Kozlov skated into the Vancouver zone with the Sharks in the midst of a line change and let go a slap shot from the high slot. The puck deflected off the stickblade of Canucks winger Mike Sillinger and got past goaltender Corey Hirsch low to the stick side for his 14th goal of the season.
Marty McSorley tallied in the first period for San Jose, which won for just the third time in 13 games (3-9-1). The Sharks are all but eliminated from the playoffs, trailing the final spot by 15 points with 11 games left.
Hrudey made two stellar stops in the third period to preserve the one-goal lead. He gloved Alexander Mogilny's wrist shot with 8:42 left and smothered the rebound of Adrian Aucoin's point shot with 35 second to play.
Martin Gelinas scored for Vancouver, which dropped to 1-7-2 in its last 10 contests. The Canucks are 10th in the West, eight points behind eighth-place Calgary with 10 games remaining.
McSorely's third goal of the season and first since December 20th 4:18 into the contest gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Gelinas tied at 10:17 of the second period with his 27th.
Vancouver has won three of the five meetings this season and
leads the all-time series, 23-9-3.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Adrian Aucoin
2. Jeff Friesen
3. Rich Sutter
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