SAN JOSE, Calif._Timo Meier gave the San Jose Sharks the spark they needed to earn their first win over the Dallas Stars this season.
Meier scored two goals for the second straight game and Joe Thornton netted the game-winner with 12:04 left in the third period as the Sharks beat the Stars 3-2 at SAP Center to extend their winning streak to three games.
Logan Couture added two assists and goalie Martin Jones finished with 20 saves as the Sharks improved to 5-2-0 for the month of December and moved into a tie for second place with Anaheim in the Pacific Division.
Meier now has 18 goals this season, as he's scored two goals in a game four times this year.
With the Sharks trailing 1-0 and struggling to generate scoring chances, Meier provided his team a necessary jolt.
He scored his 17th goal of the season, just four less than the total he had in 81 games last year, with 3:40 left in the second period, as his shot from just inside the blue line got through traffic and past goalie Anton Khudobin.
Just 2:50 into the second period, Meier converted a Sharks odd-man rush, as he took a pass from Couture and beat Khudobin with a fluttering shot that went off the cross bar and in.
Khudobin entered Thursday with a 5-1-0 record and a .959 save percentage in six career games against the Sharks.
Radek Faksa and Miro Heiskanen scored for the Stars, who beat the Sharks 4-3 on Nov. 8 and 3-2 on Dec. 7, with both games in Dallas.
Thornton was in the lineup Thursday after what was said to be a game-time decision earlier in the day by coach Pete DeBoer. Thornton, who is "dealing with something," according to DeBoer, skipped the Sharks' optional skate Thursday morning after he missed practice Wednesday for maintenance reasons.
Rourke Chartier, who was recalled from the Barracuda of the AHL on Wednesday, was scratched.
The Sharks now begin a two-game road trip, as they play the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday and the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Then before their three-day Christmas break begins, the Sharks host Winnipeg on Dec.20, Los Angeles on Dec. 22 and Arizona on Dec. 23.
