VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Things finally went right for Thomas Hertl.

Hertl scored twice in the first period to snap a 16-game goal drought as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Sunday.

"It's tough," said Hertl, who hadn't scored since Feb. 28. "For me, I expect some goals.

"Sometimes you're trying so hard and everything's going wrong. It was a very good game for me finally tonight."

The win came at a price as San Jose center Joe Thornton left the game late in the first period with an apparent knee injury after a collision with Vancouver's Michael Chaput.

The Sharks are already playing without Logan Couture, who has missed four games after being hit in the face with a puck.

Head coach Peter DeBoer didn't have an update on Thornton's injury, saying he would be checked out Monday in San Jose.

Replacing someone with Thornton's experience won't be easy.

"You can't roll over and just quit," said DeBoer. "Hopefully he's only out short-term here.

"I think we're confident as a group. We're a team that's a sum of our parts, not about one or two guys. If anyone can handle it, we can."

DeBoer was pleased with how his team reacted after Thornton left the game.

"I thought it was a gutsy effort by us," he said. "Couture's out, Jumbo only played five minutes.

"Take two guys like that out of your lineup, I thought the rest of the guys responded and we got a much-needed two points for us."

Patrick Marleau also scored into an empty net for the Sharks with 2.6 seconds remaining.

Sven Baertschi scored Vancouver's goal late in the third period.

Hertl's first goal came at 11:00 of the first period following a turnover. Mikkel Boedker took a backhand shot that Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller stopped but Hertl shoveled in the rebound.

Hertl made it 2-0 just 1:51 later. Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a shot that deflected off Vancouver's Alex Edler. Hertl picked up the puck and beat Miller with a shot from the faceoff circle.

"It was a good game for us," said Hertl. "We finally started really strong.

"The last couple of games we've been struggling with the first goal."

DeBoer noted Hertl had knee surgery in November and missed 32 games.

"It takes a while to get back up to game speed," said DeBoer. "He's been getting his looks, they just haven't been going in.

"Hopefully that's the break he needed to get this thing going. He's a very good player and we're going to need him."

The victory was just the second in 10 games for the Sharks (44-28-7), who clinched a playoff berth on Tuesday. San Jose is clinging to third place in the Pacific Division, three points ahead of Calgary with three games to play.

DeBoer said the Sharks have been better than their record indicated.

"It was one of those stretches where everything that could go wrong did go wrong," he said. "We stuck with it tonight.

"The key was getting the early lead."

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Canucks (30-39-9), who are out of the playoff hunt. Vancouver is 2-9-2 in the last 13 games and has lost 11 straight at home (0-8-3). The Canucks last win at Rogers Arena was on Feb. 18.

A lack of goals continues to haunt the Canucks. Vancouver has scored one goal or less in seven of the last 11 games.

"It's not good enough," said Daniel Sedin, who has one goal in the last 17 games. "We're a better team than this.

"If we could score like we should, we'd be up there in the standings."

Jayson Megna had a chance to put Vancouver ahead with an early breakaway, but Sharks goalie Martin Jones got an arm on his shot.

"To start 2-0 in the hole, I thought we took it a little hard," said goaltender Miller. "It took us a whole to get going."

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said a couple of bounces changed the game.

"It wasn't that we were bad in the first 12 (minutes)," he said. "They capitalized on a couple of chances.

"That just kind of seems the way it goes."

NOTES: D Troy Stecher practiced as a forward on Vancouver's top line Saturday before being told it was an April Fool's joke. ... LW Loui Eriksson practiced Saturday but missed his 13th game with a knee injury. .... The Canucks have signed C Jayson Megna to a one-year contract extension for $675,000. ... C RW Nikolay Goldobin and D Philip Larsen were healthy scratches. ... The Canucks play in San Jose on Tuesday. ... San Jose RW Jannik Hansen returned to Vancouver for the first time since being traded to the Sharks on Feb. 28 after 10 years with the Canucks. ... D Marc-Edouard Vlasic's assist left him one short of 200 in his career. ... RW Timo Meier, C Michael Haley and D Dylan DeMelo were scratches. ... The Sharks last lost in Vancouver on Jan. 21, 2012.