Tag: Anaheim Ducks

Sharks take down Ducks 4-2; Burns scores game-winner

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On the night where Brent Burns played his 1000th NHL game (including 428 in a row), it was only fitting the defenseman would follow script and score the game-winning goal as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Thursday evening at SAP Center.

Burns’ fifth goal of the season came while the Sharks had sustained pressure inside the Ducks’ defensive zone. Burns received the puck at the point from Brendon Dillon and fired a slap shot off the left post into the back of the net with 9:39 remaining in the third period.

Anaheim (19-15-5) drew first blood on their second power play of the game. Josh Mahura slapped in a shot from the point that hit off Nick Ritchie. Jacob Silfverberg collected the rebound and was able to tap home the puck past Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (15-8-4) behind the goal line for his 10th goal of the season at the 10:33 mark.

San Jose (20-12-7) came back to tie it up late in the period on a cycle play by their fourth line. Barclay Goodrow sent the puck around the boards behind the net to Joonas Donskoi who backhanded the puck right in front of the crease, where Melker Karlsson beat Carter Rowney to the puck and slid it past Ducks goaltender John Gibson (15-12-4) for his fourth goal of the season at the 18:05 mark.

If not for Gibson, the Sharks would have had the lead at the end of the first 20 minutes. Joe Thornton had an empty net to shoot at off a rebound and Gibson robbed him with his stick half way through the first period. Justin Braun and Lukas Radil had point-blank chances earlier on, only to come up with what the bird left on the rock.

Gibson was replaced in the net by backup goalie Chad Johnson to start the second period as he was injured in a collision with Sorensen earlier in the first period.

San Jose grabbed the lead early in the second period, thanks to another cycle play this time by their top line. A shot from the point by Joakim Ryan was deflected onto captain Joe Pavelski’s stick and he tried jamming home the puck repeatedly on Johnson. Marcus Sorensen crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound into the net for his seventh goal of the season at the 5:44 mark.

Evander Kane had a short-handed breakaway with just over 10 minutes remaining for the Sharks, but his attempt to slide the puck between Johnson’s five-hole was denied.

Speaking of great saves, Jones made a fantastic save on Silfverberg, who was all alone to the right of the crease, and his shot was stoned by a diving Jones with 2:25 left in the middle frame.

Jones almost shot the puck into his own on the next shift when he was attempting to clear the puck behind the net. It hit the right post and caromed out in front of the net where Rowney had a chance at an empty net only to have Jones recover and make the save.

Anaheim received a power play toward the end of the period and put a flurry of shots on net including Jones fighting a shot from the point off of his shoulder that hit the cross bar, but stayed out of the net as the Sharks survived the final minute to head into the intermission up by a goal.

The Ducks tied it back up early in the third period. A battle along the right board was won by Josh Manson. Rowney then centered a pass over to Kifer Sherwood, who gathered possession of the puck between the face off circles and snapped a wrist shot that trickled past Jones for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:53 mark.

Tomas Hertl sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left in the game as Anaheim had pulled Johnson for an extra attacker with a minute left in the game. Goodrow would get his third assist on the evening.

Jones made 25 saves on 27 shots to earn his 15th victory. Gibson only played the first period and suffered the loss, stopping 14 of the 15 shots he faced. Johnson made 20 saves on 23 shots in relief.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Anaheim was 1/4.

This was the second game of Erik Karlsson’s two-game suspension that resulted from a hit on Los Angeles Kings’ Austin Wagner.

Joakim Ryan returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last 11 games.

Burns is the 4th ever Shark to score a goal on his 1000th game. The others were Gary Suter, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

UP NEXT: The Sharks head out on the road to take on the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, December 29 at 1:00 pm.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks host Ducks in hopes to snap three-game losing streak on Thursday

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nbcsports.com file photo: The San Jose Sharks host the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night at SAP Center

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Sharks, before getting into this current three-game skid, had won five games straight. What’s the reason for the change?

#2 The Sharks have to be one of the most frustrated teams in the NHL right now. They’ve lost three straight going into tonight’s game in San Jose and are expected to be one the toughest postseason teams in the NHL.

#3 How bad is it that all three of those consecutive losses came from playing on home ice?

#4 Their loses have come on close games by one goal and last game on Sunday was no exception. They lost to the Arizona Coyotes by a goal 4-3.

#5 Mary Lisa tells us who she likes in this match tonight between Anaheim and San Jose. The puck drops at 7:30 pm at SAP Center.

