. It was great to be part of it."

Marleau snapped a tie with the first of his three straight goals in the third period and notched his fifth career hat trick. It was the first multi-goal performance of the season for Marleau, who added another at 16:23 for the first four-goal game of his career.

He is the third player in team history to score four goals in one game but the only one to get them all in one period. Marleau now has 16 goals on the season and 497 for his career.

"He means everything to this organization," captain Joe Pavelski said. "What he's done, it's tremendous."

Owen Nolan scored four times in one game in 1995 and Tomas Hertl did it in 2013.

Martin Jones had 26 saves and Logan Couture and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic had two assists apiece to lead the Sharks (30-16-2) to their fifth straight win.

Marleau scored in a variety of ways -- on a tip, once on a wraparound, a 2-on-1 and capped it with a breakaway goal -- to make history.

"Some great plays. (Vlasic) had two great plays to me, one was a tip and one was for the breakaway," Marleau said. "Then (Couture) made one and Pav made one for the third one. Never had a four-goal game before, especially in one period. It was a good period to have."

Jarome Iginla and Andres Martinsen had goals and Nikita Zadorov had two assists for Colorado. Spencer Martin stopped 21 shots for the Avalanche, who are 1-13-1 in their last 15 home games.

Colorado (13-30-2) played without leading goal scorer Matt Duchene, who was a late scratch due to illness, according to the team. Duchene has been mentioned in trade rumors for the scuffling Avalanche, who are last in the league with 28 points.

He's one of our top two centermen, so it hurts us offensively," Gabriel Landeskog said of Duchene's absence. "We were playing well enough for the first two periods to win this hockey game. With or without Dutchy, we got to be able to come up with a win here."

They were tied 1-1 with the reigning Western Conference champions after two periods but the Sharks found a way to win behind Marleau.

The veteran broke the tie at 2:53 of the third when he tipped a shot by Vlasic from the point past Martin. He scored again 3:04 later and completed his hat trick at 10:35.

His fourth goal came soon after San Jose failed to score on a 5-on-3.

"It was one of those kinds of periods he got the momentum going, everything found him and he put everything in," Pavelski said. "Those were nice goals."

Martinsen's goal at 11:57 got the Avalanche closer but the Sharks held on.

Burns gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at the 19-minute mark of the first period with his team-leading 20th goal, which is also tops among NHL defensemen.

"It took a bounce off my stick and went in," Martin said. "That's one I want back, especially with one minute left."

Iginla tied it on the power play midway through the second period with his sixth of the season and first in 11 games.

The Sharks played most of the game without forward Joonas Donskoi. He was on the ice for only three shifts in the first period and one more in the second and didn't play in the third.

NOTES: Colorado F Matt Duchene was a late scratch due to illness. Avalanche D Tyson Barrie and F Rene Bourque didn't play for the second straight game due to lower-body injuries. Without them in the lineup the Avalanche had just 17 skaters available. ... San Jose C Tomas Hertl, who has been out since Nov. 17 with a right knee sprain, is on the two-game road trip but did not suit up against Colorado. ... Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov has been shut down until after the All-Star break because of a right groin strain. The injury has bothered Varlamov throughout the season. ... F Ryan Carpenter, D Tim Heed and F Barclay Goodrow were healthy scratches for San Jose.