VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The San Jose Sharks were losing 1-0 after two periods but nobody in the dressing believed they had lost.

The Sharks regrouped and scored four unanswered third-period goals to notch a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Center Joe Pavelski said there was no panic heading into the final period.

"We didn't really play a good game up to that point," said Pavelski, who scored his team-leading 27th goal and added an assist for the Sharks. "There wasn't much going on.

"Down 1-0, going into the third, is a spot we don't mind being on the road, especially with the way we had been playing up to that point. It was good to see the guys really come out, get on the forecheck and create a couple of fore-checking goals."

Center Tomas Hertl and left winger Patrick Marleau, on the power play, also scored for the Sharks (33-22-6). Defenseman Justin Braun scored into an empty net and had an assist.

Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic added two assists for the Sharks, who are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.

Head coach Peter DeBoer credited veterans like Pavelski, Marleau and center Joe Thornton for stepping up their play when it was needed most.

"The big guys took the game over in the third," said DeBoer. "Those guys cranked it up and found a way to win us this game.

"Credit Vancouver. I thought they played a really good first 40 minutes. They bottled us up. We didn't have a lot of energy. We weren't creating much."

Pavelski started the comeback at 4:22 of the third. He took a pass from Vlasic in the corner, swooped around Vancouver defenseman Luca Sbisa and beat Canuck goaltender Ryan Miller with a backhand to the stick side.

Hertl gave the Sharks the lead just 2:28 later, tipping Braun's point shot past Miller. Marleau made it 3-1 at 14:09 with San Jose on a two-man advantage. He took a pass from Thornton and fired a shot from the blue line that beat Miller over his shoulder.

The win strengthened San Jose's hold on third place in the Pacific Division. Back on Jan. 9, the Sharks were sixth in the Pacific with 38 points. Since then they have gone 15-4-3 and collected 34 points.

"It's not one guy on this team," Pavelski said about the turnaround. "When we play good it's everybody."

"The fourth line has been really important. They have sparked us a few nights. The third line has been solid."

The game followed a familiar if not frustrating script for the Canucks (24-25-12), who saw a two-game win streak snapped. Vancouver has yet to win three consecutive games this season.

It also was the 10th time this season the Canucks lost after leading after two periods.

"For the first two periods we had total control of the game," said left winger Daniel Sedin, who scored Vancouver's goal in the second period. "It's disappointing to lose."

The goal was the 350th of Daniel Sedin's career. He's the 60th NHL player to reach that total and just the fifth Swede. It also was his ninth point (2 goals, 7 assists) in his last seven games.

Center Henrik Sedin couldn't explain why the Canuck keep blowing third-period leads, especially as the team tries to keep its fading playoff hopes alive.

"Being up 1-0 in a game like this, when we know it's a chance for us to get closer (go the playoffs), and that happens, it's disappointing," he said.

The win moved San Jose 12 points ahead of Vancouver in the Pacific. The teams play each other four more times before the season ends.

"If we don't win tonight, that's two points for them and we are back here Thursday," said DeBoer. "They get another win, then it starts to snowball. We've all seen that.

"It was a critical 20 minutes for us and we got the job done."

NOTES: Vancouver RW Radim Vrbata, also mentioned in trade talks, missed his second game with a lower-body injury. ... Vancouver scratched C Jared McCann and D Matt Bartkowski. ... The Canucks had two-game win streaks snapped six previous times this season. ... The Canucks and Sharks play two more times over the next six days. ... Vancouver's next game is at home Tuesday against the New York Islanders. ... G James Reimer and LW Jeremy Morin, acquired by San Jose in a trade Saturday with the Toronto Maple Leafs, are not expected to join the team until the middle of this week. ... San Jose's healthy scratches were D Dylan DeMelo and RW Mike Brown. ... G Aaron Dell, who was 11-10-5 with a .923 save percentage in the AHL, is expected to start Monday when the Sharks return home to play the Montreal Canadiens.