DeBrusk scores late in OT to give Canucks 2-1 win over Sharks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Jake DeBrusk scored with 17.6 seconds left on the clock in overtime and the Vancouver Canucks beat the struggling San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Monday night.

Linus Karlsson also scored for Vancouver, and Nikita Tolopilo stopped 15 shots in his NHL debut.

Macklin Celebrini got his 25th goal of the season for San Jose, which lost its 10th straight (0-7-3). Alexandar Georgiev made 35 saves.

In the extra period, Brock Boeser sent a shot over the San Jose net and the puck bounced back to DeBrusk, who popped it in for his 28th goal of the season with just seconds left on the game clock.

Celebrini gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 4:20 into the second period, and Karlsson tied the score at 9:03 of the third with his third goal.

Both teams were without a number of its top players, including Vancouver center Elias Pettersson and San Jose defenseman Mario Ferraro.

Canucks: Vancouver had ample scoring chances in the first period, including a four-minute power play where they peppered Georgiev with seven shots. Vancouver was 0 for 5 with the man advantage.

Sharks: After losing more bodies to injury in the loss to Calgary on Sunday, San Jose called in reinforcements for this game. Left wing Danil Gushchin, and defensemen Luca Cagnoni and Jimmy Schuldt all played after joining the team in Vancouver.

With Victor Mancini in the box for interference, Celebrini unleashed a rocket from the faceoff dot, sending the puck pinging in off the crossbar early in the second period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead.

The Sharks have given up 48 goals during their 10-game losing skid.

Sharks host Edmonton on Wednesday in season finale, and Canucks host Vegas to end season.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (40) stops Vancouver Canucks' Pius Suter (24) as Sharks' Timothy Liljegren (37) and Henry Thrun (3) watch during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo (60) prepares to stop San Jose Sharks' Carl Grundstrom (91) as Canucks' Quinn Hughes (43) watch during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

San Jose Sharks' William Eklund (72) and Vancouver Canucks' Quinn Hughes (43) vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo, right, stops San Jose Sharks' William Eklund, left, during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Ty Mueller (39) and San Jose Sharks' Carl Grundstrom (91) vie for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo watches the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

San Jose Sharks' Nikolai Kovalenko (15) watches as Macklin Celebrini, not seen, scores on Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo (60) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

San Jose Sharks' Macklin Celebrini (71) celebrates after his goal against the Vancouver Canucks with teammates Nikolai Kovalenko (15), Luca Cagnoni (42) and Tyler Toffoli (73) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo (60) celebrates with his teammates after defeating the San Jose Sharks in overtime in an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo (60) celebrates with his teammates after defeating the San Jose Sharks in overtime in an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Saudi warplanes have reportedly struck on Friday forces in southern Yemen backed by the United Arab Emirates, a separatist leader says.

This comes as a Saudi-led operation attempts to take over camps of the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, in the governorate of Haramout that borders Saudi Arabia.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE rose after the STC moved last month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. The move pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group aligned with the coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen accused the head of the STC of blocking a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden.

The STC deputy and former Hamdrmout governor, Ahmed bin Breik, said in a statement that the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces advanced toward the camps, but the separatists refused to withdraw, apparently leading to the airstrikes.

Mohamed al-Nakib, spokesperson for the STC-backed Southern Shield Forces, also known as Dera Al-Janoub, said Saudi airstrikes caused fatalities, without providing details. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.

Al-Nakib also accused Saudi Arabia in a video on X of using “Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda militias” in a "large-scale attack " early Friday that he claimed sepratists were able to repel.

He likened the latest developments to Yemen’s 1994 civil war, “except that this time it is under the cover of Saudi aviation operations.”

Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout who was chosen Friday by Yemen's internationally recognized government to command the Saudi-led forces in the governorate, refuted STC claims, calling them “ridiculous” and showing intentions of escalation instead of a peaceful handover, according Okaz newspaper, which is aligned with the Saudi government.

Earlier on Friday, al-khanbashi called the current operation of retrieving seized areas “peaceful.”

“This operation is not a declaration of war and does not seek escalation,” al-Khanbashi said in a speech aired on state media. “This is a responsible pre-emptive measure to remove weapons and prevent chaos and the camps from being used to undermine the security in Hadramout,” he added.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen demands the withdrawal of STC forces from the two governorates as part of de-escalation efforts. The STC has so far refused to hand over its weapons and camps.

The coalition's spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Friday on X that Saudi-backed naval forces were deployed across the Arabian Sea to carry out inspections and combat smuggling.

In his post on X, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said the kingdom had tried “all efforts with STC” for weeks "to stop the escalation" and to urge the separatists to leave Hadramout and Mahra, only to be faced with “continued intransigence and rejection from Aidarous al-Zubaidi," the STC head.

Al-Jaber said the latest development was not permitting the Saudi delegation's jet to land in Aden, despite having agreed on its arrival with some STC leaders to find a solution that serves “everyone and the public interest.”

Yemen’s transport ministry, aligned with STC, said Saudi Arabia imposed on Thursday requirements mandating that flights to and from Aden International Airport undergo inspection in Jeddah. The ministry expressed “shock” and denounced the decision. There was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.

ِA spokesperson with the transport ministry told the AP late Thursday that all flights from and to the UAE were suspended until Saudi Arabia reverses these reported measures.

Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the northern regions, while a Saudi-UAE-backed coalition supports the internationally recognized government in the south. However, the UAE also helps the southern separatists who call for South Yemen to secede once again from Yemen. Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990.

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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

Southern Yemen soldiers of Southern Transitional Council (STC) at a check point, in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo)