VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Antti Niemi made 25 saves and Matt Pelech's first NHL goal stood up as the winner and the San Jose Sharks stayed perfect on the season by topping the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Thursday.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns, into an empty net, also scored for the Sharks (4-0-0).
San Jose beat the Canucks 4-1 in both teams' season opener after sweeping Vancouver four straight in the first round of last year's playoffs. Joe Thornton and Logan Couture added two assists.
San Jose, which also won all three meetings during the 2013 regular season, has not lost to the Canucks since Jan. 21, 2012.
Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, who became the talk of the NHL after scoring four times in Tuesday's 9-2 win over the New York Rangers, was held pointless.
Mike Santorelli scored for the Canucks (3-2-0), who got 25 saves from Roberto Luongo.
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