Canucks hold off Sharks 3-2 at The Tank

BOX SCORE

SAN JOSEOne of the primary reasons the San Jose Sharks have been among the hottest teams in hockey lately, rising to the top of the Pacific Division, is that they have stayed out of the penalty box. In fact, entering a highly anticipated match with the Vancouver Canucks, the Sharks had been shorthanded fewer times than any team in the league.

They were down a man just once on Saturday night, on a slash by Joe Thornton to Vancouvers Alex Burrows, but that was enough to change the tide of the game. A second period power play goal by Henrik Sedin broke a 1-1 tie, and the Canucks maintained their lead for the rest of the game in beating the Sharks at HP Pavilion, 3-2.

Cory Schneiders impressive performance in net was also key, as the Sharks suffered just their third regulation loss in the last 16 games (12-3-1), despite outshooting and out-chancing the team that knocked them from the playoffs last season.

We played well. We just didnt capitalize on some of the Grade-A chances we had, said Thornton. I thought we probably deserved a better fate, but thats hockey, and sometimes you dont get that.

Thornton disagreed with his second period penaltySan Joses only minor of the game.

Youre just trying to make Burrows bobble the puck a little bit, he said. They thought it was a slash on the hand, and they do a pretty good job of embellishing. It is what it is.

Burrows visited the Vancouver locker room for several minutes following the incident, but later returned.

Thorntons penalty nullified the final five seconds of a Sharks power play in which they had several good chances to take the lead themselves. Joe Pavelski was snuffed by Schneider at the side of the net, while Brent Burns was almost able to muscle one through while causing havoc in the crease.

Henrik Sedin buried a juicy rebound of a shot from the point by Dan Hamhuis at 10:17 of the second period, though, and the Canucks took the 2-1 lead with Thornton watching from the box.

That sequence proved to be the turning point.

We had a power play right before that and had tremendous opportunities to score, said Todd McLellan. The goaltender played a very good game on their behalf. Then they come down and the rebound goes right out to Sedin and he shoots from a pretty tough angle, and puts it right in the net.

Just 50 seconds later, defenseman Andrew Alberts made it a two-goal lead when his soft wrist shot from just inside the blue line somehow found the back of the net through traffic.

The Sharks managed to crawl back to within a goal when Patrick Marleau scored with 1:15 to go in regulation, but Schneider shut the door after that, finishing with 43 saves. He outplayed Antti Niemi, who entered the game with five straight wins, and who took his first regulation loss since October 31 at the New York Rangers.

The Alberts goal especially irked Niemi.

I thought I saw it leave the tape, but I dont know, I didnt see the right spot where it was going to end up, he said.

Ironically, the Sharks four-game winning streak ended in what McLellan thought was the teams best effort over the last five games. The Sharks poured 45 shots on Schneider, and had a strong forechecking game for most of the night.

Were not as frustrated as coaches right now, he said. Obviously, we came to the rink to win and were disappointed we lost against a very good team, but its probably the best game we played in the last five and its the one that we happened to lose.

There are some things that showed up in tonights game that we worked on the last couple of days, and if we play the way we did for the last 50 minutes, well have enough success throughout the season that will set us up well as we go forward.

The teams traded goals in the first period. Vancouver opened the scoring at 6:13 on a fortunate bounce, when former Shark Manny Malhotra threw the puck towards the net from the corner. It hit Douglas Murrays right skate and bounced into the net past Niemi, who lost his stick on a collision seconds earlier.

The first goal that goes off of me, the defenseman isnt supposed to be in the blue paint, Murray said, referring to himself. Im looking for my man to make sure Im in position, and Malhotra throws the puck at the net and it goes off my toe and in. I shouldnt be standing there, but theres not much you can do about it.

The Sharks replied on Andrew Murrays first goal of the year. A good shift by the fourth line resulted in Andrew Desjardins backhanded feed through the slot that Murray quickly wristed in at 16:03.

The game changed for the worse for the Sharks in the second period, though, even though they entered the game outscoring their opponents 31-11 in the middle frame.

The win was Vancouvers fourth in a row.

San Jose visits the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.

Odds and ends: San Jose was 0-for-3 on the power play.Brad Winchester and Aaron Volpatti had a long and entertaining fight in the first period, with Winchester earning the decision.The Sharks won 30 of 50 faceoffs.Alberts goal was the first game-winner of his career.