Cory Schneider made 44 saves and stopped all three San Jose attempts in the shootout to help the Vancouver Canucks pull off a thrilling 5-4 win over the Sharks in the NHL on Thursday.
Alexandre Burrows, who scored Vancouver’s first goal, netted the winner in the second round of the tiebreaker by backhanding the puck past Antti Niemi’s glove.
The teams combined for three goals in the final 2:13 of regulation, with San Jose’s Ryan Clowe tying it on a power play with 21 seconds left. He also scored in the second period.
Photo: Reuters
Daniel Sedin had a power-play goal with 1:49 left and also assisted on Burrows’ goal in NHL — leading Vancouver’s fourth straight victory — all on the road.
Sami Salo and Mason Raymond also scored for the Canucks, 11 points ahead of second-place Detroit in the Western Conference and 12 ahead of third-place San Jose.
Torrey Mitchell tied it at three for San Jose with 2:13 left.
Devin Setoguchi and Ryane Clowe had second-period goals for the Sharks.
COYOTES 3, FLAMES 0
In Glendale, Arizona, Ilya Bryzgalov made 39 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and 22nd overall in Phoenix’s victory over Calgary.
Phoenix moved into a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with Calgary and Chicago, winning for the first time in regulation since Feb. 19.
Rookie Brett MacLean scored in the second period, Eric Belanger added a goal in the third and captain Shane Doan had an empty-netter with 1:56 remaining.
The Flames lost for only the second time in 12 games.
SABRES 4, BRUINS 3, OT
In Boston, Brad Boyes scored 3:44 into overtime to complete Buffalo’s comeback from two deficits to beat Boston.
The victory put the Sabres in a seventh-place tie with the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference with 74 points and two games in hand, but the Rangers have two more wins.
The Bruins lost their third straight game and played against the backdrop of a police investigation being launched into captain Zdeno Chara’s hit on Montreal’s Max Pacioretty on Tuesday.
The overtime winner came when Boston goalie Tim Thomas stopped Nathan Gerbe’s shot, but lost sight of the puck. Gerbe retrieved it and passed across the crease to an unguarded Boyes, who tapped it in.
The Bruins went 2-0 ahead in the second quarter on goals by Nathan Horton and Mark Recchi. The Sabres tied it on goals by Tyler Ennis and Thomas Vanek.
Boston went ahead again on Gregory Campbell’s goal in the third, but Tim Connolly tied it less than 3 minutes later.
BLUES 4, CANADIENS 1
In St Louis, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves in his first game against his former Montreal teammates to help St Louis to beat the Canadiens.
Andy McDonald had a goal and two assists and Matt D’Agostini added a goal and an assist. David Backes also scored and T.J.Oshie added a short-handed empty-netter.
Jeff Halpern scored for Montreal.
In other NHL play, it was:
‧ Flyers 3, Maple Leafs 2
‧ Predators 4, Wild 0
‧ Senators 2, Panthers 1
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