Meier scores two goals for Sharks in win against Stars

SAN JOSE -- Timo Meier scored two goals for the second straight game, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 at SAP Center on Thursday.

Meier has 18 goals this season, including five in the past four games after missing the previous three with an upper-body injury.
"You can just see the confidence, confidence oozing out of him," said Sharks center Joe Thornton, who had a goal. "Playing great hockey right now."
WATCH: [All Stars vs. Sharks highlights]
Martin Jones made 20 saves for the Sharks (17-11-5), who have won three games in a row and five of their past six.
Radek Faksa and Miro Heiskanen scored, and Anton Khudobin made 21 saves for the Stars (16-13-3), who have lost three in a row, including 6-3 at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
"I think we are playing pretty good, but the last period wasn't that good," said Heiskanen, who leads NHL rookie defensemen with seven goals and 17 points. "I don't know what's wrong with the last period, but we've got to figure it out and play better than this."

The Sharks ended a three-game losing streak against the Stars, including two road losses this season (3-2 on Dec. 7, 4-3 on Nov. 8).
"We needed a win," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "Everyone looks at the standings, you see where they are, they got four points off us so far this year, so we didn't want them to sweep us. That's a team that's going to be hanging around in the mix in the Western Conference right until the end."
Meier scored his second of the night on a 3-on-1 rush to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 2:50 of the third period. He passed the puck to Logan Couture in the middle, got it back in the right face-off circle, and scored to the short side.
"I was kind of getting ready for him to pass it back," Meier said. "He's a great shooter too. He can put those in the back of the net too. It was kind of a wobbly puck there. He gave it back to me nicely, and I found a way to put it behind the goalie."
Thornton increased San Jose's lead to 3-1 at 7:56 when he scored after a loose puck came to him in the right circle.
Heiskanen cut the Sharks lead to 3-2 at 12:24 when he scored from the high slot.
Faksa gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 3:35 of the second period. Defenseman Julius Honka's shot hit the right post, and the puck went to Faksa, who scored into a wide-open net.
"I thought our effort was pretty good tonight," Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said. "I thought that everybody that played gave an honest effort. The chances were almost even, the shots were almost even.
"They get that shot off a shin pad that goes to Thornton on a backdoor. We didn't get that bounce."
Meier, who scored twice in a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Monday, tied it 1-1 at 16:20 on a snap shot through traffic from the high slot.
"I think today we had a little bit of a slow start," Meier said. "We weren't ready to play, but then we showed respond. We mixed up the lines a little bit too, which gave us some energy. I think good job by the guys to step it up and find a way to win this game."
The Sharks were not called for a penalty and went 0-for-1 on the power play.

They said it

"I really wanted to win this one, and all the boys were ready to play, but those bounces, bad bounces we get in the third period, we wanted to kind of forget that and play our game and get our chances. It was good to be back in the lineup, and it felt pretty good too, but I really wanted to win. Unfortunately, we didn't get that." -- Stars defenseman Julius Honka, who was a healthy scratch the previous seven games
"It's getting better and better as we anticipated. I think that as a team we're starting to grow into what we need to be, and we still got a long way to go and we got to keep doing that. And that's not just me. I think that's everybody, whether you've been here for 15 years or two, or like me you're new. Every year's different, and I think we're starting to find our groove here a little bit hopefully, and we just need to keep building on that." -- Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson

Need to know

Meier, who has four multigoal games this season, has 33 goals in 76 games since Jan. 1, one behind Joe Pavelski for most on the Sharks in that span. … Stars forward Martin Hanzal was scratched after playing his first three games since he had spinal fusion surgery in April. Brett Ritchie took his place in the lineup. … Dallas defenseman Gavin Bayreuther was scratched after playing 13 straight games, and Honka replaced him. … Karlsson extended his point streak to four games (five assists) with an assist on Meier's second goal.

What's next

Stars: At the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Sharks: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; WGN, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)