• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Sharks snap skid with win in Edmonton

Mar 13, 2012 - 5:58 AM Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Logan Couture's early third-period goal proved to be the difference, as the San Jose Sharks picked up their first win in March by beating Edmonton Monday, 3-2.

Torrey Mitchell and Joe Thornton also tallied for San Jose, which opened the month 0-3-2. The Sharks closed out February with a 1-0 victory against visiting Philadelphia.

Antti Niemi turned aside 20 Edmonton shots.

With the win, the Sharks moved into ninth place in the jumbled Western Conference standings. They are one point ahead of both Calgary and Los Angeles and one point behind Colorado in the race for the postseason. San Jose has three games in hand over the Avalanche.

Taylor Hall and Ryan Whitney scored for the Oilers, who have lost five straight at home. Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots in defeat.

"Right now, it just seems like we're a little tentative...you're not really getting anything done offensively," said Edmonton captain Shawn Horcoff. The Oilers have dropped seven of nine overall.

Couture's decisive tally came on a power play 38 seconds into the third. San Jose opened the period with the man advantage and Couture got a piece of Dan Boyle's one-timer from the point.

San Jose head coach Todd McLellan talked about how his team secured the two points.

"They managed the puck properly, we didn't give up much in and around our net. We played the way we're suppose to play," he said.

The teams traded goals in the first and second periods.

San Jose got on the board when Mitchell pounced on a loose puck in the crease 67 seconds after the game's opening faceoff.

These teams met last Tuesday in San Jose and it was the Oilers who got off to the quick start as Jordan Eberle took advantage of a misplay by Boyle and batted the puck out of the air for a goal 10 seconds into the game.

With 49.8 seconds remaining and the teams skating 4-on-4, Whitney beat Niemi on the glove side with a blast from the face-off circle.

In the middle frame, Thornton put San Jose back on top by sweeping in a feed from Patrick Marleau for a power-play goal at 11:36.

Hall responded 3:18 later for the Oilers. The sophomore winger blocked a shot at his own blue line and used his tremendous speed to retrieve the puck. Once he chased it down in the San Jose zone, he snapped a low shot past Niemi.

Game Notes

The Sharks had lost eight of nine on the road...Oilers defenseman Ladislav Smid played in his 400th career game...Edmonton opened a four-game homestand.