The San Jose Sharks welcomed the Vancouver Canucks to SAP Center on Thursday having lost their last two games, most recently to the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 4. The Canucks, meanwhile, were coming off a very solid effort against the Colorado Avalanche where Thatcher Demko got his first shutout in a 3-0 win. While the Sharks sit at the bottom of the Western Conference and the Canucks are in the wild card race, this game did not follow the script of a really bad team versus a potential playoff team.
It looked like the Canucks were going to record their second straight shutout victory after Dakota Joshua opened the scoring in the third, but Tyler Toffoli had other ideas, tying it in the final minute. But the Canucks still came away with the 2-1 win, when newcomer Drew O’Connor was awarded a penalty shot in overtime and buried it against Vitek Vanecek.
Game Recap
The Canucks controlled play for the first five minutes of the first period, but couldn’t solve Vitek Vanecek. Then, after Will Smith had a breakaway that Demko stopped, the Sharks settled down and restricted the Canucks to zero shots for about 13 minutes – which included a power play. The period ended deadlocked at zero with the Sharks up 7-6 on the shot clock.
The Canucks and Sharks traded chances in the second period, but the goalies remained perfect with Demko stopping nine shots and Vanecek turning aside 13.
Fans finally got to see a goal in this game when the Canucks opened the scoring at the tail end of their fourth power play of the night when Joshua tipped home his third from a shot by Pius Suter. The Sharks got a lot of chances to tie it in the latter half of the period, outshooting the Canucks 16-3, and finally got one past Demko in the final minute. It was Toffoli (who now has a whopping 24 goals in his career against the Canucks) who was able to backhand his 20th into the net with 33 seconds to go to send this game into overtime.
In overtime, after the Sharks had a 2-on-1 stopped by Demko, Filip Chytil sent O’Connor in on a breakaway, but after being impeded by Macklin Celebrini was awarded a penalty shot to win the game. O’Connor made no mistake, scoring his second as a Canuck – and first against a goaltender – wristing it past Vanecek to send his new team to a 2-1 victory.
Goalie Matchup
- Vanecek was solid in his return to the crease for the Sharks stopping 22 shots.
- Demko was brilliant again in this game and was only 33 seconds away from his second straight shutout. He ended up stopping 33 of 34 shots, including another beauty in overtime, to bring his record to 6-6-3.
What’s Next For the Canucks & Sharks?
Both teams are back in action on Saturday with the Canucks hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Sharks taking on the Dallas Stars.
