SAN JOSE – The Sharks, besieged by COVID-19 issues for the last four days, once again played a game Tuesday without four of their top six defensemen and one of their leading offensive players.

Their formula for success, though, remained the same: Hard work, an effective forecheck, solid goaltending, and contributions from everyone.

Tomas Hertl had two goals and an assist and Mario Ferraro and Rudolfs Balcers both had two points as the Sharks earned a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabes at SAP Center — their second straight victory with a shorthanded lineup.

Ryan Merkley scored his first NHL goal and Jonathan Dahlen scored in his return from the league's COVID-19 protocol list as the Sharks overcame the absence of seven players – including leading scorer Timo Meier – to improve to 3-1-0 at home this season.

James Reimer made 24 saves to improve to 3-1-0 this season.

The Sharks announced that just 10,059 tickets were sold for Tuesday's game — the smallest amount for any Sharks games in the 28-year history of the downtown arena. Tuesday's crowd followed up announced attendance figures of 11,463 and 11,845 the last two home games, respectively.

Hours before the start of Tuesday night's game, the Sharks announced that one player,   Dahlen, had exited the NHL's COVID-19 protocol but that two other members of the organization were added: leading scorer Timo Meier and head athletic trainer Ray Tufts.

Meier was the Sharks' leading scorer with 11 points in the team's first eight games and had the winning goal Saturday in San Jose's 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets when the Sharks were without seven players and coach Bob Boughner.

The Sharks have nine individuals in the league's protocol, with Boughner and six other players remaining away from the team.

Other Sharks players in the league's COVID protocol as of Tuesday were forwards Kevin Labanc and Matt Nieto and defensemen Erik Karlsson, Jake Middleton, Radim Simek, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

Labanc was added to the NHL's COVID protocol on Monday, while Boughner, Nieto, Karlsson, Middleton, Simek, and Vlasic officially entered on Saturday.

"We're wearing masks and doing everything we can," Sharks assistant coach John MacLean said Tuesday morning of the breakout. "It seems like we're dealing day to day with it. We're trying to keep on top of everything the best we can."

Seven NHL rookies dressed Tuesday night for the Sharks – forwards Dahlen, Lane Pederson, Jasper Weatherby, and William Eklund, and defensemen Merkley, Santeri Hatakka, and Nicolas Meloche.

Dahlen and Merkley both scored in the first period.

Brent Burns threw a shot on the Sabres net with three Sharks forwards near the crease. Eklund got the puck to Dahlen, who came free and tapped it past Sabres goalie Craig Anderson for his fourth goal in eight games.

On Merkley's goal, he eluded a check at the blue line and fired a puck on the Sabres' net that appeared to go ofg

Dahlen was among the seven Sharks players in the NHL's COVID protocol on Saturday.

Dahlen said he was "pretty shocked" to find out Saturday morning that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Dahlen, though, was asymptomatic and was able to return to the team after he tested negative on Sunday and Monday.

'These last couple of days have been pretty weird waiting for a negative test," Dahlen said Tuesday morning. "I'm happy to be out, no symptoms.

"It's obviously a weird situation that none of us are that used to. But we have to focus on the game tonight. It's obviously tough having guys on Covid protocol. But the vibe is focused on the game for the guys available to play. We're taking precautions in the locker room."

Reimer started back-to-back games for the first time with the Sharks this season.

Reimer stopped 34 of 35 shots in the Sharks' 2-1 overtime win and entered Tuesday with a 2-1-0 record with a 1.13 goals-against average and q .964 save percentage.