Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot in overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 2-1 road win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
Thirty-three seconds into the extra frame, Sharks center Macklin Celebrini interfered with O’Connor on a clear scoring chance. The penalty shot was awarded, and O’Connor converted his second goal in three games since the Canucks acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
O’Connor’s penalty-shot goal in overtime was the second in Canucks history. Ben Hutton turned the trick against Arizona on Nov. 17, 2016. Jake Walman, then of the Detroit Red Wings, was the last player in the NHL to do so on Feb. 10, 2024. He played for the Sharks on Thursday.
The Canucks are on a two-game winning streak, and are 5-1-1 in their past seven games. The latest victory moved Vancouver past the Calgary Flames for the second Western Conference wild-card slot.
Vancouver is 3-0-0 against San Jose this season and is 15-1-0 vs. the Sharks dating back to January 2020.
Thatcher Demko has been a big part of that dominance, as Demko is 13-0-0 against San Jose. The goaltender was sharp again Thursday, stopping 33 of 34 shots.
Dakota Joshua scored Vancouver’s other goal.
Tyler Toffoli had the only goal for the Sharks, who are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games.
Vitek Vanecek held up his end of the goaltending duel by stopping 22 of 24 shots. Vanecek was making his return to action after missing San Jose’s previous 22 games while recovering from a fractured cheekbone.
Neither team scored in the first two periods, though San Jose’s Will Smith came closest on a breakaway early in the first frame. Demko made a big stop on Smith’s initial chance, and then made a pair of rapid-fire saves on rebound attempts from Smith and Mario Ferraro.
Joshua broke both the deadlock and a personal scoring drought at 8:04 of the third period. In the final second of a Vancouver power play, Joshua tipped in a Pius Suter shot for his first point in 12 games.
The Sharks outshot the Canucks by a 16-3 margin in the third period, and they finally solved Demko with 88 seconds left in regulation. Toffoli’s first two shots were stopped by Demko, but the forward’s third attempt banked off Vancouver defenseman Derek Forbort and into the net.
–Field Level Media
