The Vancouver Canucks will try to snap a three-game winless skid when they play host to the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
Vancouver dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday to open a three-game homestand.
Brock Boeser scored twice, Quinn Hughes scored a goal and two assists and Jake DeBrusk scored the other goal for Vancouver, which has just one win in its last five games. Kevin Lankinen made 17 saves in the loss.
“It’s a good thing that we battled back to get a point but it’s kind of getting annoying,” Boeser said. “We got to find a way to get two points.”
DeBrusk has a team-leading 15 goals in 33 games this season, while Hughes paces the Canucks with 32 assists and 40 points in 33 contests.
Thatcher Demko made his season debut Dec. 10 and is 1-1-2 in four games, posting a 3.18 goals-against average and an .887 save percentage. Demko is a perfect 11-0-0 in 11 career games against the Sharks with a .925 save percentage and a 2.17 GAA.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said the Canucks can’t “gamble” in puck battles going forward.
“We’re not that type of team,” he said. “We’re hoping the guy’s going to win the battle. You lose the battle and they get an odd-man rush. You can’t play that way and we’re going to have to do some digging on that, because that’s just, that’s river hockey. We can’t play that way.”
Monday is the second of four meetings between San Jose and Vancouver.
Pius Suter scored twice, and DeBrusk also found the back of the net as the Canucks picked up a 3-2 win in San Jose on Nov. 2. Mikael Granlund and Nico Sturm responded for the Sharks in the loss.
San Jose heads to Vancouver as part of a two-game road trip looking to avoid a fifth straight loss.
Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta scored for San Jose in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. Yaroslav Askarov made 39 saves in the loss.
“We’ve got to defend the middle of the ice,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Obviously, they have two superstars over there and a really good team, so it’s going to be important that we don’t fuel them with some turnovers. And that doesn’t mean in the (neutral) zone. That means in the offensive zone, when we have the puck as well, so make them defend. And then when we’re in our own end, and we get a chance to break out pucks, we’ve got to make sure we execute.”
Tyler Toffoli leads all Sharks skaters with 13 goals in 36 games this season, while Granlund has a team-leading 32 points in 34 games.
Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev has gone 1-2-0 in three starts since the Sharks acquired him from the Colorado Avalanche earlier this month. In seven career appearances against the Canucks, Georgiev is 4-3-0 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.32 GAA.
The two teams will meet in San Jose on Feb. 6 before concluding the season series on April 14 in Vancouver.
–Field Level Media
