Bernie Nicholls, Owen Nolan and Tony Granato all had a goal and and two assists and Andrei Nazarov set a franchise record as the San Jose Sharks pummeled the struggling Vancouver Canucks, 6-1, in a Pacific Division game.
Jeff Friesen and Al Iafrate also tallied for for San Jose, which has won consecutive games following a four-game losing streak. Nolan, who scored his first goal since December 1st in the Sharks' 2-1 victory over Dallas on Monday, leads the team with 14 goals.
San Jose, which scored six or more goals for the third time this season, entered the game with a league-low 83 goals. The Sharks improved to 6-8-2 at home versus Vancouver.
"We've had four pretty good games in a row, I don't think we've strung four games together like this all year," said Sharks coach Al Sims. "Vancouver had a lot of trouble making clean plays in the neutral zone to guys like (Pavel) Bure and (Alexander) Mogilny, they really couldn't attack with any real speed and things seemed to get bogged down."
"They were turning it over and we were able to counterattack very effectively. We came out and got some big hits in the first period and everyone got involved."
Mike Ridley scored the lone goal for the Canucks, who have been outscored 13-1 in their last two games. Vancouver, losers of six of its last eight games, still holds a commanding 20-8-3 lead in the all-time series.
"I think, as a coaching staff, we've almost exhausted all of our options," said Vancouver coach Tom Renney. "There are maybe some line combinations that we can work in to invigorate the group. By and large, we've got to make sure our specialty teams are in order because they allow you to compete every night."
"I'll tell you right now, there's no way Tom Renney is quitting on this group. Much to the chagrin, I would imagine, they'd like to, I'm not. I'm prepared to go through thick or thin with this team and right now, it's tough. My coaching staff and I will exhaust every thing we can try and get this team playing better."
Nazarov scored 15 seconds into the contest, bettering the mark held by Ray Whitney, who scored 16 seconds into a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on January 30th, 1995.
Kelly Hrudey stopped 26 shots for San Jose, winning consecutive starts for the first time since defeating Chicago and Calgary on October 27th and 30th.
Nazarov was behind the net when he flipped a shot that bounced off Vancouver goalie Corey Hirsch and into the net. Mike Ridley tied the game for the Canucks with 6:40 to play in the first period, but Friesen took a pass from Nicholls on the left doorstep and beat Hirsch to the right side of the net 1:24 later to give San Jose the lead for good.
Nolan increased the advantage to 3-1 less than a minute into the second period when he poked the puck past Hirsch after a goalmouth scramble. Granato tallied to make it 4-1 with 13:25 remaining in the middle period before Iafrate and Nicholls scored 37 seconds apart to complete the scoring with 58 seconds left in the period.
"It was a big relief to have a big lead going into the third period, especially at home," said Granato. "Hopefully, we can use this game as a stepping stone for the second half of the season. If we're going to be in the playoffs, we're going to have to play well at home."
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Tony Granato
2. Jeff Friesen
3. Owen Nolan
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