BOX SCORE
EDMONTONLogan Coutures power play goal early in the third period keyed a 3-2 Sharks win over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night at Rexall Place, ending San Joses five-game losing streak.
Just 38 seconds into the third period and with Linus Omark still in the box for a delay of game penalty late in the second, Couture got a piece of Dan Boyles blast from high in the zone for his team-leading 28th of the season.
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San Jose entered 0-for-14 in its last six games with a man advantage, but scored twice in two chances in the much-needed win. It moves them into ninth place in the Western Conference with 78 points, one behind Colorado and Phoenix.
The Sharks visit the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night, looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since Jan. 31Feb. 2.
After killing off a holding call to Douglas Murray earlier in the second period, the Sharks got their first power play when Taylor Hall was called for tripping at 11:29. It took all of seven seconds for Patrick Marleau to feed Joe Thornton in the slot for a one-timer that beat Devan Dubnyk to give the Sharks a 2-1 advantage.
For the second time in the game, the lead didnt last. Hall made up for his penalty when he blocked an ill-advised shot at the point by Brent Burns and raced the other way. His wrist shot from a tough angle got past Antii Niemi at 14:54 to make it a 2-2 game at the intermission.
San Jose Sharks
After Coutures goal, the Sharks clamped down on the young and speedy Oilers, ending the four-game season series against Edmonton with a 2-0-2 mark.
It took San Jose just 67 seconds after the faceoff to take a 1-0 lead, thanks to a great shift by Torrey Mitchell. The Sharks winger made a nice move along the boards and got the puck to Marc-Edouard Vlasic at the point. Dubnyk stopped Vlasics wrister, as was the rebound try by Tommy Wingels, before Mitchell charged in to deposit his eighth goal.
Mitchell, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, has three goals in the last five games.
Edmonton controlled play for much of the rest of the first, though, and finally tied it during a four-on-four. On a two-on-two rush, Murray backed off of Ryan Whitney and allowed the Oilers defenseman to blast a slap shot past Niemi at 19:10.
The Sharks have allowed eight goals during four-on-four play, and scored just two.
In a desperate search for more offense, Sharks coach Todd McLellan drastically altered his forward lines for the game. Thornton played with Joe Pavelski and Couture; Marleau was between Daniel Winnik and Ryane Clowe; while Dominic Moore centered Wingels and Mitchell.
Andrew Desjardins, Benn Ferriero and TJ Galiardi made up the fourth line, while defenseman Colin White was scratched for the first time in 25 games.
Odds and ends: Jim Vandermeer, Brad Winchester and Michal Handzus were the healthy scratches for the Sharks.Joe Thornton has four goals and 16 assists in his last 12 games vs. Edmonton.