Mary Lisa has the Sharks podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Ducks get an OT gift from Getzlaf; Backstrom’s hat trick helps pace Caps; Barkov gets OT goal as Panthers slip by Sabres 3-2; plus more

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photo from newsobserver.com: Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook (48) has his shot blocked by Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson (36) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Anaheim Ducks on Friday night got a key win over the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime when the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf got a breakaway goal that rang the post to give the Ducks a 3-2 win over the Canes. Getzlaf’s goal came at 1:15 in the overtime.

#2 Nicklas Backstrom hadn’t had a hat trick since 2014, but got one for the history books on Friday night for the Washington Capitals as this team is hot with seven straight wins as they picked up a three-goal win over New Jersey.

#3 The Florida Panthers’ Alexsander Barkov at 2:26 in overtime got the game-winner as the Panthers edged the Buffalo Sabres 3-2. Buffalo lost it’s second game in two nights.

#4 There was no stopping the Calgary Flames as Mikael Backlund got two goals and assist to put away the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night 4-1.

#5 The St. Louis Blues in overtime got a goal from Colton Parayko to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2. The last place Blues improved their record to 9-12-3 while the Avs dropped their record to 15-6-5 Avs are in second in the Central. The Avs snapped their six-game win streak with the loss to the Blues.

Matt does the NHL podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Sabres’ OT goal sinks Habs 3-2; Ducks gain confidence in win over Oilers after losing two; Tuch gets key goal in Vegas’ shutout over the Flames; plus more

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photo from yahoosports.com: Buffalo Sabres’ Sam Reinhart (23), Jeff Skinner and Jck Eichel (9) celebrate a goal during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens, Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, in Buffalo N.Y.

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Buffalo Sabres’ Jeff Skinner had himself an evening against the the Montreal Canadiens, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to hand the Sabres a 3-2 victory. Skinner also scored a goal late in third period as the Sabres have won eight straight games.

#2 The Anaheim Ducks reassured their confidence with a win over in overtime over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. The Ducks had lost two straight games to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche. The Ducks’ Richard Rakell scored in first 14 seconds of the overtime stanza to beat the Oilers.

#3 At the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights’ Alex Tuch nailed a goal and an assist as the Knights got a 2-0 shutout win over the Calgary Flames Friday night.

#4 In a match that was physical to say the least between the Minnesota Wild and the Winnipeg Jets, the Wild got a go-ahead goal that proved to be the gamer when Eric Staal got a goal with just 2:54 left in the regulation. The game saw it’s share of penalties and the Wild were up on the Jets 2-0 after two periods. Wild win it 4-2.

#5 The Washington Capitals got goals from Michal Kempny and Alex Ovechkin at 1:56 in the third period to help defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. The Caps have won four straight and the Wings are 10-10-2 with 22 points sixth place in the Atlantic Division.

Join Matt for the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Kings’ Peterson plays the most fun game of his life; Blues come to SJ after win in Vegas; Leafs too hot to handle, get by Ducks 2-1; plus more

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Chicago 5 Sports photo: The Los Angeles Kings Nate Thompson (44) congratulates Kings goaltender Calvin Peterson (40) following Friday night’s game at the United Center in Chicago against the Blackhawks

On the NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: 

#1 For the Los Angeles Kings goaltender Calvin Peterson, it was a homecoming facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night at the United Center. Peterson was a player with the Chicago Young Americans of the Midwest Elite Hockey League; played at the United Center when he was with Notre Dame during the Frozen Four. Peterson stopped 34 shots in the Kings victory over the Hawks 2-1.

#2 The St Louis Blues who come to SAP Center tonight against the San Jose Sharks picked up a huge victory at T Mobile Center on Friday in a 4-1 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights. Goals from Ryan O’Reilly–two of them help pace the Blues to victory.

#3 The red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs who have won six of their last seven including a win last Thursday over the San Jose Sharks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1. The Leafs Morgan Reilly scored an overtime breakaway goal for the winner. It was Reilly’s ninth goal of the season and 26th point.

#4 The Washington Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom didn’t waste any time scoring a power play goal 22 second into overtime to help edge the Colorado Alvalanche 3-2. The Caps’ Alex Ovechkin and Devante Smith-Pelly also scored.

#5 The Dallas Stars shutout the Boston Bruins behind Jason Dickinson’s goal a rebound at 1:34 in overtime. The Stars’ Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots. Big win for the Stars and tough loss for the Bruins.

