Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser (6), Matthew Highmore (15), center J.T. Miller (9) and Conor Garland (8) celebrate Miller’s goal in overtime at the SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Feb 17, 2022 (AP News photo)
By Mary Walsh
SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost 5-4 in OT to the Vancouver Canucks Thursday. Juho Lammikko, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, Connor Garland, and J.T. Miller scored for Vancouver. Thatcher Demko made 24 saves for the win. Logan Couture, Timo Meier ad Alexander Barabanov scored for San Jose, with two goals from Meier. James Reimer, making his sixth start in a row, made 22 saves in the loss.
In the first period, the Sharks were badly outshot, 15-4. In the second, the Sharks pushed back and had 15 shots to the Canucks’ 5, and in the third the Sharks had 9 shots to the Canucks’ 5. The Sharks had no shots in overtime. After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:
“I think the shots were something like 24,25-10 in the last two periods. I thought we had a lot of good looks. So, yeah, that’s our identity, that’s how we gotta play. I think if we could play the way we played in the last two periods, we’re going to get our fair share of points down the stretch but we’ve got to start on time.”
Sharks forward Tomas Hertl summed it up as: “We need effort for 60 minutes otherwise we will not win games here.”
Brock Boeser scored the first goal for Vancouver at 14:54 of the first. Skating to the net, with traffic in front of Reimer, Boeser shifted around the traffic and found an opening. He put the puck in the to top corner on Reimer’s glove side. Assists went to J.T. Miller and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Quinn Hughes scored at 17:40 to make it 2-0. Hughes took a shot from the point that bounced under Michael Highmore, back into the air and past Reimer.
Logan Couture got the Sharks on the board 3:35 into the second period. Couture seemed to be making a pass to Gregor but the puck hit the stick of Tyler Meyers and went into the Vancouver net. Assists went to Matt Nieto and Noah Gregor.
Juho Lammikko restored the Canucks’ two-goal lead at 10:49. Kyle Burroughs took a shot from high in the slot and the puck went off of Lammikko and into the net. An assist went to Burroughs.
Timo Meier scored on the power play to cut the lead back down to one at 14:03. Tomas Hertl passed it to him from below the goal line. Meier found a small gap to put the puck between Demko and the post. Assists went to Hertl and Alexander Barabanov.
Meier scored a second power play goal to tie it just 45 seconds into the third. This time he took the shot from above the right face-off circle. Demko had lost track of the puck and Meier had an open net to shoot at. Assists again went to Hertl and Barabanov.
Vancouver grabbed the lead back at 14:23 with a goal from Connor Garland. During a scramble in front of the net, Garland found the puck and put it in.
In the final second of the third, with the Sharks net empty, Alexander Barabanov tied the game with a shot from just above the goal line. Assists went to Meier and Brent Burns.
J.T. Miller scored the game winner during a delayed penalty with a shot into the top corner over Reimer’s stick. Assists went to Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.
The Sharks were dominant in the face-off circle through all three periods, winning 33 of 55 draws. The Sharks power play had seven shots, and their penalty kill gave up 3.
The Sharks next play on Sunday at 5:00 PM PT against the Vegas Golden Knights in San Jose.
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