Sam Lafferty and J.T. Miller also scored, and Thatcher Demko made 27 saves for the Canucks (13-5-1), who had lost two in a row.
“These games test your fortitude in the sense that it’s OK it's 0-0,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “[The Sharks] have played well the last few weeks, they’ve been packing it in. I thought their goalie played well tonight too. You can't get frustrated and you can’t sell the farm on every play. Sometimes it's good to have those games where it's 0-0 halfway through the game.”
Tomas Hertl scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 34 saves for the Sharks (3-14-1), who have lost four of their past five games.
“Listen, we've come a long way in two and a half weeks (since a 10-1 loss to Vancouver on Nov. 2) and we're getting there,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “A lot I liked about our game.”
Fabian Zetterlund appeared to give San Jose the lead at 11:10 of the second period when he tapped in a rebound, but Vancouver challenged the play for goaltender interference, and the call was reversed after a video review.
“It's obviously tough, but we just keep going, play our game,” Zetterlund said. “We played way better than the last time we played them, but it's a tough loss.”
Hughes gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 13:07. He skated across the point and down the left wing before scoring with a wrist shot from the bottom of the circle off the far post.
“I can’t get caught being satisfied or happy,” Hughes said. “I think that I’ve been really good at sticking day to day and attacking each day.”
San Jose had a chance to tie it during a five-minute power play late in the second, but Lafferty instead made it 2-0 with one second remaining in the period, jamming in a rebound after Teddy Blueger's backhand from the low slot trickled past Blackwood.
"To get that two-goal cushion, a short-handed goal, it got us some juice,” Tocchet said. “After that we had a bunch of O-zone time, a bunch of guys getting chances.”
