Tag: San Jose Sharks

Sharks win a wild one against Bruins

Published on by Ivan MakarovLeave a comment

By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — On some nights in the NHL, the teams play a tight checking game and excel on defense, producing only a few goals. Such was the case on Tuesday when Sharks beat the Flyers in the close contest and this is what they expected to be the case on Thursday against the Bruins, given the recent offensive struggles for both teams.

On Thursday, this was a complete opposite, with both clubs playing open hockey, and producing 11 goals. Sharks were on the winning side of it all, scoring season-high 7 goals and winning 7-4 after trailing multiple times in the game.

“I hoped we wouldn’t give up four, but I wasn’t hoping we would score seven,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “At least we came out on the positive side of it all.”

Tyler Kennedy, Tommy Wingels and Joe Pavelski scored two goals each for the Sharks, with Tomas Hertl contributing another one, while Antti Niemi made 20 saves in the net.

The game did not get off to a good start for the Sharks, with Bruins scoring twice early and holding that lead in all of the first period.

Sharks struggled to establish their game in the first 20 minutes, and it wasn’t until the second period when things started to click. Tommy Wingels scored 27 seconds into the second period when he redirected a puck from Vlasic who was shooting all the way from the blue line.

Sharks went on another power play just seconds later, didn’t score but carried the momentum into the shift right after their player advantage expired. Tyler Kennedy tied the game on a fluke of a goal when his backhand pass towards the net changed direction and bounced inside.

“It took us a little bit to get going,” said Sharks forward Joe Pavelski about that stretch in the game. “But once we got going, it was hard to stop us.”

Another penalty by the Bruins was followed by another goal by the Sharks – this time by Tommy Wingels again who was in front of the net and redirected a long range shot by Matt Irwin. The goal gave Sharks 3-2 lead in the game.

The lead was short lived, however, as Bruins came right back, with Reilly Smith scoring his second goal in the game right in front of Antti Niemi after a counter attack.

Bruins went on to take 4-3 lead after Torey Krug scored from above the face-off circle with four players crowding Niemi’s vision of the puck, but Sharks tied the game on their own power play few minutes later, with Joe Pavelski getting on the board as he pushed the puck in from inside the crease when Patrick Marleau got him a puck, making it 4-4 at 14:31 mark in the second period.

Tyler Kennedy gave the Sharks 5-4 lead at the start of the third period when he scored on a puck redirect on a shot from Matt Irwin.

Joe Pavelski doubled the lead for the Sharks half way through the third when teams were playing 4-on-4 and there was more ice to skate on. Pavelski took full advantage of that, picking up speed, flying right past Dougie Hamilton and squeezing the puck between Tuuka Rask pads, making the score 6-4.

With the way game went thus far, two goal lead didn’t seem to be safe until Tomas Hertl made it a three goal lead with 4:16 left to go in the game when he picked up a rebound behind the net, skated towards the crease and put it top shelf above Tuuka Rask with his backhand. With all the goals, this was no doubt the prettiest one.

Sharks finished their home stands with three wins in a row, and are going back on the road as they travel to Alberta to play the Flames and the Oilers before returning to face five game home stand.

Matt Nieto a last minute hero once again for the Sharks

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By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Sharks forward Matt Nieto must be a one patient player. Having scored a goal in the very game of the season, he had to wait two months to start scoring again. He worked and played hard during that dry stretch, and the coaches never lost their faith in him. All this is paying off, as he scored the most important goal for the Sharks in the second game in a row.

Much like in the last game against Anaheim Ducks, Nieto’s moment of the night against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers came at the very end of the game.

With the score tied 1-1 and only 12 second left to play before the end of the regulation, Sharks forward Patrick Marleau took away the puck at the Flyers blue line and brought it all the way near the net. He shot the puck on target, but Steve Mason made the safe. Tommy Wingels attempted to grab a rebound, but missed while taking out a defender with him. Mason was laying on the ice at that point and Nieto jumped first to the puck, putting it on what was almost an empty net.

