Hodgson scores 2 in Canucks 4-3 win over Sharks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Cody Hodgson scored his second goal of the game with 4:17 left, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Saturday.

Ryan Kesler and David Booth also scored for Vancouver (29-15-4), which is 1-1-1 halfway through its six-game homestand.

Logan Couture scored a short-handed goal and added a power-play tally, and Dan Boyle also had a goal for the depleted Sharks (26-14-5), who were without top-six forwards Martin Havlat (hamstring) and Ryane Clowe (facial injury) and lost their second straight.

With the game tied 2-2 late in the third period, the teams combined for three goals in a span of 1:32.

Kesler gave the Canucks a 3-2 lead with 5:49 remaining. He took the puck at his blue line, streaking down the ice on a 2-on-1 break, and beat goalie Antti Niemi with a high glove shot for his 13th goal.

Boyle responded 36 seconds later, charging hard to the net and backhanding his rebound past Roberto Luongo.

The teams seemed headed for their third straight overtime game against each other, but Hodgson struck again.

Hodgson got deep in San Jose territory and banked a shot from behind the goal line off Niemi's stick and in. Hodgson, who drew chants of "Cody, Cody, Cody" after the game, has 13 goals and 29 points this season — fourth best in the rookie scoring race.

Canucks games against the Sharks have taken on a new meaning since last year's Western Conference finals, in which Vancouver won a heated series 4-1 to advance to the Stanley Cup finals.

Jamie McGinn hammered Dan Hamhuis halfway into San Jose's bench, Brad Winchester caught Alex Burrows with his head down behind Vancouver's net, and Keith Ballard took on Joe Pavelski in a spirited bout with 7 seconds remaining in the second period.

The game was tied 2-2 after two periods, despite the Sharks managing only seven shots through the first 30 minutes.

Couture gave the San Jose a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal early in the second period. He took a pass and quickly backhanded a shot short side behind a surprised Luongo. It was San Jose's sixth power-play goal in 45 chances since Dec. 23.

Hodgson got that back 3 minutes later, going to the net off a faceoff and backhanding Mason Raymond's rebound into the open net.

Booth scored his second goal in two games after recently returning from a knee injury. He deftly deflected Alex Edler's point shot 1:06 into the game to open the scoring, and the Canucks kept coming from there.

Kesler's rebound chance fluttered just over the crossbar and onto the top of the net, and Raymond's snap shot from the left side rang off the goal post.

This came in the first nine minutes, before the Sharks recorded a shot.

But Couture responded with a short-handed tally at 15:54, outracing Kevin Bieksa and Hamhuis on a breakaway and fooling Luongo with a backhand deke.

NOTES: Vancouver improved to 6-0 in games after two straight losses. ... Canucks D Chris Tanev played in his first game of the season. Andrew Alberts and Alexander Sulzer were healthy scratches. ... Sharks D Jason Demers was a healthy scratch. ... Since Todd McLellan became coach of the Sharks at the start of the 2008-09 season, San Jose has the NHL best regular-season record with a .677 winning percentage. ... No player in the NHL has more points than San Jose's Joe Thornton since his debut in 1997. Thornton, who has been in 1,038 games, has 37 points in 45 games this season.