SAN JOSE
– Two goals in the second period ignited the San Jose Sharks
past the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Tuesday night at sold-out HP
Pavilion.
SAN JOSE – Two goals in the second period ignited the San Jose Sharks past the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Tuesday night at sold-out HP Pavilion.
The decision gave the Sharks their second three-game winning streak of the season and kept the club four points behind pace-setting Dallas in the balanced Pacific Division.
San Jose, holding down fifth place in the Western Conference with 41 points, continues its three-game home stand with a date with the Phoenix Coyotes.
Logan Couture continued his strong scoring pace by netting the game’s first goal 13:15 into the second period. Couture’s 18th of the season lifted him into a tie for fourth place among goal-scorers in the NHL. The center has garnered 10 goals in the past 11 games.
After a scoreless first period with each team firing five shots on net, San Jose was faced with a 5-on-3 penalty kill for 1:13 of the second period.
Niclas Wallin was called for interference at 7:19 and Scott Nichol was sent to the box for hooking at 8:07. Mac-Edouard Vlasic keyed the Shark defensive showing with two clears as the Wallin penalty time elapsed without a single Oiler shot on net.
Couture broke free with the puck toward the Edmonton zone as the Wallin penalty time expired. Edmonton’s Taylor Hall, the first overall selection in the 2010 Entry Draft, held Couture and was sent to the box, finishing the Oiler power play.
Couture slipped through an Oiler breakout near the redline, stole the puck from Oiler Linus Omark and set off on a 2-on-2 rush along with Ryane Clowe. Clowe quickly took Couture’s short pass and bolted toward the right post. Couture sped toward the left post before redirecting Clowe’s pass inside the post past Oiler goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.
The Sharks added an insurance goal at 16:43 of the second near the end of a power play.
Oiler Ryan Whitney was penalized for holding Joe Pavelski’s stick at the 14:48 mark. After Couture’s power play unit came up with one shot on net in 60 seconds on the ice, Joe Thornton’s unit worked the next 55 seconds before securing the 2-0 lead.
Dan Boyle took a pass from Pavelski at the left boards, then switched places with Pavelski at the top of the slot. Boyle waited until Dany Heatley and Thornton were set up in front of the crease before sending a low shot than bounded inside the right post. Boyle’s fourth goal of the season also gave the veteran a franchise-best 17 power play goals for a defenseman, breaking a tie with Brad Stuart.
“We weren’t very happy after the first period,” said Boyle. “Then we killed a huge 5-on-3, which was the turning point.”
The Oilers foiled goalie Antero Niittymaki’s bid for his first shut-out of the season when Dustin Penner’s tip of a Whitney blast from the right point dipped under the netminder with 18:01 gone in the third period.
“We’re turning the corner,” Couture said of the recent Sharks success. “”We need to focus on Phoenix. We want to go into the Christmas break with a four-game winning streak.”
The Sharks finished with a 30-27 edge in shots on net. The loss left the Oilers in the cellar of the 15-team Western Conference with 29 points, trailing first-place by Dallas by 16 points.
