Sharks beat Canucks for third straight win
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks got goals from three different skaters while back-up goalie Aaron Dell made 17 saves during a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
San Jose opened a seven-point lead in the Pacific Division over idle Edmonton by winning a third straight game and fourth time in five games.
The victory at SAP Center also snapped an oddity when the Sharks and Canucks play: It marked the first time in 16 meetings the home team won. Vancouver, losers of four straight and five of six, had won six straight at San Jose.
Joe Thornton was held off the score sheet and remains stuck on 999 career assists.
The Sharks broke the game open in the second period.
Marcus Sorensen scored his first career goal in his fourth game at 9:29 after displaying all kinds of skill along the way. San Jose's rookie left wing blocked a shot to start the sequence, knocked down and controlled the puck twice in the offensive zone before kicking a Tomas Hertl feed to his stick and sliding it past Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller at the near post from in close.
The Sharks continued to pressure and Logan Couture cashed in for his 21st goal as his line continued to give the Canucks fits.
Patrick Marleau outbattled two Canucks to make a nice touch pass to Couture, who used Vancouver defenseman Luca Sbisa as a screen to beat Miller at 13:49.
Mikkel Boedker's second goal in three games, which followed a 19-game drought, enabled the Sharks to escape the first period in a 1-1 tie.
Boedker scored his eighth of the season with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle the clipped the top of Miller's goal stick on the way in at 15:45. Couture make a nice play to keep control of the puck with his skates to feed Boedker after defenseman Paul Martin held the puck in at the line.
Vancouver broke on top by converting on its first power play. Despite being ranked 28th in the league on the power play, the Canucks converted at 7:38 as Bo Horvat got inside position in the crease to redirect Ben Hutton's pass through Dell's legs for his 19th goal of the season.
Chris Tierney was denied on a penalty shot at 18:02 after Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler hooked the San Jose penalty-killing forward from behind after Tierney stole the puck from Daniel Sedin.
NOTES: C Michael Chaput, LW Sven Baertschi and D Christopher Tanev all returned to the Canucks lineup. Chaput and Tanev were out two games with the mumps while Baertschi was out nine games with a concussion. ... LW Jannik Hansen, acquired by San Jose from Vancouver at the trade deadline, did not make his Sharks' debut as he continues to work through immigration issues. It was for the same reason that LW Nikolay Goldobin, dealt from San Jose to Vancouver in the Hansen swap, did not play for the Canucks. He is expected to debut on Saturday against the Kings. ... C Joseph Cramarossa played his first game for the Canucks after getting dealt from Anaheim. Cramarossa fought San Jose's Micheal Haley late in the first period and retired to the locker room for repairs before returning for the rest of the game. ... F Nikita Tryamkin remained in Vancouver due to showing symptoms of the mumps. ... San Jose next plays at Minnesota on Sunday. ... San Jose went to five defensemen at the start of the second period as D David Schlemko sustained an unspecified injury late in the first.