Matt Harrington does the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Meier gets his second goal after all; Sharks pull off OT win 4-3 over Ducks

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Photo credit: @NBCSSharks

By: Pearl Lo

ANAHEIM, Calif. — After an overturned goal, Timo Meier scored the game-winner in a 4-3 victory Sunday over the Ducks.

It was Meier’s second career multi-point game and fourth straight game with at least one goal. Meier scored his second of the night at 13:06, but it was ruled offsides after a Coach’s Challenge.

In overtime, Meier passed behind to Joonas Donskoi before falling after he was hit by Ryan Getzlaf. Meier then received the pass after getting back and shot at goalie John Gibson. The three Anaheim players on the ice plus Donskoi also got involved in the battle of the puck before Meier won at 2:12.

Joking occurred in the locker room after, as Evander Kane interjected, “You’re welcome for dinner last night,” and Meier echoed that was the “…success. That’s what helped…”

It was a bit of familiar territory with San Jose’s second straight game beyond regulation after losing a two-goal lead.

Head coach Peter DeBoer commented, “I don’t know about a comeback. I thought we deserved to win. There was a big swing in the second period when our goal was disallowed and then they got the ‘seeing eye’ one. I thought we had an opportunity there to probably put them away and we wouldn’t have come down to what it did, but that’s hockey. You gotta give them credit for hanging around. Gibson gave them the chance to do that. I liked our 60 minutes. Unlike Carolina, where we started to panic a little with the puck and feed into what they were doing, I thought we did a much better job tonight.”

The Sharks got back to their shooting ways, sending 49 pucks Gibson’s way after putting up 23 shots on net versus the Hurricanes.

It was a game that pitted two teams at both ends of the shot spectrum.

The Ducks went back to three years ago, having now lost five in a row like that stretch as they fell beyond .500. During their current stretch in a game, Sunday’s three goals are the most they have scored, but they are also still giving up at least three. San Jose now have points and have scored at least three goals in their last five games. It was Martin Jones’ fourth straight win in net, as he made 27 saves on 30 shots.

Meier also had an assist, Logan Couture had a goal and assist and rookie Rourke Chartier scored his first career NHL goal. For Anaheim, Pontus Aberg scored two goals to bring Anaheim back into the game, Josh Manson scored and Ryan Getzlaf had two assists for the second time this season. The last time was versus the Sharks.

The first two periods had goals in the second and fourth minutes.

San Jose outshot the Ducks 19-8 in the first and had 11 of their shots blocked as both sides had early goals.

Couture led off at 2:34, scoring as the puck went off Gibson’s back. Tomas Hertl passed along the left boards to Brent Burns near the point, who bounced the puck to Couture off the boards. Hertl made his return from injury after missing the third period of the previous game.

Less than two minutes later, Manson potted his first goal of the year from the slot as it went through traffic on Jones’ stick side.

The Sharks started the second with another second minute goal to retake the lead. It started as Chartier won the race to the puck and passed to Hertl at the end boards. Hertl tried a wraparound goal and from Hertl’s rebound off Gibson, Chartier spun around in front of the net to score at 2:13.

San Jose then extended their advantage, unlike the first period. Meier shot from the slot through traffic, as the puck glanced Gibson’s upper left arm.

Aberg made it 3-2 when he took a pass from Getzlaf and shot, touching Burns and poked the top left corner of the net. It was Aberg’s first goal for Anaheim as a former Edmonton Oiler.

Aberg relayed, “I got a lucky bounce on the first goal. It was a confidence builder. It’s been a while since I’ve scored in this league. I’ve shown I can [score] in the American [Hockey] League.”

The Sharks fought off their first penalty that resulted in a power play starting at 4:02 of the third.

A scary moment happened when a puck hit Ryan Kesler up high with 13:33 left. Luckily, he was able to get up on his own power, but headed to the dressing room.

Aberg re-tied the game with his second goal of the night at 8:36, putting the puck behind Jones who was in front of the crease.

Less than a minute later, San Jose had opportunity as Brandon Montour took a hooking penalty. Kesler returned during the penalty kill with 9:56 left.

The Sharks outshot the Ducks 5-0 in overtime.

Up Next: San Jose returns home for four games, kicking things off against the New York Rangers Tuesday at 7:30 pm PT.

