Photo credit: CANADIAN PRESS, NATHAN DENETTE AP PHOTO

By Pearl Allison Lo

San Jose scored four goals as they inched closer to at least the Los Angeles Kings, as the Sharks beat the Maple Leafs 4-1 Thursday.

The win ended a two-game losing streak for San Jose goalie Antti Niemi and the Sharks. Niemi recovered from his early exit Tuesday to stop 27 shots.

Meanwhile it was more of the same for the Toronto, who have lost four straight now, the last three games by the same score.

San Jose has now won five straight games in and versus Toronto.

The Sharks’ Logan Couture had a goal and assist and Joe Thornton had two assists, four in his past two games.

In the first period, San Jose outshot the Maple Leafs 21-8 despite being outhit 18-6. Both Thornton and Melker Karlsson had four shots apiece.

The only goal scored in the period was not on the power play as both teams went scoreless, 0-for-3 and 0-for-1.

The Sharks’ Chris Tierney skated behind and around the net and then passed to Tomas Hertl who was up front and scored 7:02 into the game. Vlasic also aided on the goal.

In the second period, Toronto outshot San Jose 14-10, but the Sharks broke through goalie Jonathan Bernier with three goals. Bernier has given up at least three goals for seven straight games.

Couture started the middle period scoring with a power play goal to double the lead at 2:06, helped by Brent Burns and Thornton. Couture skated backwards and angled the shot in between Bernier and Tim Erixon as Erixon slipped.

Jake Gardiner got the Maple Leafs on the board in between San Jose’s scoring at 8:54. Brandon Kozun hit Karlsson to get the puck and passed it Leo Komarov. Komarov then passed it to Gardiner, who scored from beyond the left faceoff circle to make it 2-1.

Thornton got his 900th assist on the 3-1 score at 10:10. From behind the net, Thornton passed to Karlsson, who moved into position from the side. Joe Pavelski also assisted.

The Sharks tacked on a fourth goal with 5.1 seconds left in the period. Eric Brewer tried to clear the puck around the boards but it went to Couture. Couture then passed across to Matt Nieto. Nieto shot the puck and it went off Tommy Wingels’ elbow and into the net.

Game notes: San Jose will play game three of their seven-game road trip at Montreal Saturday at 4pm.