SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Kevin Labanc had a career night Thursday as he assisted on three goals and scored the winner in overtime to help the Sharks to a wild 5-4 over the Vancouver Canucks at SAP Center.
Labanc took a pass from Tomas Hertl and scored past Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom with 3:07 left in overtime for his first goal since Oct. 14, a stretch of 23 games.
Up until Labanc's goal, Joe Thornton and the Sharks' power play did just about everything possible to make up for some shoddy overall play on the defensive end.
Thornton had two goals and an assist with the man advantage, but the Sharks also allowed four even strength goals in regulation time.
The Sharks' power play struck three times Thursday has accounted for 12 goals over the past seven games, easily its most dominant stretch of the season as the unit was ranked 11th in the NHL (20.5 percent) coming into Thursday. Before this recent hot streak, the Sharks were ranked 27th in the league at 16.7 percent.
Thornton's second power play goal gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead at the 6:29 mark of the second period. He later assisted on a Hertl goal with 1:04 to go in the second when the Sharks were enjoying a two-man advantage.
While the power play was heating up, team defense hit the skids as the Sharks had allowed 18 goals on a manned net over those same six games.
The Canucks got second period goals from Jake Virtanen and Brock Boeser, as they outshot the Sharks at one point in the middle frame 19-4. Boeser's goal, a backhander from in close past Sharks goalie Aaron Dell, came after a Vancouver odd man rush.
Dell, who faced 29 shots in the first two periods, posted a 41-save shutout the last time he faced the Canucks at SAP Center on Nov. 11 The Sharks were hoping he didn't have to be as busy Thursday.
The Sharks were outshot in every game on their three-game road trip through Western Canada where they managed three of a possible six points. They entered Thursday one point back of the Calgary Flames for third place in the Pacific Division with three games in hand.
The Sharks also allowed 40 shots on goal when they played the Canucks on Dec.15 and lost 4-3 in overtime. Martin Jones made 20 saves in the first period but just 15 more over the second and third periods.
"We just have to be a lot better, a lot tighter and break out a lot cleaner," Sharks defenseman Justin Braun said Thursday morning of the Dec. 15 game at Rogers Arena.
"They hemmed us in quite a bit. The Sedin line had a ton of chances in the first period. I think as the game went on, we got a lot better. That first period we were pretty sleepy."
It was the Sharks' second straight game without Logan Couture, who was concussed last Saturday in Vancouver on a check from Canucks forward Alexander Burmistrov and is out indefinitely.
Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said Couture was feeling better Thursday and headed in the right direction, but wanted to see how Couture was feeling Friday before he made any declarations on whether he could play Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. But it appears the Sharks will err on the side of caution and give their best two-way center some more time to recover.
"It adds a level of urgency that you need to step your game up," Sharks center Chris Tierney said about Couture's absence. "There's obviously goals that need to be filled when he's out, minutes, power play, penalty kill, and everything else he brings to the team."
_The Sharks announced that Jonathan Becher and John Tortora have been named co-presidents of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, which oversees the NHL franchise, the Barracuda and operates SAP Center and Solar4America Ice in San Jose.
Tortora has served as SSE's chief operating officer since 2011 and will oversee the company's finance and venue operations. He also remains an alternate governor for the Sharks. Becher most recently served as SAP's chief digital officer and the head of the SAP Digital business unit. Becher will be responsible for the areas of sales, marketing and revenue.
_Defenseman Paul Martin remains on an AHL conditioning assignment and DeBoer said he'll sit down with Martin soon to determine the next course of action. Martin could still play Friday night for the Barracuda against Texassince his conditioning stint does not expire until Dec. 24.
_Danny O'Regan was the Sharks' fourth line center Thursday and Joel Ward was be a healthy scratch. Also on the fourth line were Mikkel Boedker and Marcus Sorensen.
