The San Jose Sharks are putting a lot of shots on net. The Vancouver Canucks rose to the occasion Saturday night
Elias Pettersson scored two goals, Thatcher Demko had 24 saves and the Canucks beat the Sharks 5-2.
A day after the Sharks fired 53 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, the Canucks held them to 26.
“That’s a good hockey team over there,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. “To keep their shot production down is not easy. They’re good at getting pucks tot the net, they’ve got some forwards that go there and some (defensemen) that can really shoot.
“Our team played well tonight.”
Brandon Sutter, Jake Virtanen and Adam Gaudette also scored as the Canucks (9-3-2) won for the ninth time in 12 games.
“We’re trying to come out hard every game,” Pettersson said. “We’re trying to play physical, play hard, skate a lot and go from there, and I think we’ve done it.”
Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored a short-handed goal for San Jose, which has lost five straight and seven of eight (1-6-1).
“Everyone wants to win so badly,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said. “You want to do what you can to help the team. When you’re in a rut like this you really, really, really want to do whatever you can. Sometimes that ends up hurting you in the end.
“You can’t fault the effort. I thought we worked hard. It’s just tough right now.”
Demko, a 23-year-old former Boston College standout who won the Mike Richter Award for the most outstanding Division I NCAA goalie in 2016, was seeking his first career shutout when Vlasic scored his second goal of the season with just over nine minutes left in the game.
Bo Horvat had two assists for the Canucks. He has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his last seven games.
Aaron Dell had 23 saves for San Jose.
The Sharks were 12-1-1 in their last 14 games against Vancouver. They were 3-1 against the Canucks last season.
Sutter scored the game’s first goal just over four minutes into the first period.
The nephew of former Sharks coach Darryl Sutter scored his fourth goal on a backhander just outside the goalie’s circle.
Pettersson scored his fifth goal midway through the second period. The Canucks center has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his last seven games.
The Canucks took a 3-0 lead at 45 seconds of the second period when Dell inadvertently dragged the puck past the red line with his pad after stopping a shot by Virtanen.
Gaudette broke the game open with his second goal with just over five minutes left in the second period.
Pettersson scored his sixth goal scored on a power play at 12:23 of the third to make it 5-1.
The Sharks’ penalty-killing unit hadn’t given up a goal at home this season in 20 previous disadvantages.
Evander Kane scored his eighth goal for San Jose in the closing seconds.
San Jose fell to 4-10-1, tied with three teams for the NHL’s second-worst record, as they followed a persistent pattern of falling behind early, a scenario that rarely ends well for the Sharks. San Jose has been scored on first in 11 of their first 15 games, in which they’re 2-9.
“It’s a problem that’s plagued us; we’ve got to fix it. You can’t play from behind in this league and expect to win,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.
“Everybody’s got to look in the mirror. There’s no cavalry coming. This is our group. It is what it is, we own it. There is no hiding from that. It’s our record and you take it for what it is.”
NOTES: Vancouver rookie D Quinn Hughes was not in the lineup against San Jose after suffering a lower body injury in Friday’s overtime loss to Anaheim. . The Canucks recalled D Oscar Fantenberg from Utica of the AHL. . Sharks Jonny Brodzinski was out of the lineup with a shoulder injury he suffered in Friday’s Winnipeg game. Coach Pete DeBoer said his status is day-to-day. . Referee Francis Charron stayed in the game after being dropped to the ice after being struck in his face by a deflected puck late in the second period.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host St. Louis on Tuesday.
Sharks: Host Chicago on Tuesday.
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