“He made a tremendous read in the neutral zone, created a turnover and, it wasn’t the first follow up by Wingels, it was the second one,” noted Sharks head coach Todd McLellan in his post game comments. “So give him credit for sticking with it. I thought that was the way the night went.”

Nieto was likewise positive and grateful for how his play is turning out.

“Last game I got an empty-netter, and even though it didn’t seem like much, it was a huge confidence builder. [The goals] come in bunches, so I’ve been patient all year and just tried to stick to my game. [I’m] glad to see that it’s paying off the last two games.”

And Sharks did have to patient in this game, because they started out weak and did not look all that good for a while.

Flyers got an early lead in the game when their young forward Sean Couturier scored on the first power play of the game when Jason Sheppard was in the box. Couturier shot the puck high from just above the face off circle and it was a shot that proved to be too much for Antti Niemi.

Sharks had just six shots on the net in that period versus 16 for the Flyers.

They fixed some of the weaknesses in their game in the second period by playing a better transition game and being more physical, but it wasn’t until the the end of the second period that they finally tied the game on a goal by Marc-Edouard Vlasic who jumped into the attack when he got a great feed from Tommy Wingels, and put the puck top shelf from close range.

“I joined the rush, Wingels made a nice play and I put it in the back of the net,” recapped Vlasic. “I knew Giroux was behind me, so I knew I could jump up and beat him. And I did that.”

Sharks continued their physical play in the third period, but had to wait until the very end to turn the tables and earn the two points, despite having other scoring chances in that period, with none better than a breakaway attempt by Andrew Desjardins where he beat Mason but missed the net.

“We weren’t very good in the first period, I think that was obvious,” said McLellan. “But we stuck with it and got a little better as the night went on. Good to see those results.”

Sharks will finish the six game home stand on Thursday when they face off against the visiting Boston Bruins.

NOTES

– Logan Couture left the game early in the third period and did not return after an accidental collision with one of the Flyers players and what appears to be a hit to the head
– Sharks outhit the Flyers 38 to 27

Sharks drop third in a row at home

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By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — It’s been a rough season for San Jose Sharks so far. Facing a tough schedule in the first couple of months and spending a long time on the road, they have been inconstant and have yet to show that they are a powerhouse they used to be known as in the last several years. Going into the home matchup against Calgary Flames on Wednesday, they have lost three in a row, including the last two at home.

The season did not get any easier for them, as their slid continued with Flames earning the two points in 2-0 victory and Sharks dropping to a dismal 2-4-2 record at home, and putting themselves five points behind the third place in the Pacific division.

The game got off to a bad start from the get go, with Calgary Flames dictating the play and getting two great scoring chances on the very first shift. Antti Niemi was sharp and weathered the initial storm. As the game progressed, Sharks recovered and the game because even, with Sharks holding the puck more and holding a shot advantage.

The first goal in the game came towards the end of the second period when Flames forward Jiri Hudler broke through the middle of the Sharks zone on a well timed centering feed from TJ Brodie and put the puck above Sharks netminder Antti Niemi’s blocker. Niemi reacted but it was too late and Hudler scored his ninth of the season, giving his team a lead leading into the third period.

So far this season the Sharks did not have very many games when they won after trailing, being 24th in that category in all of the NHL. This game did not prove to be an exception, and even one goal game lead for the Flames proved to be too much. Sharks had their chances in the third period, perhaps their best, but the Flames played a strong defensive game, keeping the Sharks on the peremiter of their zone and blocking a lot of the shots. Whatever pucks reached the net, they were stopped by the stellar play of the Calgary’s backup goaltender Karri Ramo.

When the game came down to the last two minutes when teams usually pull their goaltender for an extra skater, Sharks did so but just to even out the number of players on the ice as Justin Braun was in the penalty box. Patrick Marleau did seem to have a scoring chance at that time as he broke through on the wing, but he missed the net on his shot and the puck skated all the way outside the Sharks zone, giving two Flames players an open net, with Hudler taking the shot and scoring his second of the night.

