Power play carries Canucks past Sharks

SAN JOSE -- The Vancouver Canucks had lost two games in six days to the San Jose Sharks, wasting third-period leads each time, before facing them Saturday at SAP Center.
The Canucks again failed to hold a third-period lead against San Jose, but this time, they recovered for a 4-2 victory.

Linden Vey, Daniel Sedin and Dan Hamhuis scored power-play goals, with Hamhuis breaking a 2-2 tie midway through the third period. and backup goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves for his 10th win of the season. Forward Alexandre Burrows, playing in his 750th NHL game, scored an empty-net goal with 2:06 left, helping the Canucks (25-27-12) end a three-game losing streak.
The Canucks went 3-for-7 on the power play; the Sharks were 0-for-3.
"I thought we hated these guys a little bit more tonight, disliked them, wanted to bring the battle to them," Burrows said. "Battling hard, I thought. That's how you've got to win against these guys. If you give them too much respect, too much time and space, they're so good they're going to make you pay. I thought special teams were good. Our PP was really dynamite tonight. The PK did a good job."

Goaltender James Reimer made his debut for San Jose, one week after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He gave up three goals on 25 shots. Micheal Haley and Brent Burns scored for the Sharks (35-23-6).
San Jose trailed 2-1 after two periods but tied the game at 4:53 of the third. Joe Thornton hit Burns with a pass in the left circle, and he beat Markstrom with a snap shot for his 23rd goal, tops among NHL defensemen.
But Vancouver went ahead 3-2 at 10:28 on Hamhuis' first goal of the season. Bo Horvat sent a cross-ice pass to Hamhuis, and the defenseman beat Reimer from close range on Vancouver's sixth power play.
"It was exactly what we talked about before the game," Hamhuis said of forcing the opposition to take penalties. "We were only drawing one or two penalties a game. We need teams to start getting frustrated with us and skating where they are forced to take penalties. I thought our guys did a really good job of that tonight."
The Sharks had defeated Vancouver twice at Rogers Arena. They trailed 1-0 entering the third period on Feb. 28 and rallied for a 4-1 victory. On Thursday, San Jose trailed 2-1 after two periods but won 3-2.

This time the Sharks took an early 1-0 lead on Haley's goal, then began a parade to the penalty box.
"We get that first goal and we starting taking penalties," captain Joe Pavelski said. "And it was everybody. It was just one of those nights we couldn't stay out of the box. When you give them that many chances, it's tough."
The Canucks played most of the game without their captain, Henrik Sedin. He sustained an upper-body injury with 15:15 left in the first period after taking a forearm to the chest along the sideboards from Burns. Sedin took his next shift but played only 3:36 in the first period and did not come out for the second.
Defenseman Chris Tanev left the game midway through the third period with an undisclosed injury.
Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said he didn't have updates on either player.
"I have to talk to them to make sure, but I don't think Hank will be with us in L.A.," Desjardins said. The Canucks play the Kings at Staples Center on Monday.

Haley gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 9:10 of the first period with his first goal of the season and the third of his NHL career. He intercepted defenseman Ben Hutton's pass deep in Vancouver's end, took a quick shot that Markstrom stopped and jammed the rebound between the goaltender's legs.
But Haley was assessed a double minor for high-sticking Vancouver's Sven Baertschi at 16:45, and the Canucks tied the game 1-1 when Vey scored a power-play goal at 18:28. Reimer stopped Baertschi's shot from above the left circle but couldn't control the rebound, and Vey beat him with a backhand shot from the left of the crease.
Daniel Sedin gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead at 2:12 of the second period on the Canucks' fourth power play of the game. He was positioned to the right of the crease and redirected Baertschi's wrist shot past Reimer for his 25th goal of the season and third in four games.
"I thought we played a really good game," Markstrom said. "Our power play was really on point today and gave us some huge goal. Our PK was really good as well. Overall I thought it was a really good game, and I thought our third period was good."