The San Jose Sharks (37-18-7) bounced back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs (28-21-13) by a final score of 3-1 on Tuesday night to re-take a five-point lead in the Pacific Division standings.

Martin Jones made a pair of sensational saves on Toronto’s Leo Komarov in the early-going to help energize his teammates.

Right before the mid-way point of the first period, the Sharks’ offense set up shop in the Maple Leafs’ zone and had a combination of scoring chances, with Brenden Dillon’s shot being saved and Tomas Hertl’s rebound shot barely missing the net. The momentum was fully in the Sharks’ grasp.

The Sharks received their first power play of the game with 5:33 remaining in the first period when Joe Thornton was interfered with by a member of the Maple Leafs on a zone entry.

The Sharks’ power play produced five shots on goal, but Frederik Andersen saved all five opportunities, including a Joel Ward shot on a beautifully executed two-on-one with Kevin Labanc.

Even though the Sharks out shot the Maple Leafs 13-5 in the first period, the score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes.

The stats after 20.#TORvsSJS pic.twitter.com/NA09ORgVzC

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 1, 2017

Andersen and Jones went back-and-forth with fantastic saves on great offensive chances by both squads in the first five minutes of the second period to keep the score knotted at 0-0.

The Maple Leafs received their first power play of the game with 14:11 left in the second frame. Toronto came into the game with the No. 1 ranked power play in the NHL.

Auston Matthews cashed in on the power play, following a poor defensive play by Brent Burns as he went for a hip-check on the Maple Leafs zone entry. It was Matthews’ 31st goal of the season, to pull him into a three-way tie for second place in the NHL in goals.

William Nylander is something else. Auston Matthews is pretty good too. pic.twitter.com/IgH04H0u0s

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) March 1, 2017

The next five minutes were owned by Toronto, but San Jose would take over shortly after, as the puck movement became much more fluid for the boys in Teal. Following a long offensive possession, and in the middle of a line change, Dillon netted an absolute rocket from the right point past Andersen to tie the score at 1-1 again.

Absolute 💣 from Dillon. pic.twitter.com/7WY4InAejR

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 1, 2017

The Maple Leafs received their second power play of the night with 1:43 left in the second period. The Leafs hit the post late in the power play, but were not able to capitalize on the rebound off of the iron. Toronto had 17 seconds remaining on the power play at the end of the second period with the score still at 1-1.

And back to the game…#TORvsSJS pic.twitter.com/s4ikoAZgwu

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 1, 2017

The Sharks were able to kill off the tail-end of the Maple Leafs power play with ease to begin the third period.

Former San Jose Shark defensemen Roman Polak picked up an interference penalty with 17:52 left in regulation, giving the Sharks their second power play of the evening. The Sharks followed suit with their first power play, and were unable to capitalize on the man advantage.

With 14:24 left in regulation the Sharks picked up a high sticking penalty, as Dillon headed to the penalty box for the third San Jose penalty of the game. The Sharks dominated the middle part of the Maple Leafs’ power play as they had a few scoring opportunities, led by Chris Tierney, Melker Karlsson and Brent Burns. San Jose killed off their second penalty.

The Sharks were swarming the Maple Leafs’ defensive zone shift after shift and pushed their shot advantage to 34-to-21, but none of them found the back of the net, with 5:53 remaining in regulation.

With just under 1:30 left in regulation, Patrick Marleau entered the Maple Leafs’ defensive zone and had all three Toronto defenders come to him. He was able to saucer the puck to Hertl, who made a quick move and wristed the puck past Andersen to put the Sharks up 2-1.

Winning games, popping bottles :-)) pic.twitter.com/5iyGEFsr19

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 1, 2017

The Maple Leafs pulled their goalie following the Hertl goal, and with 22 seconds remaining Joe Pavelski put the puck in the net to send Toronto packing, as the Sharks grabbed a 3-1 lead.

#Joe2Joe for assist number 999. #thatsalotofapples pic.twitter.com/z3T6cgQ5h4

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 1, 2017

Notes

• Brian Boyle made his debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, after the club acquired him in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
• The win was Peter DeBoer’s 300th career victory as an NHL coach.
• Joe Thornton assisted the Pavelski goal, and it was Thornton’s 999th career assist.
• During the second period of tonight’s game, news broke that the San Jose Sharks made a trade with the Vancouver Canucks to acquire Jannik Hansen./

VAN return on Hansen to SJ is expected to be Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional fourth-round pick.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) March 1, 2017

Fear the Fin Three Stars

1. Tomas Hertl
2. Patrick Marleau
3. Martin Jones