Kuzmenko, Canucks stay hot with OT win against Sharks

SAN JOSE --Andrei Kuzmenko scored 1:12 into overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 4-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Sunday.

Kuzmenko received a stretch pass from J.T. Miller and beat Kaapo Kahkonen glove side on a breakaway. He has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during a five-game point streak.
"That was courage and character," Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We were obviously tired, we were obviously getting outplayed in the third period, but we found ways to bounce back twice."
Ilya Mikheyev and Elias Pettersson each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks (9-10-3), who were coming off a 5-1 win at the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday and are 5-1-0 in their past six.
"Obviously, it's a tough back to back, but we hold ourselves to a higher standard," Vancouver captain Bo Horvat said. "[This] wasn't our best, but we found a way to get it done. [Thatcher Demko] stood on his head tonight and got us the win."

Demko made 32 saves for his third win this season (14th start).
"It's a big one," Demko said. "That's one of the ones that we probably haven't gotten yet this year where we maybe did some things wrong, but (we) stuck together as a group and found a way to win."
Luke Kunin scored twice, and Erik Karlsson and Nick Bonino each had two assists for the Sharks (7-13-4), who have lost five of six (1-4-1). Kahkonen made 16 saves.
"I thought we looked a lot better and played a lot better than we did the previous night (5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday)," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "I liked the tempo for the most part all night long. Listen, that's a good hockey team. I know what their record is, but look at that lineup. They've got a lot of good hockey players."
Kyle Burroughs opened up scoring for Vancouver to make it 1-0 at 7:26 of the first period. He scored on a one-timer from the point off a pass from Bo Horvat.
Kunin tied it 1-1 at 16:12 of the second period. Bonino's redirection of Matt Benning's pass deflected off the back of Kunin, floated up into the air, and dropped behind Demko into the net.
"I knew [the puck] hit something, but Kunin was in the right place, and obviously I'm just happy we scored," Bonino said.

Logan Couture gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 7:05 of the third period when his one-timer on the power play deflected in off the stick of Canucks defenseman Ethan Bear.
Mikheyev responded to tie it 2-2 at 8:14, and Pettersson put Vancouver back in front 3-2 at 10:44 when he redirected Oliver Ekman-Larsson's shot between his legs and past Kahkonen.
Kunin tied it 3-3 at 14:45 with a one-timer off a cross-slot pass from Karlsson.
"There's no quit in this group," Kunin said. "I think we've said that a lot, and I think it shows. It's never a lack of work ethic, it's never a lack of will to want to win. It's just being smarter in different situations."
NOTES:Karlsson became the first defenseman in Sharks history to get at least 20 points in a calendar month. He has 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 13 games so far in November (two games left). … Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro was placed on injured reserve on Saturday with an undisclosed injury. Quinn did not have an update postgame.