Blades of Teal
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San Jose Sharks Come Back To Down Canucks Once Again

By Patrick Leiva

Mar 3, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton (19) congratulates defenseman Brent Burns (88) for this goal against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller (not pictured) during the third period at Rogers Arena. The San Jose Sharks won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton (19) congratulates defenseman Brent Burns (88) for this goal against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller (not pictured) during the third period at Rogers Arena. The San Jose Sharks won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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San Jose has outscored Vancouver 6-0 in the third period during their two matchups this season.

For the second time in the span of five days, the San Jose Sharks found themselves trailing the Vancouver Canucks by one goal heading into the third period, and for the second time, the Sharks were able to complete their come back. San Jose used third period goals from Brent Burns and Patrick Marleau to propel themselves past Vancouver by a 3-2 final.

This game was pretty similar to the first meeting between these two teams on Sunday where the Sharks were asleep during the initial 20 minutes of action. Again, if not for the exploits of Martin Jones who was stellar again on this night, San Jose might have found themselves in a much larger hole.

The Canucks took the play to the Sharks, outshooting San Jose 10-1 in the early going, before Jake Virtanen gave Vancouver the 1-0 lead at the 7:14 mark of the first. This time the Canucks were able to double their lead late in the period as Sven Baertschi’s 13th goal of the year gave Vancouver a 2-0 lead after the first period of play.

It was a disappointing start from San Jose, especially considering they had enjoyed two days of practice prior to the contest. They came out flat, being outshot 15-7, and found themselves chasing Vancouver once again.

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The Sharks responded right away in the middle frame as San Jose registered seven shots within the first two minutes of the period as they began to fight back. San Jose would break through at the midpoint of the second as Tomas Hertl would tip home his 16th goal of the season to cut the lead in half. Hertl has been playing stellar hockey since joining the top line as he now has set new career highs in goals, assists and points with 19 games still remaining.

San Jose would still find themselves trailing by one mainly due to the fact that their power play struggled to gain any sort of traction through two periods. However, the Sharks would finally strike on their fourth opportunity as Burns would rip home his 22nd goal of the season past Ryan Miller just 43 seconds into the third to even things up at two.

Then, team teal would take their first lead of the contest as Joonas Donskoi made a beautiful feed to a streaking Marleau who scored the eventual game-winner at the 5:29 mark of the third. It was a great rush by the Sharks and nice to see Marleau convert after missing some chances earlier in the contest.

From that point on, Jones held down the fort for San Jose making 28 saves on the night, including a couple of huge stops in the final minute of the game to preserve the victory.

This was a big come back for the Sharks as it would have been a damning loss to their division hopes. With both Anaheim and Los Angeles winning, San Jose would have dropped even further behind if they didn’t find a way to secure the two points.

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While the start was certainly disappointing, this team has shown the ability time and again to rebound. They are never out of any game and are finding different ways to win rather lose like last season.

The Sharks will now return home to host these same Canucks on Saturday night as they look to take three-straight contests from Vancouver in the span of a week.

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