Bo Horvat had two goals and two assists for the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Tuesday.
Horvat is tied for second in the NHL with 26 goals in 34 games this season.
“It’s pretty fun to watch,” the Canucks forward Brock Boeser said. “Hopefully he can keep it going.”
Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and three assists, and Boeser had a goal and two assists for the Canucks (16-15-3), who have won three in a row. Spencer Martin made 24 saves.
“I think the team is starting to believe in themselves a little bit, and I think that’s important,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We contained [San Jose] fairly well.”
Timo Meier scored twice, and Erik Karlsson had two assists for the Sharks (11-19-6), who have lost four of five (1-3-1). James Reimer made 19 saves.
“That’s three times we’ve played these guys, and obviously they’ve got skill, but to give them six every time we play against them isn’t a recipe for success,” San Jose captain Logan Couture said.
Video: SJS@VAN: Horvat gives Canucks a 1-0 lead in the 1st
Horvat gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 4:26 of the first period. He scored with a backhand from below the goal line after Mikheyev’s shot was blocked by Mario Ferraro and kicked him by Thomas Hertl.
Elias Pettersson made it 2-0 at 16:03 on a rebound in front, but Meier cut the lead to 2-1 at 19:09 when Karlsson’s shot deflected off his leg on a power play.
“Erik’s on a completely different level right now than what I’ve seen in this league in a long time,” Couture said. “Maybe [Joe Thornton] in his prime.”
Video: SJS@VAN: Meier redirects Karlsson’s shot for a PPG
Mikheyev extended the lead to 3-1 at 4:36 of the second period with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a cross-ice feed. Andrei Kuzmenko.
Quinn Hughes then scored his first goal of the season to make it 4-1 at 6:16 of the second, roofing a shot over Reimer’s right shoulder after skating around the entire zone.
“I thought we had some good offensive zone shifts in the second, but we gave up two quick ones right away, and obviously 4-1 is a lot tougher to come back from than 2-1,” Couture said.
Video: SJS@VAN: Hughes goes top shelf for a goal in the 2nd
Horvat scored his second of the game to push it to 5-1 at 12:11 of the third period.
Meier’s second got San Jose within 5-2 at 14:33, but Boeser scored from the right face-off dot off a pass from Horvat below the goal line to make it 6-2 at 17:32.
“I thought we had chances to climb back in, I thought we had some chances,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “… I thought their guy played really well in net. Obviously, we were pressing for offense in the third period and gave up the fifth and sixth goals. So that’s really how the game unfolded.”
Video: SJS@VAN: Horvat scores his second goal of the game
NOTES: Sharks defenseman Matt Benning sustained an undisclosed injury during the second period and played one shift in the third before leaving. There was no update postgame. … Meier’s second goal was his 300th NHL point (143 goals, 157 assists in 430 games).
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