The Vancouver Canucks are playoff pretenders, not contenders, in large part because of their inability to protect third-period leads.
They coughed up another one Sunday as they again failed to extend a two-game National Hockey League winning streak to three, falling 4-1 to the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena.
The Canucks had a 1-0 lead after two periods and seemed to be in control of the game. Then the dreaded third period came along and they collapsed. We have, of course, seen this movie before.
“We were a bit passive,” said defenceman Luca Sbisa. “The first goal goes in and I’ll take that one on me, but after that I think they responded better.