NHL: San Jose Sharks conclude homestand on Saturday against the Dallas Stars
SAN JOSE — Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot 33 seconds into overtime to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday.
After Macklin Celebrini was called for hooking on a breakaway in overtime, O’Connor beat Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek with a wrist shot to the glove side.
With the Sharks down 1-0 and Vanecek pulled for the extra attacker, Tyler Toffoli scored his 20th goal of the season with 1:28 left in the third period to send the game into overtime.
Vanecek made 19 saves in the first two periods before Dakota Joshua scored a power-play goal at the 8:04 mark of the third period to give the Canucks a 1-0 loss before an announced crowd of 11,509 at SAP Center.
With Celebrini serving a delay of game, puck over glass penalty, Joshua stood before Vanecek and redirected a shot from Pius Suter for his third goal of the season.
The Sharks created some quality scoring chances and finished with34 shots, but once again were stymied by Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko, who came into Thursday with a 12-0-0 record and a .922 save percentage in 12 career games against San Jose.
Demko stopped Sharks rookie Will Smith on a breakaway in the first period and a partial breakaway in the second. Carl Grundstrom also had a Grade A chance in the third period near the Canucks net, but had a backhand shot stopped as Demko’s shot out his left pad.
The Sharks’ loss was their ninth in the last 10 games.
Thursday’s start was the first for Vanecek since Dec. 14, when he stopped 36 of 40 shots in a 4-3 Sharks loss to the Utah Hockey Club. Three days later, he sustained a fractured cheekbone as he was struck in the face by an errant puck that sailed into the Sharks bench in a game against the Winnipeg Jets.
It marked the second straight year Vanecek has had to miss significant time with an injury, as he sat out the final two-plus months of last season witha groin injury that later required surgery.
“I don’t know who is playing (Thursday), but I will be happy to get back for sure,” Vanecek said Wednesday. “It’s been a long time.”
Vanecek went on a conditioning assignment with the Barracuda last Friday and stopped 22 of 24 shots in San Jose’s 6-2 win over Henderson.
Warsofsky had previously said Vanecek would play at least one game before the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Sunday. The Sharks also host Dallas on Saturday to finish a three-game homestand.
While the cheekbone was entirely healed when Vanecek got back onto the ice again for practice last month, there was still the mental hurdle of what it would be like to be struck again in the face by a puck, even while wearing a mask.
“For sure, you think about it a little bit,” Vanecek said. “But if you want to play goal, you have to stop thinking about it and then just play. And then if they hit you in the head, you’re going to see what’s going to happen and let that happen.
“It was a little bit rough, for sure, for the first three practices, but after that, it was pretty good.”
SAN JOSE — Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot 33 seconds into overtime to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday.
After Macklin Celebrini was called for hooking on a breakaway in overtime, O’Connor beat Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek with a wrist shot to the glove side.
With the Sharks down 1-0 and Vanecek pulled for the extra attacker, Tyler Toffoli scored his 20th goal of the season with 1:28 left in the third period to send the game into overtime.
Vanecek made 19 saves in the first two periods before Dakota Joshua scored a power-play goal at the 8:04 mark of the third period to give the Canucks a 1-0 loss before an announced crowd of 11,509 at SAP Center.
With Celebrini serving a delay of game, puck over glass penalty, Joshua stood before Vanecek and redirected a shot from Pius Suter for his third goal of the season.
The Sharks created some quality scoring chances and finished with34 shots, but once again were stymied by Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko, who came into Thursday with a 12-0-0 record and a .922 save percentage in 12 career games against San Jose.
Demko stopped Sharks rookie Will Smith on a breakaway in the first period and a partial breakaway in the second. Carl Grundstrom also had a Grade A chance in the third period near the Canucks net, but had a backhand shot stopped as Demko’s shot out his left pad.
The Sharks’ loss was their ninth in the last 10 games.
Thursday’s start was the first for Vanecek since Dec. 14, when he stopped 36 of 40 shots in a 4-3 Sharks loss to the Utah Hockey Club. Three days later, he sustained a fractured cheekbone as he was struck in the face by an errant puck that sailed into the Sharks bench in a game against the Winnipeg Jets.
It marked the second straight year Vanecek has had to miss significant time with an injury, as he sat out the final two-plus months of last season witha groin injury that later required surgery.
“I don’t know who is playing (Thursday), but I will be happy to get back for sure,” Vanecek said Wednesday. “It’s been a long time.”
Vanecek went on a conditioning assignment with the Barracuda last Friday and stopped 22 of 24 shots in San Jose’s 6-2 win over Henderson.
Warsofsky had previously said Vanecek would play at least one game before the NHL breaks for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Sunday. The Sharks also host Dallas on Saturday to finish a three-game homestand.
While the cheekbone was entirely healed when Vanecek got back onto the ice again for practice last month, there was still the mental hurdle of what it would be like to be struck again in the face by a puck, even while wearing a mask.
“For sure, you think about it a little bit,” Vanecek said. “But if you want to play goal, you have to stop thinking about it and then just play. And then if they hit you in the head, you’re going to see what’s going to happen and let that happen.
“It was a little bit rough, for sure, for the first three practices, but after that, it was pretty good.”
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