ESPN NHL

Vancouver (41-31-8) at San Jose (42-26-11) 10:30 pm EDT

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks clinched a playoff spot in dramatic fashion on Wednesday. The Vancouver Canucks hope their turn is forthcoming.

Fresh off a 5-4 overtime victory at Vancouver, the Sharks host the second game of a home-and-home series between the clubs on Thursday.

After San Jose's Scott Hannan tied the score with 4:03 left in regulation, teammate Christian Ehrhoff scored the winner 34 seconds into overtime. With its sixth consecutive triumph, San Jose secured its second straight playoff berth and moved ahead of Colorado into sixth in the conference standings.

Joe Thornton set up both the tying and winning goals, giving him four assists in the game and a league-high 91 for the season. Since Thornton joined the Sharks via an early trade with Boston, San Jose has gone 40-19-8.

Emerging as San Jose's primary goaltender ahead of Evgeni Nabokov, Vesa Toskala has started each game during the winning streak. He is 9-1-1 in his last 11 starts and 17-2-2 dating to February 8.

Despite the loss, Vancouver picked up one point to improve its season total to 90, one shy of eighth-place Edmonton in the Western Conference with two games remaining. The Canucks are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

Vancouver captain Markus Naslund has struggled down the stretch. His first-period goal Wednesday marked just his second in the last 19 games, over which the Canucks have gone just 7-9-3.