Sharks 5, Canucks 2
Wednesday, 08.06.2014 / 1:49 AM
Associated Press
SAN JOSE (AP) The needle finally slipped below the red line Thursday night in San Jose as the Canucks fell 5-2 to the Sharks.
Playing their third game in four nights, the Canucks simple didn't have the gas in the tank to overcome Joe Thornton, who scored a goal and an assist to pace San Jose.
Trevor Linden briefly gave the road team hope late in the game making it 3-2, but his third goal of the season proved little more than window dressing as the Sharks popped two quick ones on rookie Drew MacIntrye to finish the affair.
MacIntyre's first taste of the NHL wasn't an easy assignment as he relieved Curtis Sanford in the second period after Wednesday's hero in Anaheim gave up three goals on 12 shots.
Evgeni Nabokov made 15 saves to record his league-leading 17th victory as the Sharks won for the sixth time in seven games, and got their sixth win on home ice after winning just five of their first 13 at the HP Pavilion.
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The Canucks were outplayed for most of the game and threw MacIntyre to the Sharks late in the third after climbing to within a goal of San Jose with a pair of giveways that led directly to San Jose goals.
"Our of five goals, four of them were mistakes, and you can't play like that," said Vancouver defenseman Willie Mitchell, who got dusted by Michalek on San Jose's first goal. "Against a team that good, you can't make more than one mistake."
Nabokov has started each of the Sharks' 30 games this season, and the veteran has rarely been better. He picked up his league-leading 17th victory and barely missed his 39th career shutout while keeping his goals-against average at 2.00, the second-best mark in the NHL behind Detroit's Chris Osgood.
Curtis Sanford allowed three goals on 12 shots while filling in again for Roberto Luongo, who has missed four of Vancouver's last five games with bruised ribs. Drew MacIntyre made his NHL debut in relief of Sanford after the Sharks went up 3-0 in the second period.