Canucks defeat Sharks, extend point streak to 9

Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals in his return to the lineup, and the Vancouver Canucks extend their point streak to nine games with a 7-4 win against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

The Canucks (23-9-3) lead the NHL with 49 points heading into the three-day holiday break. 

"It's nice," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. "You get to go home for three days and the NHL takes a break and guys can enjoy their families. We definitely need a break. The guys need to get away from the rink for three days, be with their families, and enjoy it. And they should. We'll worry about it when we get back, the task at hand. Obviously the second half is coming here."

Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who have won three of four and are 7-0-2 on their nine-game run. Thatcher Demko made 21 saves.

"It's nice perspective in the sense we enter every day saying, 'how can we get better, what can we fix, what can we do?'" Vancouver defenseman Ian Cole said. "I think having that micro-view is good on a day to day. You hit little breaks in time like this at Christmas and you can step back and see the bigger picture."

Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist, and Mario Ferraro had three assists for the Sharks (9-22-3), who have lost five in a row in regulation after earning points in four straight. Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves.

"There's a lot of things to like about our game," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "This group never quits. They're resilient. We're mentally tough. But too often the goals come too easy for our opponent and it's an area we really have to get better at. We were soft around our net too often, our puck management wasn't great, too many blind hope plays, and it cost us."

Kuzmenko, a healthy scratch the previous two games, scored 1:34 into the first period on a wrist shot from the slot to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead. He extended the lead to 2-0 at 6:51 when he tipped J.T. Miller's shot-pass by Blackwood's glove for a power play goal.

"For me, it's a very important moment for the team to win," Kuzmenko said. "I didn't play for two games but it's not a problem. I trust the coaching staff."

Granlund cut it to 2-1 at 13:32 when Anthony Duclair's wrist shot from the left face-off circle deflected off his stick and by Demko, and Tomas Hertl tied it 2-2 with a backhand five-hole at 16:22.

Nils Aman put the Canucks up 3-2 at 6:03 of the second period when he tapped in a cross-crease pass from Teddy Blueger on a 2-on-1.

Cole's slap shot from the point deflected off Sharks forward Justin Bailey before being tipped by Sam Lafferty and in for a 4-2 lead at 8:36.

Fabian Zetterlund brought San Jose to within 4-3 at 11:08 with a shot by Demko's blocker after a setup into the slot by Ferraro, but Dakota Joshua made it 5-3 at 19:13 with a shot by a sprawled Blackwood on a setup from Conor Garland.

Jacob MacDonald scored on a rebound to make it 5-4 at 13:16 of the third period, and Pius Suter deflected a point shot by Hughes by Blackwood at 15:43 for the 6-4 lead.

"You just do the best you can and try to get big and take away the angle and if they beat you with a tip... I'm not a superhero, you don't have superhero reflexes... you just try to get big and take away the angle and if they beat you with a good tip there's not really much you can do," Blackwood said.

Hughes scored into an empty net at 19:47 for the 7-4 final.

"We like the direction that we're heading and it's going to be nice to get a few days off here to reset," Joshua said. "We know that once it gets going again on Thursday that we have to stay on this roll and keep it going the rest of the year."

NOTES: Vancouver's third line of Blueger, Joshua, and Garland have combined for 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in their last 10 games. ... Blueger has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a six-game point streak. ... Hughes has 68 multi-point games in the NHL, tying Alexander Edler for most by a defenseman in Canucks history. ... Demko is tied for the NHL lead with 17 wins. ... Hertl has eight goals in his past 11 games. ... Zadina has four points (one goal, three assists) in a three-game point streak. ... Granlund is tied for second in the NHL with 13 assists and is seventh with 16 points in December.