By Matthew T.F. Harrington and Joe Lami

AP photo: Lineman Brad Lazaowich left collides with the Vancouver Canucks Dan Hamhuis (2) as Linden Vey (7) digs for the puck against the San Jose Sharks Chris Tierney (50) and Roman Polak (56) Sunday in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, British Columbia —  The San Jose Sharks offense ran into some trouble at crossing the border, but cleared customs with just enough time to pull off the comeback victory 4-1 against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena Sunday.

Joe Pavelski scored his first goal in six games to tie the game with just over 15 minutes left in regulation to tie the game, then Tomas Hertl tipped in the game-winner a handful of seconds later. Patrick Marleau netted a 5-on-3 goal late in the 3^rd and Justin Braun scored an empty-netter to ice the contest and set the tone with San Jose playing two of the next three games against Vancouver (24-25-12).

Braun’s defensive partner Marc-Eduoard Vlasic set a new career-high season points total with 37 after picking up a pair of assists.

“Things are going well,” said Vlasic. “When it goes well as a team, it goes well individually. When you’re playing well with your partner as well creating offense, good things happen.

After 40 minutes of play, the Sharks (33-22-6) were facing what appeared to be an insurmountable challenge. They had fallen behind 1-0 in the 2^nd period and mustered only 4 shots on Canucks goalie Ryan Miller in the period for a game total of 14. A determined effort by Joe Pavelski 4:21 into the third sparked a San Jose outburst.

“We hadn’t really played a good game up to that point,” said Pavelski. “Jones gave us a chance.”

Vlasic, looking to get off the ice for fresh legs, dumped a backhand into the Canucks zone on what looked like a harmless dump-and-change. Pavelski took advantage of a slouching Vancouver defense to pry the puck loose as it rattled along the boards behind the net and past the faceoff dot. From there, the Sharks captain peeled off the half-wall and ripped a back-hander past Miller to tie the game 4:21 into the 3rd.

“Through the forecheck,” said Pavelski. “That’s where we have to score goals. A lot of goals come from the forecheck when we get up and make the D make a play. Hopefully get there face up against the glass.”

The rest of the team followed the captain’s example and played a fired-up final fifteen minutes starting first with Pavelski’s linemate Hertl. The Czech winger drove to the net, tipping a Justin Braun point shot past Miller for his 15^th strike of the season 2:28 later.

“When you play on the inside,” said Vlasic. “When you go to the net, normally you create scrums. Penalties happen when you play inside. Good things happen, usually a goal or a penalty.”

San Jose failed to convert on the first two power plays of the night, but converted on a golden opportunity after Vancouver’s Markus Granlund and Dan Hamhuis took slashing minors 27 seconds apart with just under 7 minutes to play. On the two-man advantage Patrick Marleau took a Joe Thornton pass in the slot and ripped it past Miller for his 18^th of the season with 5:51 to go to make it 3-1. Pavelski also assisted on the power play strike.

“The big guys took over in the 3^rd,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “Pavelski, Thornton, Marleau, Couture, those guys found a way to crank it up in the 3^rd and win us the game.”

While the Sharks scored most, the Canucks jumped on the board first on Daniel Sedin’s 23^rd goal of the season 3:03 into the 2^nd period. The Swedish winger crashed the San Jose net, jamming a Martin Jones rebound through the San Jose keeper’s five-hole for a 1-0 lead.

The North Vancouver, B.C. native Jones was stellar aside from the lone goal, turning aside 23 of 24 shots in his first contest at the NHL level in his home town.

“Today was more important than me coming home,” said Jones. “It was a big game for us with a team that’s chasing us. We had a good opportunity to put them at a pretty good distance.”

10 points separated San Jose from Vancouver for third place in the Pacific Division entering play Sunday afternoon. With San Jose facing Vancouver three times in the span of a week, it was important for the Sharks to set the tone in the first meeting.

“We didn’t want to give them any life in the standings,” said DeBoer. “We’re playing them another 4 times after this. It was an important 20 minutes for us.”

While the Sharks will look to add another strong 60 minutes against Vancouver Thursday, they’ll have to avoid focusing to match on the rematch. They head back to San Jose to face the Montreal Canadiens at the SAP center.