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Canucks hold off Sharks

Nov 27, 2011 - 7:58 AM San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Roberto Luongo made 43 saves as the Vancouver Canucks held on to take a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Manny Malhotra, Henrik Sedin and Andrew Alberts netted goals for Vancouver, which earned its fourth straight win.

Andrew Murray and Patrick Marleau scored, while Antti Niemi stopped 24 shots for the Sharks, who saw their four-game win streak come to an end.

"It was probably the best game we played in the last five and it was the one we happened to lose," Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said.

Vancouver struck first when Malhotra sent a shot from the corner that deflected off the skate of Murray and into the net at the 6:13 mark of the first.

But Murray atoned for his gaffe later in the period with a one-timer into the twine to make it a 1-1 game after the first period.

The Canucks struck twice within 50 seconds of each other in the second period to take control of the game.

Sedin took advantage of a power-play opportunity by one-timing a big rebound from the left circle through the short side 10:17 into the frame, and Alberts floated a wrister from the left point over the shoulder of Niemi at the 11:07 mark to send the Canucks into the third with a two-goal lead.

San Jose dominated the action in the final period, outshooting Vancouver 16-4, but they could not hit the net until there was 1:15 left in regulation.

With the goalie pulled for an extra attacker, Joe Thornton sent a pass from behind the net to Marleau at the right circle and the center wristed a shot through the far side.

San Jose kept applying pressure hoping for the equalizer, but Luongo shut the door down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Game Notes

Vancouver went 1-for-1 on the power play, while San Jose was 0-for-3 with the man advantage...The only period Vancouver outshot San Jose was the first with an 11-10 margin.