Sharks beat Maple Leafs, pick up forward in trade
Tomas Hertl scored with 1:23 left Tuesday night to give the Sharks a 3-1 win over Toronto on a night San Jose bolstered its playoff hopes with a trade before Wednesday’s deadline.
Yannik Hansen was acquired from Vancouver in exchange for minor-league forward and former first-round pick Nikolay Goldobin and a 2017 conditional fourth-round draft pick that becomes a No. 1 if the Sharks win the Stanley Cup this season.
The 6-foot-1, 194-pound Hansen has scored 105 goals and 235 points in 565 career games over 10 years with the Canucks.
Selected 27th overall in 2014, Goldobin appeared in only 11 NHL games (one goal and two points).
Joe Pavelski scored his 21st goal of the season on an empty net goal in which Joe Thornton earned his 999th career assist.
Toronto’s league-leading power play struck on its first opportunity 51 seconds after San Jose defenseman Justin Braun hooked Auston Matthews.
[...] it was the Maple Leafs’ dazzling rookie Matthews who converted with a snap shot from the slot over the left catching glove of Martin Jones at 6:41 to break the scoreless tie.
Three San Jose penalty killers flailed with their sticks as Toronto gained zone entry, and Sharks defenseman Brent Burns gambled and lost with a missed check that allowed William Nylander the room to find Matthews working on the inside.
Brenden Dillon scored his second goal of the season with a slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat Andersen after rookie Kevin Labanc set up the defenseman with a great cross-ice feed.