Both the coaches and the players felt disappointed after the game

“We’re a result based league and not happy with the results,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. “The effort was there. We had some opportunities to score, obviously. For whatever reason, they’re not going in. Defensively we didn’t give up much. I thought the weakest shift we had was the very first one when they got two or three scoring chances. After that we played pretty well defensively. Didn’t give up much.”

Joe Pavelski felt the same way, thinking they “had some good looks and maybe it didn’t feel as dangerous as it could’ve been at times and it’s just disappointing. We want to win; we want to get out of this. It’s the harder we try right now, the worse it’s going. So we’re probably not doing the right thing from guy to guy and we’ve got to find a way.”

Sharks next face Anaheim Ducks back at SAP Center on Saturday.

Sharks come back twice, but still lose to Panthers

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By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — After losing to one of the bottom teams in the NHL in Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday to cap off the seven game road trip, San Jose Sharks failed to return to their winning ways when they fell to another Eastern Conference outsider Florida Panthers, and this time at home. They twice came back from behind and did  salvage a point, but still lost 3-2 in the shootout.

What seemed like the turning point in the game came when there was only six minutes left to play and the scale was turning in the Sharks favor. Trailing the Panthers 2-1 in what was a close game up to this point, Patrick Marleau had two great chances to tie the game for the Sharks. First chance came on a breakaway when he used his speed and stick skills to blow past Florida defense and only had the netminder Roberto Luongo to beat. He had the momentum and the Tank was about to explode, but a stick from behind stopped Marleau right as he approached the net. The referee called a penalty shot and Marleau got to try his trick again. This time he went to his left (he was heading right on the previous place) but the puck got too close to Luongo who denied him with a poke check, leaving the Sharks trailing.

But Marleau got another chance to shine in the game.

With the home team desperate and their net empty for another skater, it was Patrick Marleau, again, and of all people, who came through and tied it at last on a pass from the corner by Joe Thornton from just below the face-off circle.

Sharks saved the point, but not the victory, as they fell in the shootout when Florida’s game hero Nick Bjugstad who already had two goals in the game to his name, helped Florida secure the victory with the game deciding shootout goal.

And that was not that much different from how the game went overall.

The contest got off to a rough start for the Sharks when it was Panthers who got on board first and early. It happened just 24 seconds in the game when the first puck went in from Bjugstad as a redirect of a long shot from Dmitriy Kulikov. It didn’t look all that dangerous but when the puck changed directions, it went into the net between Antti Niemi’s pads and it was likely too close for him to have the time to react.

Sharks tied the game close to halfway in the second period when Logan Couture scored his eighth goal of the season on the power play. Panthers penalty kill struggled on Tuesday against LA Kings, allowing three goals, and it continued to leak against the Sharks who generated multiple scoring chances just prior to the goal. Joe Pavelski was the one who put the original puck on the net, causing Roberto Luongo to spread on the ice trying to make a save, and it was Couture who pushed the rebound into an open net, breaking the ice for Sharks offense that look potent but unable to put one into the net up to this point.

But the Florida went on to score again towards the end of that period, when Bjustad lit the lamp with blast of a shot from just above the face-off circle, on a power play.

San Jose Sharks spent a lot of time on the road, and did show some rust at times on Thursday. But the next five games are still at home, and they will need to improve in their play and execution if they are to make the home stand a success. They will next face Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

Canucks beat Sharks at home

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by Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Resting since Saturday and preparing for a long seven-game road trip ahead, San Jose Sharks missed out on a chance to get any points at in their last home for a while, losing a close 3-2 contest to Vancouver Canucks.

Sharks lead the game twice, but Canucks tied it and when they took the lead, the home team ran out of time on the clock to tie it, literally.

Pulling their goaltender Antti Niemi out of the net for an extra skater, Sharks had an extra man advantage for the last 90 minutes of the game. They kept the puck away from Canucks and their best chances to score came within the last 10 seconds of the game when they put several shots on the net. The very last shot in the game by Joe Thornton appeared to have went into the net right before the buzzard went off signaling the end of the game. But the video replay showed that the time clock ran out right before the puck crossed the net.

