VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- It is hard to say what generated more questions in both dressing rooms after the game: Ben Eager's hit on Daniel Sedin or Patrick Marleau's decision to fight Kevin Bieksa.

Let's start with Eager who nailed Sedin into the boards from behind near end the end of the second period.

"It's a penalty," said Eager. "He knows what he's doing there. He's turning. He sees me coming. I'll take that penalty, we killed it off."

Daniel Sedin didn't make a big deal about it.

"I turned my back," said the Canucks star. "I didn't realize he was coming that hard. But it's going to happen in a game. I'm fine. So that's all that matters. ... [Eager] got two minutes. I don't know if it should have been more. The referee has done a great job I think throughout the playoffs to make the right calls, so we're happy."

Eager ended up with six penalties for 20 minutes, including a 10-minutes misconduct late in the third period. Head coach Todd McLellan played him a bunch on the night (10:59).

"Ben Eager is one of our faster forwards, one of our more physical forwards," said McLellan. "I think he has the ability to win battles and create scrums. I do believe the other team knows when he's on the ice. The fact that Ben played a lot more minutes tonight was rewarding for us. Now the negative. He can't march to the penalty box on an ongoing basis. The tradeoff obviously didn't work in our favor tonight."

Just as Sedin downplayed being hit from behind by Eager, Marleau didn't complain about being pummeled in a fight by Bieksa.

"The heat of the moment kind of thing. It happens in hockey," shrugged Marleau, who scored his third goal in three games Wednesday. "We exchanged shots and decided to drop the gloves. At that point, we were still trying to get things going and get our game going. No real big reason behind it."

It was a total mismatch since Bieksa is a pretty tough customer.

"I haven't fought too many times," said Marleau. "But I'm the one who dropped my gloves. It was my decision, too."

Marleau may not have minded the fight, but Eager sure did.

"We've seen that before with Kevin," said Eager. "It's sad, but someone is going to sign him to big money and, you know, he's a phoney. He goes after our top player. He's been asked many times before by lots of players throughout the league, and he's declined."

But Sharks rooke Logan Couture didn't see the need for retaliation against Bieksa.

"I don't think so. As far as I saw, they both dropped the gloves at the same time to fight," said Couture. "There shouldn't be retaliation on that."

Couture said the team appreciated Marleau's attempt.

"He stepped up. Patty's a leader. People don't see that. It's good to see him step up. He's a quiet guy and he doesn't show his emotion too much. We all see how badly he wants to win. He stepped up and made a statement tonight which was good for the rest of us. Unfortunately, we didn't follow through."

Bieksa, who had a goal and an assist to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick, also downplayed the fight.

"I don't know what started it," said Bieksa. "Just two guys battling. Turned out to be a good battle. He did a good job. After that, he skated to the box. It was fine."

Canucks with man advantage

Vancouver ripped San Jose for three power-plays goals on seven chances Wednesday night, and if the Sharks can't keep their emotions in check, it's going to be a short series.

"The PK was bad," said Couture. "At times, we missed assignments. I missed a couple of assignments. Against those guys on the power play, they're too skilled. They'll make you look stupid and that's what they did."

Panic time?

The Sharks are in a big hole, but Couture insisted it's not time to panic.

"I don't feel panic," said Couture. "Even when Detroit came back and tied it a three, there was never any panic. I've said it all along, we're a confident team. Our confidence took a little hit tonight. But we've got a day tomorrow to look over what went wrong. I'm sure there's a lot to look over. We got to be ready for the next game. Game 3 is always pivotal. We're going to have to step up and outplay those guys. They're a great team."