SAN JOSE – William Eklund and Adam Gaudette scored goals 1:14 apart in the second period to help lift the Sharks to a penalty-filled and sometimes feisty 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday afternoon at SAP Center.
Eklund’s power play goal from a sharp angle off an assist from Macklin Celebrini at the 14:03 mark of the second period tied the game 2-2. Just over a minute later, Gaudette jammed at a loose puck that was beside the post and next to the left pad of Canucks goalie Nikita Tolopilo.
It was not ruled a goal on the ice, but after the NHL initiated a video review, it was determined that Gaudette’s shot completely crossed the Canucks’ goal line at the 15:17 mark of the second period.
That was enough offense for goalie Yaroslav Askarov, who made 32 saves for his ninth win this month, as he and the Sharks bounced back from a 6-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
There was a total of 38 penalty minutes handed out on Friday, including six with 1.9 seconds left in regulation after a scrum in the corner to the left of the Sharks’ net.
Special teams were huge for the Sharks as Celebrini also assisted on Will Smith’s first-period power-play goal to help San Jose go 2-for-6 with the man advantage. The Sharks also killed every penalty they took, as the Canucks, officially, went 0-for-9 on the power play.
The Sharks, who entered Friday two points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, are now 9-4-1 this month.
The Sharks, who now have a 3-12-5 record against the Canucks since the start of the 2019-2020 season, finish November with a game Saturday night in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights.
The Sharks allowed an even-strength goal to Canucks winger Brock Boeser at the 4:28 mark of the first period, but got that goal back on the man advantage slightly less than five minutes later.
With Quinn Hughes serving an interference penalty, Alexander Wennberg took a pass from Celebrini and sent a pass across the crease to Smith, who scored his eighth of the season on a wide-open net to snap a seven-game goal drought.
The goal marked the 37th time that Smith and Celebrini have combined on a goal in less than one-and-a-half seasons.
LINEUP CHANGES
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky made some changes to his defense pairs for Friday’s game, inserting John Klingberg and Vincent Iorio into the lineup and scratching Shakir Mukhamadullin and Vincent Desharnais.
Klingberg was paired with Mario Ferraro, and Iorio was with rookie Sam Dickinson.
Warsofsky wants to keep his defenseman, eight of them, at least, as fresh as he can. Iorio, who just completed a two-week conditioning loan with the Barracuda, was a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s 6-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, and was playing his first NHL game since Oct. 26 when the Sharks beat the Minnesota Wild 6-5 in overtime.
Friday’s game also marked Nick Leddy’s fifth straight healthy scratch.
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