VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Vancouver Canucks not only blew a three-goal lead but, more importantly, lost Mark Messier.

	San Jose's Ronnie Stern slides into Vancouver goalie Corey Schwab.

Owen Nolan scored twice as the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks rallied back to pull out a 4-4 tie against the Canucks on Tuesday night.

Alexander Korolyuk had a goal and two assists and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Sharks, who gave up four goals for the first time in seven outings and are winless in their last three road games (0-2-1).

Markus Naslund, Andrew Cassels and Harry York had a goal and an assist for the Canucks. Bill Muckalt also scored for the Canucks, who are winless in their last six meetings with San Jose (0-4-2), going back to Feb. 7, 1998.

Messier suffered the injury in the first minute of the game, when, going to the net, he was hauled down from behind by San Jose defenseman Andy Sutton. The two fell to the ice with Messier's right leg tangled between Sutton's.

After a couple of minutes on his hands and knees swearing and throwing down his helmet, he was helped off the ice, unable to put any weight on his right knee.

After the game, Canucks coach Marc Crawford said Messier's right knee was "pretty sore" and will be re-examined on Wednesday, but Messier is expected to miss at least the next two games.

Messier, who left GM Place in the middle of the third period, was not available for comment.

Saying he was only doing his job by blocking out the front of the net, Sutton called it an "ordinary play" in which he and Messier went down.

"We kind of got twisted up and he must have fell down funny on my stick," said Sutton, who wasn't penalized on the play. "He was in a lot of pain."

So were the Canucks, who blew a 3-0 lead in the second period, and failed to hold onto a 4-3 lead in the third.

Four minutes after Muckalt scored to put the Canucks ahead 4-3, Nolan, standing in front of the Canuck net, deflected in Korolyuk's shot for a power-play goal to tie the game with 11:02 left in regulation.

"It just shows that we don't have quitters on this team," said Nolan, who now has a team-leading 12 goals. "We stick together through the good times and the bad times and we learn to win. To battle back is a big boost for our team."

Nolan's first goal of the night was a fluke, capping a three-goal second-period comeback to tie the game with 2:48 left in the frame. The play began innocently as Vancouver goalie Corey Schwab kneeled beside his net and attempted to gather in a puck that bounced off the end boards. Instead, Schwab failed to glove the puck and it bounced in off his skate.

"I didn't even know it was in the net," said Nolan. "Vinnie (Damphousse) came over and said it was in."

While angry at themselves, the Canucks considered the draw to be positive.

"Our guys fought through a lot of adversity tonight," Crawford said. "I was really proud of our guys tonight."

The Canucks, for the interim at least, will have to shore up their offense without Messier, who was the club's first-line center and had five goals and 12 points in 15 games. Last month, the 21-year NHL veteran scored his 614th career goal, moving him into sixth place on the all-time scoring list, passing Mario Lemieux.

Last season, the Canucks were 3-16-4 when Messier wasn't in the lineup, including an 18-game stint with a sprained MCL in his left knee.

Before the game, the Canucks announced that defenseman Mattias Ohlund will undergo surgery on his right eye Wednesday after his vision failed to come back since being hit in the face with a puck in September.