Sharks let two-goal lead slip away in loss to Vancouver

SAN JOSE – San Jose squandered a 2-0 first-period lead Saturday night and dropped a 3-2 decision to the Vancouver Canucks at sold-out SAP Center.
San Jose, to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, must either finish among the top three in the Pacific Division or earn one of two wild card spots in the Western Conference. The result Saturday left San Jose four points behind third-place Calgary in the division and six points back of second wild card Winnipeg.
Shooting for a third consecutive win, San Jose gained a 2-0 advantage after 12 minutes of play.
Melker Karlsson provided the Sharks with a 1-0 lead with 7:58 gone. Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s low shot from the blueline was kicked aside by goaltender Eddie Lack. The rebound slid toward the bottom of the left circle where an unmarked Karlsson was able to drill a shot across the slot and inside the right post. Joe Thornton’s assist left him with 1,250 career points.
San Jose recorded a power-play goal at the 11:51 mark for a 2-0 cushion.
The top power-play unit needed 44 seconds to solve Lack again. Thornton sent a pass to the blueline from the right circle, then was ready at the bottom of the circle when a rebound of a Joe Pavelski shot dropped to him. Thornton took his time to snap a high shot behind Lack for his 13^th goal of the season.
The Sharks could not keep the Canucks from scoring in the final minute of the first period. A turnover in the neutral zone by San Jose allowed Vancouver to enter the offensive zone in the final 45 seconds. Radim Vrbata raced around the Sharks defense, then faked a wraparound and chipped the puck into the net behind goaltender Antti Niemi at the 19:21 mark.
Patrick Marleau had an opportunity to make it 3-1 with 9:20 gone in the second period. Marleau worked a 2-on-1 rush with Scott Hannan, but the pass back to Marleau at the right edge of the crease ricocheted off Marleau’s stick and across the blue ice to leave the game at 2-1.
Bo Horvat brought the Canucks even with an unassisted goal at 16:24 of the second period. Horvat, applying pressure at the Vancouver blueline, chipped the puck off the sideboards and past defenseman Brent Burns. Horvat kept position on a trailing Burns before guiding a shot from the bottom of the left circle over Niemi’s glove for the equalizer.
Tommy Wingels had a potential goal called off 70 seconds into the third period when the covering official waived the play dead. Vancouver came back with a power play goal eight seconds after Burns was called for high-sticking. Henrik Sedin won the face-off and Daniel Sedin fed Vrbata for a point-blank shot that went by Niemi at the 5:21 mark for the game-winner.
San Jose has six games left at home, including three next week. Pittsburgh comes to town Monday, Nashville Thursday and Chicago Saturday afternoon.