~ Photo credit: Canadian Press

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Matt Nieto sealed the deal, in what seems to be typical preseason so far, with 39.6 seconds left, in the second 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks Sunday.

From the blue line, Brenden Dillon passed to Nieto and Vancouver made a line change. Nieto then made a quick pass up ice to Nikolay Goldobin and was able to take advantage and beat the two new players rushing in, setting up a 2-on-1. Goldobin passed back to Nieto as he sped in and did not miss the net. It was Goldobin’s second assist in as many games.

Nieto not only notched his first two goals of the preseason in the game, but he got San Jose its first power play goal.

The Sharks were outshot for the first time this season. They remain perfect on the penalty kill (11-11).

In San Jose goalie Martin Jones’ preseason debut he made key saves during his 26 of 28. The Sharks were outshot 12-3 in the third period as they committed two penalties.

Multiple players continued their success from the last time the teams met. For San Jose, Kevin Labanc had his second goal and second assist, Chris Tierney got his second assist and David Schlemko got his third assist. For the Canucks, it was Anton Rodin’s second goal.

There were a number of penalties during the game, the most coming during the second. The Sharks went 2 for 6 on the power play, while Vancouver went 0 for 5. .

San Jose had mixed results with their first two power play opportunities.

During the first, with the Canucks shorthanded, but the 3-2 man advantage on the play, Joseph Labate crossed the blue line with the puck. He then sent it across ice to Tuomo Ruutu, who scored from the left faceoff circle off the goalpost at 3:44.

The Sharks capitalized on their second power play though. Labanc passed the puck between two defenders to Julius Bergman, who shot at net. The puck ended up hitting Tierney and went straight to Nieto, who powered the puck past goalie Ryan Miller at 10:25.

Vancouver went back up at 16:22. Olli Juolevi fought past his defenders to send the puck along the boards to Bo Horvat. Horvat then sent the puck behind him Rodin right in front of net.

In the second, Jones saved four consecutive shots from 3:51 to 4:27.

The Canucks had a big shot advantage early in the period, but by the time it ended, were outshot 9-8.

San Jose did not get their first shot until 5:11 (Tomas Hertl) and had their second shot at 8:47 (Bergman).

The Sharks then scored their second power play goal, Labanc scoring just before the final minute of the period. He sent the puck along the boards to Tierney behind the net, who shot it back to Labanc behind him. Labanc got his own rebound as he went around Miller and put the puck into the net. Schlemko got the second assist.

Vancouver got their first shot in the third at 6:33. They had another sequence of four shots against Jones, though one was missed, from 6:33-7:06.

San Jose’s last clean shot in the frame came at 8:10.

The Canucks’ only clean shot in overtime came 57 seconds into the period.

Game notes: The Sharks next host the Anaheim Ducks October 5 at 7:30pm.