Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Ilya Mikheyev, from left, celebrate Horvat’s second goal against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Tue Dec 27, 2022 (Canadian Press photo via AP)

By Torben Rolfsen

VANCOUVER, CANADA – The San Jose Sharks went into Vancouver’s Rogers Arena Tuesday night and played like a team still nursing a rum and egg nog holiday hangover, losing 6-2 to the host Canucks.

San Jose started off sluggish and never seemed to get on track, losing their eighth straight head-to-head against Vancouver, reaffirming orcas as the apex predator of the West coast over great white sharks.

Captain Bo Horvat paced the Canucks with his 25th and 26th goals of the season. Trailing 2-0 with a minute to go in the first period, Timo Meier got the Sharks on the board with his team-leading 19th goal of the year, but instead of giving San Jose momentum going into the second, the floodgates began to open behind veteran goalie James Reimer.

Ilya Mikheyev and Quinn Hughes (with his first of the season) scored a pair of nice goals to put the home team up 4-1. With just over five minutes left in the second, the Sharks had a great chance to get back in it with Canuck netminder Spencer Martin down and out, but couldn’t orchestrate the wrap around from behind the net quickly enough.

It might have been the rare instance where a Michigan lacrosse-style attempt would have been warranted. Jaycob Megna had a great chance from the top of the slot with 13 minutes left in the game, but Martin came up with a nice pad save. Meier added his 20th goal of the year late in the third.

The sixth place Canucks put a little more distance between themselves and the seventh-place Sharks in the Pacific division. The Sharks return home to the SAP Center to host the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday night before travelling to Dallas for a New Year’s Eve tilt against the Stars.