National Hockey League
San Jose 3, Vancouver 1
When: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Steve Kozari, Kyle Rehman
Linesmen: Shane Heyer, Brian Mach
Attendance: 17459

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks brushed off recent injury adversity by setting a franchise record with their two fastest game-opening goals en route to a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night at SAP Center.

"That was a quick start for them," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "We won the draw and lost the little battle behind on the one; the other one was close to being offside but you couldn't tell where the puck was there. But it was a bad start and I thought our guys battled back hard. We had a pretty good second and third."

By sweeping the Canucks in a home-and-home series, San Jose clinched no worse than a third-place finish in the Pacific Division. The Sharks earned just their third win in 11 games while fourth-place Calgary lost to first-place Anaheim.

The Sharks also tied second-place Edmonton in points (97). San Jose hosts the Oilers, who lost in Los Angeles on Tuesday and have played one fewer game, on Thursday.

Rookie Kevin Labanc and veteran Joel Ward scored within 12 seconds during the opening 30 ticks to get the Sharks off to their fast start. That beat the former mark of Owen Nolan and Joe Murphy scoring in the first 47 seconds of an eventual 2-2 tie with Chicago on Oct. 22, 1998.

"The start was spot on, that's the kind of response we wanted," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "You can't take your foot off the gas. It doesn't matter who we're playing right now. We're trying to build our game. We had 10 shots in the first 5-7 minutes then we're sitting on 18 in the third. We need to keep working through it."

Vancouver narrowed the lead when defenseman Chris Tanev scored his second goal of the season with a screen shot from the top of the right circle 3:30 into the final period.

But Chris Tierney scored his 10th when a Brent Burns wrist shot caromed off the right leg of the San Jose center and past Canucks goalie Richard Bachman (22 saves) at 9:18.

Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped 33 of 34 shots for his 35th win.

"It was a good start, we did a lot of good things today, but probably for only 20-30 minutes of the game," Jones said. "We need to find a way to not let off the gas and make sure we're playing hard for the entire 60 minutes. That's the only way we're going to win in the playoffs."

San Jose scored on its first two shots of the game to take a 2-0 lead before some in attendance even took their seats.

"That's tough for sure but I thought we came back and played a good game after that," Vancouver's Daniel Sedin said. "We had more shots after that but being down 2-0 after 30 seconds makes it tough to come back."

Pavelski won an offensive-zone draw in the right circle to Labanc. After kicking the puck to his stick, Labanc scored on a turnaround shot by picking the top right corner of the net for his eighth goal just 18 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Line 2 was up next, and Ward scored his ninth on the rush. Joonas Donskoi left the puck for an onrushing Ward, who wound up to beat Bachman with a slapper from the top of the right circle 12 seconds after the hosts scored their first goal.

"Guys need to know we've gotten here together," Pavelski said. "There are a couple guys out, but that doesn't change what we're trying to do. It doesn't change certain lines. You've got to go out and do your part, and do a little better then go from there."

NOTES: San Jose played Tuesday without its top two centers -- Joe Thornton (left knee) and Logan Couture (head injury). Thornton's streak of 201 straight games was snapped as he missed only his eighth game due to injury since dealt to San Jose in November of 2005. Couture, who has yet to even return to the ice since getting struck in the mouth with a deflected puck on March 25, missed his fifth straight. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer coined the pair day-to-day, but there is no timetable for their return. ... Ex-Shark Nikolay Goldobin made his first return to San Jose since a trade deadline deal with the Canucks. Goldobin started on the right wing alongside the Sedin twins.
Top Game Performances
 
Vancouver   San Jose
Christopher Tanev 1 Points Joonas Donskoi 2
Christopher Tanev 1 Goals Kevin Labanc 1
Brock Boeser 1 Assists Joonas Donskoi 2
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Richard Bachman .880 Save Percentage Martin Jones .971
Richard Bachman 22 Saves Martin Jones 33
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Vancouver 34 1 0-3 1-1 2 33
San Jose 25 3 0-1 3-3 6 33
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game at home against Edmonton. The Sharks have a W/L % of .614 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Vancouver will play their next game on the road against Arizona. The Canucks have a W/L % of .387 after a win and .375 after a loss.