Down 1–0 after two periods, the Sharks scored four unanswered goals in the third to beat the Canucks. Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau and Justin Braun all scored for San Jose and Martin Jones stopped 23 of 24 Vancouver shots for his 30th win of the season.
Not much happened in a quiet first period. Shots were 10–9 in the Sharks’ favor while shot attempts were 17–16 for the Canucks, but outside of a nifty move by Derek Dorsett that Jones stopped, neither team had any prime scoring chances. Early in the second, Braun was called for the game’s first penalty when he interfered with Jannik Hansen, and Daniel Sedin made the Sharks pay seconds after Braun stepped back onto the ice to put his team up 1–0.
San Jose got two power play opportunities of its own in the second after getting none against Buffalo and only one against Colorado, but neither special teams unit could get anything going. Ryan Miller barely had to work as the Sharks managed only four shots on goal in the middle frame.
Melker Karlsson, who was absent from the Sharks’ bench for the latter half of the first period after taking a big hit from Luca Sbisa, and Logan Couture, who went down the tunnel in the second after taking a hard shot off his left leg, both gave the Sharks brief injury scares, but both made it back onto the ice in relatively short order. Hopefully there are no lingering effects for either forward.
After two lethargic periods, the Sharks finally got on the board 4:21 into the third when Pavelski stole the puck from Sbisa in the corner and backhanded it over the pad of Miller to tie the score.
#TheBigPavelski coming up… BIG!#SJSharks pic.twitter.com/XgSlRQMVyb
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 29, 2016
Just 2:28 later, Hertl gave the Sharks the lead, deflecting a shot from Braun past Miller. Marc-Edouard Vlasic picked up assists on both goals to set a new career high in points with 37.
#NinjaHertl applies the finishing edit. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/HBISUL7RZ1
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 29, 2016
Consecutive slashing penalties by Markus Granlund and Dan Hamhuis gave the Sharks 1:33 of 5-on-3 time with less than seven minutes to play, and Marleau scored the insurance goal with a booming shot just 36 seconds into the two-man advantage. Braun added an empty netter with 1:10 remaining to secure the win for the Sharks.
Sharks goals (assists): Joe Pavelski (Marc-Edouard Vlasic), Tomas Hertl (Justin Braun, Marc-Edouard Vlasic), Patrick Marleau (Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski), Justin Braun (Logan Couture)
[Fancy Stats] – [Canucks Reaction] – [TOI Log] – [Faceoff Report] – [Event Summary] – [PBP Log]
Fear the Fin’s Three Stars
1) Joe Pavelski
2) Martin Jones
3) Marc-Edouard Vlasic
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