Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) puts the stop on a shot by the San Jose Sharks in the first period at Rogers Center in Vancouver on Mon Dec 23, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP)
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks fell 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks Monday in the last game before Christmas. Brock Boeser, Kiefer Sherwood and Elias Pettersson scored for the Canucks, with Pettersson scoring twice. Thatcher Demko made 26 saves for the win. William Eklund, Cody Ceci and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves in the loss.
The win was Thatcher Demko’s 12th against the Sharks, maintaining a perfect record against San Jose. While the Sharks improved their third period performance, a brief collapse in the second period was the difference in the game. After the game, Barclay Goodrow talked about that collapse:
“A couple pucks we didn’t get deep, I failed to get behind their D, they turn it up, it’s in the back of our net. That created momentum for their team and next thing you know they’ve scored three. Obviously if we don’t have that little stretch in the game it might be a different outcome.”
Shortly after being hit hard into the boards by Tyler Myers, William Eklund scored the first goal of the game. On a five-on-three power play, Eklund took the shot from the faceoff circle through traffic. Assists went to Mikael Granlund and Macklin Celebrini. The goal was scored at 11:36 of the first period.
Brock Boeser tied the game at 14:10. Skating to the net, he tipped in a shot from Quinn Hughes. An assist also went to Vincent Desharmais.
Though Eklund played through the period, he did not return after the first intermission.
The Sharks outshot the Canucks 10-6 in the first period. Each team took two penalties and a fighting major.
Kiefer Sherwood gave the Canucks a lead at 16:42 of the second period. Sherwood skated into the Sharks zone and shot around Henry Thrun. Assists went to Teddy Blueger and Nils Hoglander.
Elias Pettersson scored Vancouver’s third goal of the game at 17:08 of the period. The Sharks challenged the goal for goaltender interference. While Connor Garland made some contact with Askarov, the NHL upheld the call on the ice, putting the Sharks on the penalty kill.
The Canucks made it 4-1 on that power play. Elias Pettersson Had too much time to pick his shot and he used it to put the puck in the top corner. Assists went to J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes.
Vancouver outshot the Sharks 14-6 in the second period. Early in the third period, Henry Thrun took a shot to the face and had to leave the ice for repairs. He did return to the game with a gash on hi8s forehead. Elias Pettersson took one shift in the third period and then left the game.
Cody Ceci made it 4-2 with a shot from the point at 4:21 of the third period. Demko almost stopped it but it trickled through. An assist went to Fabian Zetterlund.
With just under 2:30 to go, the Sharks pulled Askarov for an extra skater. With six seconds left in the game, Luke Kunin caught a rebound and shot it in from a tight angle. Assists went to Celebrini and Toffoli.
The Sharks outshot the Canucks 14-4 in the third period.
The Sharks next play on Friday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the Vegas Golden Knights.





