SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis picked a heck of a time to score his first goal of the season.

The veteran defenseman found the back of the net in his 40th game to break a tie midway through the third period and lead the Canucks to a 4-2 win over the Sharks on Saturday night.

"It's been a while, yeah," Hamhuis said. "Certainly had my chances over the year. It was nice to get one to go in, especially one that made such a big difference in the game."

The first three Canucks goals came on the power play as the Sharks took an uncharacteristic number of penalties. Conversely, San Jose went 0 of 3 on the power play, hardly generating anything from its chances, to see a three-game winning streak snapped.

"We get that first goal and we starting taking penalties," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "And it was everybody. It was just one of those nights we couldn't stay out of the box."

Hamhuis crept in from the left point to one-time a Bo Horvat pass from below the goal line at 10:28 with just 17 seconds left on Joonas Donskoi's tripping penalty that occurred nearly 200 feet from his own net.

"As a goalie, you want to make every save, especially what can be the game-winning goal when it's tied," said recently acquired backup goalie James Reimer, who made his Sharks debut. "As a goalie, you wish you could be there for your team."

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said, "We've been overdue a little bit I think, but tonight it was pretty good. We had one bad one, but the other power plays were pretty good."

Alexandre Burrows filled an empty net with his eighth goal of the season in his 750th career game to break his 10-game scoreless drought at 17:54.

The Sharks and Canucks were playing for the third time in eight nights, and like the first two matchups, Vancouver took a one-goal lead into the final period. This time, however, San Jose could not rally for victory.

"That's exactly how we got to play," Burrows said. "I thought we hated these guys a little bit more tonight, disliked them, wanted to bring the battle to them."

The Sharks did tie the score early in the third period when defenseman Brent Burns scored his 23rd goal of the season at 4:53 off a nifty pass from center Joe Thornton.

But in addition to Donskoi's minor, both Burns and Thornton spent valuable time in the box late when the hosts could have used their top offensive threats on the ice against Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom, who made several spectacular saves late.

"When you're (on the penalty kill) as much as we were tonight, it's pretty taxing and it can take a lot out of you," Sharks forward Micheal Haley said. "We obviously took way too many."

San Jose's penalty problems that led to three Vancouver power plays in the first period continued in the second.

Pavelski tripped Vancouver defenseman Sven Baertschi just 1:05 into the second period to put the visitors right back on the man advantage after the Canucks closed out the first period with two late power plays.

Daniel Sedin redirected a Beartschi drive from the left dot past Reimer, who was trying to hug the near post. Sedin's team-leading 25th goal of the season came at 2:12 and broke a 1-1 tie.

"On the PK, we got through a few of them but not enough of them," Pavelski said. "When you give them that many chances, it's tough."

San Jose had its first two power plays of the game at 6:20 and 14:57, respectively, but couldn't gain the equalizer as the Sharks worked too much on the perimeter while passing up shots.

The Sharks and Canucks were deadlocked 1-1 at the first intermission after an opening period controlled by the hosts until they got into penalty trouble late.

Haley stepped in front of Vancouver's Ben Hutton to intercept the defenseman's pass deep in the Canucks' end intended for Baertschi. Haley walked from the bottom of the right circle and saw his initial shot stopped, but he kept driving and scored with a poke on the rebound.

Haley's first goal in his 10th game came at 9:10 and came on San Jose's sixth shot of the period.

"It feels good to compete in a different way, but obviously with a loss it's overshadowed," said Haley, sporting a black eye from an early week fight.

The Sharks continued to put pucks on net and earn good chances, but the momentum swung when Haley drew a double-minor for high-sticking Baertschi at center with 3:15 left in the period.

The Canucks struck 1:42 into the first of consecutive man advantages as Linden Vey slipped a backhand shot past Reimer, who allowed a rebound on a shot from the left point by Baertschi. Vey's tying fourth goal of the season came at 18:28.

The Canucks lost the services of second-leading scorer Henrik Sedin early in the first period after the veteran center tangled with Burns.

Sedin returned briefly after getting hurt 4:45 after the opening faceoff but logged only 3:36 of ice time spread over seven early shifts. He will not be with the team when it plays Monday in Los Angeles.

NOTES: San Jose G Martin Jones was the backup to snap a streak of 10 straight starts, a stretch that fell five short of breaking into the 10 longest in franchise history. Antti Niemi started 34 straight in 2010-11 and Evgeni Nabokov started 50 in a row over two seasons from 2007 to 2008. ... Vancouver D Alex Edler (leg), RW Radim Vrbata (groin) and C Brandon Sutter (jaw) remain out. ... San Jose RW Tommy Wingels missed his eighth straight game with a shoulder sprain, but coach Peter DeBoer said he's getting closer. LW Melker Karlsson is day to day with an upper-body injury and D Matt Tennyson (concussion) remains out. ... D Dylan DeMelo was the lone healthy scratch for San Jose. D Yannick Weber and RW Jannik Hansen were not in uniform for Vancouver.