“As far as I knew, the puck went in before the horn,” said Sharks assistant captain Joe Pavelski. “But it is whether the clock and the horn are on the same page, and they weren’t tonight.”

But the final score was not indicative of how the game went and both Sharks players and the coaches felt they deserved more.

“We probably feel like this one got away from us,” said Joe Thornton. “We felt we played good for the 60 minutes tonight and we felt like we deserved the two points.”

Sharks got on board first when Tomas Hertl opened on the left wing and got the pass from Tyler Kennedy. Hertl skated forward and sent a great pass from the wing and just below the face-off circle to James Sheppard who was parked in front of the net. Sheppard didn’t have much room to move around, but the pass was so good that it found his stick and an open net.

With less then a minute left in the first period, Vancouver tied the game at 1-1 when Radim Vrbata picked up a bouncing puck that flew past Joe Thornton along the board and took off on 2-on-1 breakaway. He did have an open pass to make, but decided to shoot it himself and the puck flew into the net.

Logan Couture helped the Sharks take 2-1 lead when he scored half way through the game, just 10 seconds into the Sharks power play. Sharks won the face-off, kept the puck inside the zone, and Pavelski found Couture in front of the net with a quick pass. Couture was at an uncomfortable angle, but managed to turn his stick behind him in such a way as to redirect the puck past Ryan Miller.

The Canucks did not take long to equalize, also on the power play when Tyler Kennedy was sent to the box for high sticking. With Sedins cycling the puck inside the zone, it made its way to Alexander Edler who shot the puck from up top. The heavy shot flew past everyone and Niemi did not react in time to stop it.

Former Shark draftee Nick Bonino scored towards the end of the second half as Canucks punished the Sharks for Tomas Hertl broken stick and the subsequent turnover. Sharks did not get enough time to regroup and Bonino scored his seventh goal of the season, giving his team the first lead in the game – and the one Sharks were never able to overcome.

“When you look at analytics, the possession numbers, the shot attempts and all that type of stuff – they were certainly in our favor, but that doesn’t put points in the bank,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “At the end of the night, they got three [goals], we got two. … We got to look at our game. Later on in the game we maybe tried to make some cute plays at the blue line that worked into [the Canucks] favor.”

Sharks now have losing 2-3 record at home, but McLellan did not appear to be too concerned with that, saying it is still a small sample.

“We need to be better at home, we know that. Most of the games have been one-goal games. We’ve led in some of them, which is disappointing. But now we have to focus on the road for the next two week and when we get back, we’ll have to get to work and start putting points in the bank.”

GAMES NOTES
– Sharks made changes to their active roster before the game by sending rookie forward Chris Tierney to Worcester Sharks and recalling Tyler Kennedy from Worcester where he was on a conditioning assignment. Kennedy missed the first part of the regular season with injuries and this was his first game with the San Jose Sharks this season. He looked sharp playing alongside James Sheppard and Tomas Hertl and their line was one of the best ones on the ice.

– Sharks defenseman Brent Burns and forward Tommy Wingels both won the honors of “Sharks Player of the Month,” as selected by the Sharks Foundation for their outstanding play during the first month of the season. Burns shared the lead in the league in points among all defensemen in the month of October at 13 (4 goals and 9 assists), while Wingels was tied for the first place in goals among all Sharks players, scoring 5. This was second such recognition for Burns during his career with the Sharks, and the first for Wingels.

Kings still too much for Sharks

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by Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — Playing their toughest opponent yet, the current Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and the team that eliminated them from playoffs in the memorable fashion last season, San Jose Sharks failed to impress and fell 4-1 at home.
It was a preseason game and Sharks head coach Todd McLellan benched a few key players, including Joe Pavelski, Marc Eduard Vlasic  and Justin Braun. But the Kings were also missing Marian Gaborik, Jarret Stoll, Jeff Carter and Tyler Tofolli, so on paper, the rosters looked evenly matched.

