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Saturday, Dec. 30 10:00pm ET
Canucks break away in second period | |||||
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Todd Bertuzzi's first career hat trick gave the Vancouver Canucks a much-needed lift. The Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks 6-3 on Saturday night 24 hours after suffering their worst loss of the season. "We need to bounce back from tough losses like that," Bertuzzi said. "We got key goals from key guys and that was nice. We came out strong and had a great second period." Donald Brashear, Mattias Ohlund and Peter Schaefer all scored in a three-minute span in the second period for the Canucks. Vancouver rebounded from a 5-0 loss in Calgary on Friday night and snapped a four-game road losing streak. "Calgary really outworked us, but we learned from that," Brashear said. "We all had to work hard against a good team after losing a big game." Owen Nolan scored twice, and Scott Thornton once for San Jose. Nolan has two goals and seven assists in his last seven games. Vancouver dealt the Sharks their worst loss of the season, 6-1 on Dec. 8 in San Jose. The Canucks are unbeaten (4-0-1) in their last five games against San Jose. "Bad penalties did us in," Sharks coach Darryl Sutter said. "It just got frustrating. I thought we mounted a good comeback, but it was a tough hill to come back on." Adrian Aucoin added three assists for the Canucks. Brashear's goal with 11:08 left in the second period put the Canucks ahead to stay. Harold Druken picked up a loose puck along the boards and brought it to the top of the crease, luring Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov out of the net before passing off to Brashear, who one-timed the puck in. "When you get that much of the net, you should get it in," said Brashear, known more for his hits than scoring ability. "Druden gave me a great pass. I would have felt bad if I missed that. Sometimes I get a chance to change the game and to get things going." Ohlund scored just over a minute later, beating Nabokov one-on-one at the top of the penalty area. Trent Klatt tossed the puck out to Ohlund from behind the net. Schaefer added a short-handed goal with 8:23 left in the period. Brendan Morrison intercepted the puck, sprinted down the right side and centered a pass to Schaefer, whose shot bounced off Nabokov's skates and into the net. Morrison has three goals and 13 assists in his last 13 games. Vancouver outshot the Sharks 19-2 in the period, and only Nolan's goal on a power play kept the period from being a complete collapse for San Jose. Jeff Friesen took a shot on goal, and Nolan tapped it past Canucks' goalie Felix Potvin with 6:34 remaining in the period. Nolan's 5-on-3 power-play goal, a slap shot from the left wing, cut the lead to 4-3 with 16:25 left in the game. The teams traded goals in the first period. Bertuzzi -- who would later add a pair of goals in the third period -- scored on a power play with 7:08 left after taking a pass from Andrew Cassells. Thornton, who set a career high with his 11th goal of the season, first-timed the puck into the upper corner of the net from just outside the crease. Game notesThe Sharks' three-game home unbeaten streak ended. ... Nolan has 24 points in 19 games since returning from an injury on Nov. 18. ... Aucoin set a career high with his three assists. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Vancouver Clubhouse San Jose Clubhouse RECAPS Edmonton 3 Montreal 2
Vancouver 6 AUDIO/VIDEO   Todd Bertuzzi puts the Canucks on the board in the 1st.avi: 573 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||