Sharks win but injuries start to pile up

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - As the injuries continue to pile up, the Sharks found a way to finally give themselves a little cushion in the Pacific Division standings.

The Sharks limped their way to a 3-0 record on their road trip through Western Canada Saturday, picking up a 5-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks after losing defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and forward Melker Karlsson to injuries. In doing so, the Sharks extended their winning streak to four games and stretched their lead over the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks for second place in the division to five points.

Timo Meier scored the game-winning goal, breaking a 3-3 tie at 6:07 of the third by beating goalie Jacob Markstrom with a shot from the left circle, his 20th goal of the season and second of the game. Tomas Hertl iced the game with his 20th goal, an empty netter, at 19:35 of the third.

Vlasic left the ice at 4:44 of the second period after he took a Derrick Pouliot slapshot in the neighborhood of his throat. The defenseman’s injury forced the Sharks to finish their third game in four nights with just five defensemen, including veteran Paul Martin, who was suiting up for just his fourth NHL game of the season and his first since Dec. 7.

Martin found his way into the lineup because another Sharks defenseman, Joakim Ryan, is sidelined by what head coach Pete DeBoer labeled as a “day-to-day upper-body injury.”

The Sharks also lost Karlsson to a lower-body injury at 3:17 of the first when he blocked a slapshot from defenseman Alex Edler.

Vlasic’s injury played a role when the Sharks took a trio of penalties in the second period, allowing the Canucks to crawl out of a 3-1 hole with their second and third power play goals of the game. The 30-year-old is the Sharks’ top shutdown defenseman and one of the team’s most reliable penalty killers.

Bo Horvat made it a 3-2 game at 5:23 of the middle frame, punching a pass from Sam Gagner in between goalie Aaron Dell’s legs. The Canucks tied the game at 11:48 of the middle frame after Martin took a careless high sticking penalty. Edler scored the equalizer beating Dell on a shot from the point.

Nikolay Goldobin scored the Canucks’ first power play goal at 10:48 of the first, getting a pinch of revenge on the squad that drafted him with the 27th pick in the 2014 NHL draft and traded him at the deadline last winter. Goldobin fired the puck into the top-left corner from the left circle, ending the Canucks’ scoring drought at 3:42:57 - 10 minutes and three seconds short of a franchise record.

Kevin Labanc got the Sharks on the board at 14:58 of the opening period, tying the game at 1-1 with his second goal in as many nights. Labanc scored his 11th on a Sharks power play.