Sharks Drop Opener 5-2 to Ducks

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In front of an enthusiastic full house, the San Jose Sharks fell to the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 in their season opener at SAP Center on Wednesday night.

The Ducks had four rookies in the lineup replacing roster regulars who were out with injury. One of those scored Wednesday. Max Comtois, Rickard Rakell, Brandon Montour, Adam Henrique and Carter Rowney all scored for Anaheim, while Jakob Silfverberg had three assists in the game. John Gibson made 31 saves on 33 shots.

Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane scored for the Sharks, while Martin Jones made 10 saves on 14 shots.

Just 49 seconds in, Max Comtois scored on a breakaway after acquiring the puck in the neutral zone. It was Comtois’ first NHL goal. Assists went to Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg.

The Sharks started the game looking like a team playing on unfamiliar ice. Pucks seemed to skip over their sticks, passes missed and the Ducks’ game looked altogether more tidy. After 2:47, the Sharks were on the power play while Josh Manson sat in the box for interference on Kevin Labanc. That power play was cut short when Joe Thornton was called for tripping Hampus Lindholm. The Sharks create some chances during 45 seconds of four-on-four, and then got some four-on-four because Anaheim’s Pontus Aberg was called for goaltender interference just five seconds after the Manson penalty ended.

None of those penalties changed the score, but at 7:51, Evander Kane tied it up. The Sharks’ attack had just been rebuffed, with help from a bouncing puck and general poor timing. As they regrouped on their own blue line, Justin Braun’s pass found Kane crossing the Ducks’ blue line. He skated in with an edge on a defender and put the puck underneath John Gibson. It trickled through for the goal.

The last five minutes of the first period showed a much improved Sharks team. Passes started to connect, plays started to take form and decisions came faster. No more goals were scored but the Sharks stretched out their shot lead to 11-5.

The first five minutes of the second looked much the same. The Sharks jumped out with five shots to Anaheim’s one. As the midpoint approached, San Jose had outshot Anaheim 10-1. Anaheim’s second shot of the period was from Silfverberg and Jones had to be quick to stop it. That imbalance continued through the period, but the score did not change until the Ducks had a power play at 16:24.

Evander Kane was in the box for tripping Josh Manson. After breaking up a pass with his stick and knocking the puck out of the zone, Tomas Hertl followed up, evaded two defenders and scored short-handed at 17:14. While the crowd was still buzzing, Anaheim went back to their power play. Rickard Rakell scored off a nice pass through the blue paint from Silfverberg. Assists went to Silfverberg and Ryan Getzlaf.

At the end of the period, the teams were still tied 2-2 despite the Sharks’ shot lead of 26-9.

Kane and Hertl both had good chances in the first half of the third, but Gibson got in the way. Jones was less lucky at 8:02, when Brandon Montour skated in and scored with an almost casual backhand shot, giving the Ducks the lead. Assists went to Rakell and Getzlaf.

The Sharks looked like they were back to the opening minutes of the game, having trouble handling the puck and finding each other. Pete DeBoer changed the lines up a bit, putting Hertl with Meier and Thornton, and Kane with Pavelski and Hertl.

Logan Couture was called for interference at 10:08 of the third. It took the Ducks 13 seconds to score this time. Quick passes around the outside kept everyone moving, until Adam Henrique found an opening. The shot was not a hard one, it was just enough to slide under Jones without a fuss. Assists went to Silfverberg and Rakell.

In the final two minutes, DeBoer pulled Jones and put Hertl, Pavelski, Kane, Labanc, Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns on the ice. Couture replaced Labanc before the end, but no combination could score a goal. The Ducks scored into an empty net with 23.7 seconds to go for the win.

The Sharks next play in Los Angeles against the Kings on Friday at 7:30 pm PT.

Sharks feast on the Ducks to ultimately get 7-3 win

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Photo: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

ANAHEIM — The San Jose Sharks fell behind three times, but came up on top for their second straight victory over the Anaheim Ducks, 7-3, at the Honda Center Thursday night.

Anaheim came looking to even things up as they met San Jose for the second time in a row.  It was the first home game for the Ducks and first road game for the Sharks. Moreover, the Ducks kicked off their 25th anniversary on their turf.

On Tuesday, the Sharks were the 4-1 victors.

San Jose scored at least four goals for the second game in a row and have scored in each of their last five periods. Anaheim picked up their scoring since the previous game, but stalled after 7:01 of the second period. The Sharks followed with a five-goal streak. All of their goals on the night except the last one were scored by different players.

