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SAN JOSE — 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 victory 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.
“We found a way to win. It wasn’t a perfect game,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “There were a lot of good areas, our special teams were really good. We don’t like getting into shootouts like that and giving up four goals, but it’s that time of year. You’re dealing with some injuries.
“There’s no style points. We got two points in an important game and that’s what matters.”
The Sharks’ power play struck three times Thursday and has accounted for 12 goals over the past seven games, easily its most dominant stretch of the season. 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.
Two of Labanc’s assists came on the power play, as he’s taken the spot of the injured Logan Couture on the first unit.
“If you’re on the first power play unit, you have to produce,” Labanc said. “We were scoring on the power play and our power play was working the puck really well. That’s a big thing for me when (Couture) is out.”
While the power play was heating up, team defense hit the skids as the Sharks have now allowed 22 goals on a manned net over those same seven 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.
The Sharks were outshot and outchanced in every game on their three-game road trip through Western Canada where they managed three of a possible six points. With Thursday’s win, the Sharks moved back into third place in the Pacific Division.
“Our sticks were better, but I still think we’re not at the level we think we can play at,” Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “We’ve shown this year that we can be a really good defensive team. I think we are. That’s our identity. But being able to grind out the win tonight and get a big two points was huge.”
It was the Sharks’ second straight game without Couture, who was concussed last Saturday in Vancouver on a check from Canucks forward Alexander Burmistrov and is out indefinitely.
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.
▪ 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. They did not play a shift in the third period.