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SAN JOSE Womens Derek Dorsett Jersey , Calif. (AP) —the San Jose Sharks managed to find a way to pull out a win that moved them closer to Calgary in the race for first place.Tomas Hertl scored his career-high 30th goal of the season, Martin Jones made 37 saves and the Sharks extended their two-decade home dominance over the Montreal Canadiens with a 5-2 victory Thursday night.“I think we gutted out a win tonight,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “I think we’re dealing with a little bit of flu going through the team and a little short-handed. I thought our goalie was our best player tonight, which gave us a chance, and I thought our third period, when we had to have a big period http://www.officialcanucks.com/authentic-adidas-henrik-sedin-jersey , we got our best period of the game. We did enough to win an important game.”Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns both missed morning skate with the illness and several other players have flu symptoms, leaving the Sharks a step slow for much of the night against the Canadiens.But a couple of fortunate bounces and big saves by Jones were enough to give San Jose its 12th straight home win over Montreal since last losing on Nov. 23, 1999.“You could just tell the lungs weren’t with the guys,” said Joe Thornton, who scored the winner on a pass that deflected off a Montreal player’s stick. “Gutsy effort by a lot of guys tonight.”Marcus Sorensen and Timo Meier each scored for the third game in a row, and Gustav Nyquist added an empty-netter for his first goal since joining the Sharks. San Jose pulled within one point of Calgary in the race for first place in the Pacific Division and has a game in hand.Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Shaw scored for the Canadiens, who remained two points ahead of Columbus in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Antti Niemi made 20 saves.“This place isn’t an easy place for us to win Jacob Markstrom Jersey ,” Lehkonen said. “We had our chances to get ourselves back in the game after trailing by two goals, but we couldn’t.”The Sharks took a one-goal lead into the third and responded with their best period of the night, getting an insurance goal when Meier got a pass in front from Joonas Donskoi and knocked it into an open net. Nyquist’s empty-netter provided the capper.The teams had traded goals off odd deflections in the second period. Thornton’s centering pass to Sorensen hit off the stick of Montreal’s Phillip Danault and went into the net to put San Jose up 3-1 despite getting outshot 23-8 at that point.But the Canadiens answered later in the period when Paul Byron’s shot pinballed toward the net before hitting off Shaw and trickling past Jones to make it a one-goal game heading into the third.The Canadiens controlled the play in the opening period, outshooting San Jose 16-5, but were on the short end of the scoreboard thanks to a couple soft goals allowed by Niemi. Hertl scored on a wraparound early in the period, and Sorensen then beat Niemi to the short side midway through the period to make it 2-0.“We did a lot of little things right, but we had a couple of mistakes that allowed them to put the puck in the back of the net Markus Granlund Jersey ,” Shaw said. “I had a turnover causing that first goal. That was a little mistake that ended up costing us the game.”Montreal struck late in the first when Lehkonen’s centering pass got past Jones.NOTES: San Jose’s Brent Burns assisted on Sorensen’s goal, giving him 60 on the season. The only defensemen to record 60 assists in a season since the start of the 1996-97 season are Nicklas Lidstrom (2005-05, 2007-08) and Erik Karlsson (2015-16). … Karlsson (groin) and F Evander Kane (undisclosed) remained sidelined for a third straight game for the Sharks. … Montreal rookie F Jesperi Kotkaniemi was a healthy scratch for a second straight game.UP NEXT:Montreal: Visit Anaheim on Friday.San Jose: Host St. Louis on Saturday. SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Ottawa Senators snapped their seven-game losing streak, and it came at the expense of the struggling Florida Panthers.Rudolfs Balcers scored a tiebreaking goal in the second period and Senators beat the Panthers 3-2 Sunday, handing Florida its fourth straight loss.Brian Gibbons and Zack Smith also scored for the Senators. Anders Nilsson stopped 30 shots.“It feels really good for our guys. It’s nice to see smiling faces,” Senators coach Marc Crawford said. “Any games we play against teams that are fighting for their playoff lives are always going to be an energetic game.”Balcers gave the Senators a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal with 2:35 left in the second period Michael Del Zotto Jersey , redirecting a shot by Dylan DeMelo past Roberto Luongo.“I had a good chance right before that and it hit the post, then I had another chance and it was a nice goal.” Balcers said. “It was fun. It was nice to see everyone happy.”Crawford got his first win as interim coach after replacing Guy Boucher on Friday. The 58-year-old Crawford has 550 head coaching wins in his NHL career.“(To) the younger Marc Crawford it probably would have meant more. I’ve got a little better perspective on things now,” Crawford said.Troy Brouwer and Aleksander Barkov scored goals for the Panthers, and Luongo made 30 saves. Florida played its fifth game in seven days.“There wasn’t a lot of gas in the tank at all,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said.The Panthers’ faint playoff hopes are growing dimmer. They are 10 points behind Montreal for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with 17 games to play.“It’s been a tough week, but there’s no excuses this time of year,” Panthers forward Mike Hoffman said.Trailing 2-1 Sam Gagner Jersey , Gibbons tied the game at 5:06 of the second. Cody Ceci passed from behind the net to Gibbons in the slot, and he beat Luongo on the glove side.“It felt like everyone wanted to win tonight,” Nilsson said. “Everyone bought in and even though it wasn’t that pretty it was two points and a confidence boost for the team, that’s for sure.”Smith put the Senators ahead 1-0 when he poked a rebound behind Luongo at 5:10 of the first.Barkov tied the game at 1 at 9:02 of the first. Mark Pysyk took a long shot from above the right circle and Barkov deflected the puck under Nilsson’s pads.Brouwer’s goal, a wrist shot from the lower right circle, gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with 4:24 left in the first.NOTES: Barkov has matched his career-high total of 28 goals. … Gibbons’ goal was his first for the Senators since being acquired from Anaheim on Feb. 25th. … Both teams were playing the second game of back-to-backs. The Senators lost 5-1 at Tampa Bay and the Panthers lost 4-3 in overtime to Carolina on Saturday. … University of Miami football coach Manny Diaz dropped the puck before the start of the game.UP NEXT:Senators: At the New York Islanders on Tuesday.Panthers: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.