Antti Suomela scored the first and the last goal, playing in his second game straight out of Finland. He also had an assist during Kevin Labanc’s goal.

Suomela commented, “Last game was the first game in about four months so it’s always difficult, but tonight’s game was a little easier.”

Head coach Peter DeBoer commented on Suomela, “He makes plays and I know that sounds simple, but it is hard to create offense in this league and he finds a way to do that.”

Joonas Donskoi had a goal and two assists, Rourke Chartier had three straight assists, Labanc and Lukas Radil each had a goal and an assist, and 11 Sharks had at least a point.

For the Ducks, Ondrej Kase had two goals and Adam Henrique had two assists, both on Kase’s goals.

The two teams went scoreless on the power play. The Sharks were 0-for-3 and the Ducks were 0-for-1.

San Jose got the first power play at 2:18, but Anaheim got the first goal.

Henrique started the play on the other end by winning a faceoff and ended up feeding Kase from the boards as Kase found one of Aaron Dell’s holes at 4:53.

Just over a minute later, the Sharks evened the score in a bit of a similar fashion. Suomela won the faceoff and ended up tipping in Joakim Ryan’s shot from the blue line as the puck soared just above Ryan Miller’s left glove.

The next goal took a while. After several near chances which elicited gasps from the crowd, the Ducks finally broke through again when Jakob Silfverberg scored from the left faceoff circle at 16:57 to give Anaheim the 2-1 lead.

In the second, Labanc added a goal to his night’s repertoire at 4:53. Donskoi used nifty stick work and a slick pass to the right as Labanc took the puck inside the goalpost for the 2-2 tie.

A turnover cost the Sharks though. Giovanni Fiore intercepted the puck after it left Ryan’s stick and Kase again took the puck to their bank to take back the lead at 7:01.

The Sharks got another power play at 9:08, but were unable to convert.

San Jose scored the game’s first consecutive goals though when Radim Simek’s end line goal wormed its way under Miller and Jacob Middleton scored from in between the blue line and the right faceoff circle. It was Simek and Middleton’s first goals for the team, coming at 12:08 and 13:45 to give their first lead. Goodrow got his third assist during Middleton’s goal, which made the score 4-3.

The Sharks kicked off their three-goal third period at 11:31. Miller was unable to control the rebound off Chartier’s shot and it eventually found its way to Radil.

Donskoi and Suomela scored less than 30 seconds apart, starting at 16:27 to cap off the scoring.

On executing early on in preseason, the Ducks’ Josh Manson relayed, “At the end of the day, it comes down to structure and work ethic. They played a better structure than we did. That’s why they won the game.”

Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle pointed out, “San Jose did a good job of tracking and winning their fair share of battles…The score wasn’t indicative of the game. I think it was more like a one-goal hockey game than what actually happened out there.”

Up Next: The Sharks (2-0-0) and Vegas Golden Knights (2-0-0) will pit their perfect records against each other in a playoff rematch Saturday at 7 pm PST. Both teams scored seven goals apiece Thursday night.

Sharks rout the Ducks 4-1 in preseason game No. 1

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Photo credit: @SiriusXMNHL

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — No, the regular season hasn’t started yet, but the San Jose Sharks opened up the preseason at SAP Center versus the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.

For the Sharks, the recent acquisition of Ottawa Senators star defenseman Erik Karlsson might signal the dawn of a new era in San Jose. The Sharks welcomed Karlsson to San Jose with a full page color ad in Monday’s edition of The Mercury News. The Sharks reportedly will offer Karlsson an eight-year contract extension.

Karlsson revealed that he never wanted to leave Ottawa after a season full of controversy, but I’m almost certain that he’ll get comfortable with California now that he’s expected to practice with the Sharks on Wednesday.

In other news, Mike Hoffman’s fiancee, Monika Caryk, said she won’t sue Karlsson’s wife, Melinda Currey, over allegations of cyberbullying.

For the Ducks, there has been a lot of debating over questions surrounding their training camp. The Ducks’ recent trades may or may not change the balance of power in the Pacific Division, but I’ll wait for the regular season to start before commenting on that.

Anyhow, let’s get to the Sharks vs. Ducks preseason game.

Despite an action-packed first period, the game was in a scoreless tie. Shots were 14-6 in favor of San Jose.

