Joe Pavelski needed just 10:47 in Tuesday's game to show the Sharks how much they missed him.
In his first game since March 16, Pavelski gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead over the Vancouver Canucks with a power-play goal in the first period. After Tomas Hertl fanned on Joe Thornton's centering pass, Pavelski was there to clean up the loose puck.
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The goal was Pavelski's 38th of the year, which is tied for the second-most in a single season of his career. The 34-year-old is now three goals away from matching his career high, and has an outside chance of reaching it with two more games to go after Tuesday.
It also kept the Sharks' power play rolling. San Jose has scored a power-play goal in five of the last six games, and was 6-of-21 during that span by the end of the first period Tuesday.
With Pavelski's power-play presence back in the Sharks' lineup, they have to feel good about one component of their special teams headed into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.