SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — As games continued scoreless this season, the stress continued to mount for Jake DeBrusk.

The top-six forward, who signed a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with Vancouver in the offseason after spending seven years with Boston, had yet to score with his new team nine games later .

DeBrusk finally marked his first Saturday night with the Canucks 3-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks — before the drought reached double digits — with a crucial third-period goal that helped Vancouver win a road thriller.

The 28-year-old fired a wrist shot past the glove of Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood with just under 5 minutes left in the third, giving the Canucks a 2-1 lead.

Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said that even though he hadn’t scored before Saturday, DeBrusk had fit in well with his new team, slotting in on the top line alongside JT Miller and Brock Boeser SATURDAY. Miller I made sure to grab the puck as a souvenir for DeBrusk.

“Quite a blow,” Tocchet said. “I mean, that was made up. This is probably the only place he could have scored. That’s a goalscorer’s goal.

DeBrusk scored 19 goals with the Bruins last season, but also didn’t score his first goal until nine games into last season, on November 2.

“I’m hoping I can get a few more early next year, so I know I have an automatic one (on Nov. 2),” DeBrusk joked.

But DeBrusk, who has four assists this season, said it’s hard not to focus on scoring, especially while adjusting to being on a new team.

“I think I feel a little more comfortable, but at the same time, with every game that goes on, you feel it more and more,” DeBrusk said. “You always want to get the first one as quickly as possible. It took me a lot longer than the other guys, but I’m happy to have contributed to this victory.

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