Just moments after Gibson’s penalty expired, Brenden Dillon was called for tripping at the 16:30 mark of the second period. And, to make things worse, Anton Rodin gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with his first power play goal of the preseason at the 15:31 mark of the second period. Assists were handed to Corey Tropp and Brandon Montour.

But the Sharks bounced back nicely. Rourke Chartier scored the game-tying goal at the 12:23 mark of the second period. A lone assist was handed to Ivan Chekhovich.

The Ducks pulled Jared Coreau in favor of Kevin Boyle with 8:06 left in the second period. However, the Ducks’ decision didn’t work in their favor.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead with 4:35 left in the second period. Chekhovich scored his first goal of the preseason. A lone assist was handed to Barclay Goodrow.

The Sharks brought a 2-1 lead to the locker room following a gutsy second period. Shots were 29-15 in favor of San Jose.

The Sharks were feisty late in the third period. Barclay Goodrow tallied a goal–his first to extend the Sharks’ lead to 3-1 with 1:49 left in regulation. Assists were handed to Tim Heed and Radim Simek. Shortly after, Chekhovich scored his second goal of the game (and preseason) to expand the Sharks’ lead to 4-1. Assists were handed to Goodrow and Dylan Gambrell.

The Sharks defeated the Ducks 4-1 in their first preseason game of 2018.

Notes
Tonight’s attendance was 13,926.

Sharks’ roster 
Forwards: Dylan Gambrell, Marcus Sorensen, Barclay Goodrow, Joonas Donskoi, Antti Suomela, Vincent Praplan, Tomas Hertl, Lukas Radio, Sasha Chmelevski, Rourke Chartier, Kevin Labanc, Ivan Chekhovich and Maxim Letunov.

Defensemen: Brenden Dillon, Ryan Merkley, Joakim Ryan, Radim Simek, Nick DeSimone, Tim Heed and Jeremy Roy.

Goalies: Antoine Bibeau and Zachary Emond.

Up Next
The Sharks head to Anaheim to take on the Ducks in a preseason rematch on Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 pm PDT.

Sharks Sweep Ducks With 2-1 Win, Golden Knights Await in Round Two

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sliccardo

By Jerry Feitelberg

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks swept the Anaheim Ducks, winning 2-1 Wednesday night to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Team Teal draws the Pacific Division champions, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who capped a shocking regular season run with a sweep of the Los Angeles Kings to open their first postseason foray.

Tomas Hertl responded to an Anaheim third period goal with the game-winner just 1:16 later. Marcus Sorensen also scored his third goal of the playoffs for San Jose. Premature Conn Smythe candidate Martin Jones made 30 saves for his 19th career playoff win, allowing four goals over the four-game masterpiece.

Jones needed to be stingy, thanks to four Anaheim power plays but the North Vancouver native was locked in. The lone blemish on the netminder’s ledger came 7:53 into the final period as a result of lax defense.

Brent Burns failed to stop a zone entry from the Ducks that saw the Puck skitter down the boards into the corner to Jones’ left. Ryan Kesler dug the Puck free, catching Burns sagged too far off to prevent a centering pass from behind the net. Kesler connected with Andrew Cogliano just a few feet out in the slot for a jam shot past Jones.

Hertl responded, stymieing a momentum shift before it could take hold. His shot through traffic beat netminder John Gibson to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead with just under 11 minutes left.

The final moments of play proved tense, with the Sharks producing a number of near-misses with Gibson pulled for the extra attacker. Ultimately though, San Jose bled the clock out to wrap up a date with Vegas.

Coach Peter DeBoer’s Sharks weren’t expected to handily dispatch the Ducks after stumbling out of home ice in the first round with a 1-4-1 record over the final six games of the first round. The strengths that made the Sharks look a near-lock to host in the first round in Mid-March were on display throughout the first series of the playoffs, chiefly good goaltending and scoring depth.

Look no further than the Sharks first scorer Wednesday day. Marcus Sorensen appeared in just 32 games with the Sharks, scoring seven points. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s a point-per-game player. The winger scored his third goal of the series 5:43 into the game, given San Jose its eighth point from the fourth line alone this series. Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture also are all on a point-per-game or better run.

The Sharks will need all the team speed and scoring depth they can muster against a stingy Golden Knights team. Vegas allowed just three goals in its dismissal of the Kings, with Marc-Andre Fleury collecting a pair of shutouts to add to his already polished postseason resume. Both teams will be well rested as both teams need to wait for the other six series to wrap up before beginning play.