SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A healthy scratch means a hockey player's game must improve. Clearly, Joonas Donskoi received the message.

San Jose's second-year forward notched the first multi-goal game of his career on Tuesday to spark the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at SAP Center.

Patrick Marleau scored his 490th career goal, Joe Thornton collected two assists on a night when he became the 37th player in history to appear in 1,400 career games, and goalie Martin Jones made 20 saves.

However, it was Donskoi who left the biggest impression with his continued improved play since watching from the press box on Dec. 14 in Ottawa three games ago.

"It's funny, you get the one goal and it sort of gets you going," Donskoi said. "Everything feels easier. I don't know why. Something opens up in my mind, maybe."

Donskoi had gone 23 games since his last goal, spanning back to Oct. 29, before striking twice within 1:56 late in the second period to cap a four-goal outburst in the middle session.

"I liked our game, it was real solid," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "The first period set the tone, and obviously the second period won it for us."

The Flames (17-16-2) simply never got going while losing for only the third time in 10 games.

"Our start wasn't good, they were all over us," said Sam Bennett, Calgary's lone goal-scorer. "In the second, we came out flat again. They were doing everything we should have been doing. They were getting pucks deep, they were not turning it over and we really didn't do any of that tonight."

Marleau provided the icebreaker after a scoreless first period at 5:35 of the second by backhanding a rebound of Marc-Edouard Vlasic's blocked shot past Calgary goalie Chad Johnson for his ninth goal of the season. Marleau also drew into a tie for 47th place on the all-time goal-scoring list with Norm Ullman.

"Once we got the first one, each line fed off each other," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said.

Just before mid-period, San Jose defenseman Paul Martin one-timed a bank pass from above the left circle. The puck deflected off the stick of Calgary's Michael Frolik and dribbled past Johnson with Pavelski in front. Martin's second goal of the season came at 9:18.

"It took a wild bounce," Martin understated.

The rest of the night belonged to Donskoi. He dropped to one knee to one-time a Tommy Wingels feed from behind the goal line past Johnson at 14:23 for a 3-0 lead.

"In the second period, they came at us and made plays, got deflections," said Johnson, who finished with 30 saves. "They're tenacious around the net."

And, as the effects of having played the night before in Arizona continued to catch up with Calgary, Donskoi took advantage on his very next shift to backhand a shot in at 16:19 for his fifth goal of the season and first two-goal outing in 108 career games.

"It was a long time ago I scored," Donskoi said. "I think it was good for me to be out one game. I wasn't happy the way I was playing. I wanted to turn my game around."

Pavelski added, "He's been around the net the last few games. To see them going in is good. He works hard."

Calgary denied Jones' shutout bid early in the third period when Flames center Sam Bennett snapped a shot from the slot -- using Sharks defenseman Dylan DeMelo as a screen -- to beat the goalie with his eighth goal of the season at 1:19.

"We didn't get pucks in deep, they got pucks in on us and made us pay," Flames captain Mark Giordano said. "It was pretty straightforward. They create plays off shots, and they taught us a lesson tonight that we can't be so indirect with our plays. You have to be direct."

NOTES: Three point streaks were snapped. Sharks D Brent Burns' eight-gamer ended despite four shots, a plus-2 and a team-high 24:06 of ice time. Calgary's LW Johnny Gaudreau (seven games) and C Sean Monahan (10 games) had their scoring streaks end as well. ... Two San Jose veterans, RW Joel Ward and D David Schlemko, were healthy scratches in favor of LW Micheal Haley and D Dylan DeMelo. "We've got a lot of bodies here, a lot of options," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said after the morning skate. "Tough decisions to make." ... Calgary fell to 2-3-2 on the second night of back-to-back games this season. ... Calgary next hosts Vancouver on Friday while San Jose entertains Edmonton on the same night. ... LW Matt Nieto joined Ward and Schlemko as San Jose's healthy scratches. ... C Freddie Hamilton, D Tyler Wotherspoon and RW Garnet Hathaway did not dress for Calgary.