Sharks defeat Canucks in overtime on Labanc goal

SAN JOSE -- Kevin Labanc scored at 1:53 of overtime to give the San Jose Sharks a 5-4 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at SAP Center on Thursday.
Labanc, who had three assists and a NHL career-high four points, took a pass from Tomas Hertl and beat Jacob Markstrom from the slot.

WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Sharks highlights]
"Felt good," said Labanc, who ended a 23-game goalless streak. "Felt better winning the game. They came back on us so we were a little bit worried, but it was nice to get two points and better ourselves in the standings."
Sharks center Joe Thornton scored two power-play goals and had an assist to give him 1,416 NHL points and move past Doug Gilmour for 18th place on the NHL's all-time list. Thornton, with seven goals and 18 assists this season, has 391 goals and 1,025 assists in 1,479 NHL games.
"I think it's been really, really effective the last probably six games or so," Thornton said of the power play. "It's given us a chance to win games right now."

Thornton matched his goal total from last season.
"He can shoot the puck as well, and you saw that tonight," Sharks forward Joe Pavelski said. "Those were a couple big goals for us. When we make those plays and he's pulling the trigger, that's really good."
Hertl had a power-play goal, and Timo Meier also scored for San Jose (18-11-4).
Brendan Gaunce, Jake Virtanen, Brock Boeser and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver (15-16-5), which lost for the seventh time in its past eight games (1-6-1).
"A point's big, but we definitely feel we could've won that game," Boeser said. "Obviously we need to clean up some special teams there."
San Jose moved ahead 4-3 when Hertl scored on a 5-on-3 at 18:56 of the second period, but Sedin answered with a goal from the right circle at 2:09 of the third to make it 4-4.
"I loved the way we played tonight minus our penalty killing," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "You score four goals on the road, you come back a couple of times, that's the kind of game we want to play. If we play that way every night we're going to be fine."

Gaunce gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 1:58 of the first period with his first goal of the season. Virtanen took the puck below the goal line and flipped a backhand pass in front to defenseman Erik Gudbranson, whose wrist shot deflected off Gaunce's stick and past Sharks goalie Aaron Dell.
Thornton made it 1-1 at 11:52 when he took a cross-ice pass from Labanc and beat Markstrom with a wrist shot.
Meier put the Sharks ahead 2-1 at 5:20 of the second period, taking a cross-ice pass from Dylan DeMelo and scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Thornton extended San Jose's lead to 3-1 at 6:29.
"That's awesome," Labanc said of Thornton's two power-play goals. "He's not really a goal scorer, he's a playmaker. I was just kidding about that. He's a good two-way player. He shoots the puck, he makes plays. It definitely feels good to see him score goals. Yeah, he's got a good shot, too."
Virtanen cut San Jose's lead to 3-2 at 8:49 with a 4-on-4 goal. He got the puck deep in Vancouver's end, skated along the left boards and scored from close range.
Boeser scored his 19th goal of the season at 16:02 to tie it 3-3.
Dell made 36 saves and won his fifth straight game. Markstrom made 27 saves.

Goal of the game

Labanc's goal at 1:53 of overtime.

Save of the game

Dell's save of Boeser's wrist shot 17 seconds into overtime.

Highlight of the game

Thornton's goal at 6:29 of the second period.

They said it

"You give a team a two-minute 5-on-3, a team like that, with that skill, they're going to score." -- Canucks coach Travis Green

"I think we found a way to win. It wasn't a perfect game. There were a lot of good areas. Our special teams were really good, but obviously we don't like getting into shootouts like that and giving up four goals. But it's that time of year and you're dealing with some injuries. There's no style points. We got two points in an important game and that's what mattered." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Need to know

Center Logan Couture, who leads the Sharks in goals (15) and points (26), missed his second straight game with a concussion. ... Sharks forward Joel Ward was scratched. He was replaced by Danny O'Regan. … Canucks forward Henrik Sedin had an assist and has nine assists in a six-game point streak. … Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton and forward Nikolay Goldobin, a former Shark, were scratched for the second straight game.

What's next

Canucks: Host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-W, NHL.TV)