Canucks score 7, extend Sharks skid to 8

VANCOUVER -- Andrei Kuzmenko scored his 35th goal of the season, setting the Vancouver Canucks record for goals by a player in his first NHL season in a 7-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

Kuzemnko, who also had an assist, surpassed Pavel Bure as a rookie in 1991-92. Kuzmenko isn't a rookie at age 27 but is playing his first season with Vancouver after eight seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. He has 63 points (35 goals, 28 assists) in 70 games.
"I'm happy. It's important for my family, for me as well," Kuzmenko said with help translating from fellow Russian Vasily Podkolzin. "It's good, but I need to be better. I need to score a lot of goals, maybe 40, 45. Keep working."

Conor Garland, J.T. Miller, Phillip Di Giuseppe and Dakota Joshua each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks (32-34-5), who are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games. Thatcher Demko made 17 saves.
"We needed it today," Miller said of the scoring depth. "I don't think we were sharp for the 60 minutes, to be honest. Our power play kind of sucked the life out of our game. We're definitely better than what we're showing right now."
James Reimer made 14 saves for the Sharks (19-38-15), who have lost eight in a row (0-5-3).
"When you make so many changes, some of the things that are happening out there are not really the fault of the new players," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "They just haven't been accustomed to playing the way you want to play, but the guys that have been here have to keep this thing together and understand we've got a season to finish, and we've got to do a better job finishing on a strong note."
Miller put the Canucks ahead 1-0 at 6:15 of the first period, intercepting a Tomas Hertl pass at the blue line and skating in alone for a wrist shot. Miller has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games.
"Sometimes you feel like you're shooting into a five-gallon bucket," Miller said.

Kuzmenko made it 2-0 at 8:17, taking a lateral pass from Elias Pettersson in the slot and pulling the puck back the other direction from forehand to backhand before shooting past Reimer's glove.
Hertl scored his 20th goal of the season at 9:34 to make it 2-1, taking a cross-ice pass from Erik Karlsson at the hash marks and shooting past Demko's blocker.
Joshua made it 3-1 with 0.4 seconds left in the period by tucking in a backhand deke to finish off an odd-man rush.
"We got one back but we just killed ourselves in the first because the three goals, we just give it to them," Hertl said. "It wasn't like they have to do anything special. It was just three free goals, and after it was too many penalties, and that's how it's going for us lately. We just give them the goals by our mistakes, and I just can't start it. I am one of the guys here and [it] just can't happen like that."
Garland made it 4-1 at 12:24 of the second period with a backdoor tap-in of a Tyler Myers pass.
Andrew Agozzino made it 4-2 with a wrist shot off a short-handed rush from the left face-off dot at 9:55 of the third period, but Podkolzin scored 15 seconds later at 10:10, four seconds after the Vancouver power play expired, with a rush shot from the top of the face-off circles to make it 5-2.

Di Giuseppe deflected in a Quinn Hughes point shot at 11:28 to make it 6-2. With the assist, Hughes tied the Canucks record he set last season for single season points by a defenseman with 68 (five goals, 63 assists) in 67 games.
Sheldon Dries scored on a short-handed rush with 14 seconds left for the 7-2 final.
NOTES: Pettersson has an NHL career-high 10-game point streak (five goals, nine assists). ... The Canucks have won nine straight against the Sharks dating to Jan. 18, 2020, their longest active streak against any opponent. … Sharks defenseman Matt Benning was a late scratch after "something came up on him" in warmups, according to Quinn, but he expects him to be ready to play Saturday at the Calgary Flames. … Vancouver defenseman Christian Wolanin, who signed a two-year contract extension earlier Thursday, sustained a lower-body injury 6:39 into the first period. There was no update.