Chris Higgins and Mason Raymond scored man advantage goals and defenseman Aaron Rome notched his first NHL playoff goal with 5:30 left as the Canucks poured it on late. The game turned when Kevin Bieksa scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway with 7:55 left in the second period.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night at San Jose.
Bieksa, who scored the tying goal in the Canucks’ 3-2 comeback win in Game 1, beat four Sharks up the ice to take a cross-ice, blue line-to-blue line pass from Chris Higgins. He then beat goalie Antti Niemi with a quick shot between the legs.
The game got ugly after Bieksa pounded Sharks forward Patrick Marleau in a one-sided fight six minutes later.
That angered San Jose tough guy Ben Eager, who was yelling at the Canucks bench after the fight. He then ran Daniel Sedin face first into the boards late in the period. Eager took another penalty in the third, and Higgins made it 4-2 on the power play eight minutes in.
Raymond added another power-play goal — on a too many men penalty that negated Joe Thornton’s breakaway — with 3:18 left. The Canucks went 4 for 6 on the power play. Daniel Sedin and Raffi Torres scored 39 seconds apart in the first period, and Roberto Luongo finished with 28 saves.
