Yaroslav Askarov made 32 saves to help the San Jose Sharks secure a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks at SAP Center on Friday. The victory improved the Sharks’ record to 12-10-3, and they have now won four of their last six games.
Will Smith, William Eklund, and Adam Gaudette each scored for San Jose. Macklin Celebrini contributed two assists. “It was a good response,” said San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky. “We played better. Competed a little bit harder, did some things that we’ve talked about. Keep moving forward.”
For Vancouver, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser found the net. Nikita Tolopilo stopped 21 shots in goal for the Canucks, who have lost seven of their last nine games and hold a 10-13-2 record. “We seemed a little bit out of sorts,” said Vancouver coach Adam Foote. “It looked like the emotions involved, and we were just out of sync. You’ve got to reel that back in. It’s a game to win.”
Boeser opened scoring at 4:28 in the first period with an assist from Conor Garland. “Some good looks. It’s obviously very fresh here when you lose by one,” Boeser said. “I got some good looks there, even in the second period, back-to-back looks. Those are ones that I wish I could put in the net.”
Smith tied it up for San Jose on a power play midway through the first period after receiving a pass from Alexander Wennberg.
Pettersson restored Vancouver’s lead early in the second period with his 193rd career goal, tying Alexandre Burrows for 11th place on Vancouver’s all-time list.
Eklund equalized again during a two-man advantage late in the second period after receiving a pass from Celebrini. “It’s always nice scoring,” Eklund said. “Good power plays, they shoot a lot of pucks and get a lot of chances out of that. We’ve been better at retrieving pucks after we shoot and helping each other.”
Gaudette gave San Jose its first lead with just under five minutes left in the second period after his wraparound attempt was initially ruled no goal but overturned following video review by the NHL Situation Room. “I thought I saw it go in,” Gaudette said. “It was tough to see, and thankfully, Toronto, I think, called in and said it looked like it went across the line. You could see it in the goalie’s netting of his glove. I was just praying that they call that a goal after a lot of chances.”
The game also marked milestones for several players: Boeser reached his 450th NHL point—passing Todd Bertuzzi for tenth place on Vancouver’s all-time list—and Celebrini moved within one point of reaching 100 career points as he played his 95th NHL game.