But it all came down to the Kings being more effective with their scoring chances, and more stingy in goal.

Joe Thornton opened the score in the game 88 seconds into it after a good puck possession inside the Kings zone. Sharks center got the puck from a rookie defenseman Taylor Fedun, paused and put it past Jonathan Quick.

Half way through the first period Drew Doughty tied the game at 1-1 on a great individual effort as he picked up the puck around center ice from Justin Williams, skated past two Sharks players and put it top shelf on Antti Niemi, scoring his first goal of the preseason.

Sharks could have taken the lead towards the end of the period when Patrick Marleau got out on a breakaway, but he was unable to shoot the puck as Kings’ defenseman caught up with him and blocked his stick at the same time as Marleau got close to the net.

Kings took the lead in the game early in the second period when Dustin Brown capitalized on the Sharks’ mistakes in their own end and put the puck high into the net. The Sharks were scrambling to get into the position unable to match the Kings speed on the zone entrance and it was too late.

Justin Williams doubled the lead and scored the third goal for the Kinds towards the end of the second period. He was the first on the rebound from the shot by Dwight King as LA players surrounded Antti Niemi. The follow up shot by Williams did not look all that strong, but it squeezed into the goal under Niemi’s pad.

Dwight King made it 4-1 for the Kings half way through the third period as he broke into the Sharks zone with speed on the left wing, and put the puck into the net above Antti Niemi’s shoulders who did not react fast enough.

On the positive side of things, Sharks rookies looked confident against a strong opponent, generating scoring chances and speed. Sharks looked faster on the transition and while entering the zone. On the negative side, Antti Niemi looked rusty and is in part to blame for the score, failing to save the Sharks when they needed him the most. Sharks were also sloppy with the puck giving it away 22 times vs just 9 giveaways for the Kings. The Sharks also allowed the Kings to outshot them at home 30-24 – not something that happened very often last season against any opponent.

The crowd also expected the game to be a bit more heated after the history between the two teams in the last post season, with Sharks blowing 3-0 lead in the series and allowing the Kings to beat them in the best of seven and go on to win the Stanley Cup. But overall the players kept their emotions and tempers in check, perhaps saving them for the regular season opener on Wednesday, October 8, when they meet again in Los Angeles. It’s preseason and not many are paying attention just yet, so why waste energy?

Sharks preseason games continue on Friday when they travel to Arizona to face the Coyotes.

Sharks suffer their worst playoffs exit yet

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By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — After many years of Stanley Cup playoffs disappointments, San Jose Sharks found a new way to end their season after making the playoffs once again.

After going up 3-0 in the series against the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks let the Kings climb back and take the series in Game 7, when LA won the game 5-1 at the SAP Center. LA Kings became just the fourth team in the NHL history to accomplish such a feat since the 7-game series format was introduced for the Stanley Cup playoffs back in the 1930s.

Devastated. Disappointed. Shocked. Upset. Low point.

These were some of the words heard again and again in post game interviews inside the Sharks dressing room. These are no doubt some of the emotions experienced by the Sharks fans as well that night.

And the Game 7 played out just like the previous four games won by the Kings. Stingy defense by LA, and a complete lack of offense and execution by San Jose, coupled with the outstanding game by Jonathan Quick.

Sharks scored the first goal in the game when Matt Irwin blasted a shot from the blue line early in the second period. But their lead did not last long as Kings tied the game four minutes later on a power play goal by Drew Doughty and played a solid defensive game for the remainder of the period. The big blow came towards the end of the period when Kings took 2-1 lead on a counter attack goal by Anze Kopitar.

When the Kings made it 3-1 on a goal by Tyler Toffolli early in the third period on an odd man rush, the home crowd loudly exhaled, knowing how hard the task became at hand. And the Sharks never came back, failing to score the rest of the game.

After scoring 17 goals in the first three games, Sharks scored only 5 in the remaining four. That’s the most telling stat of them all.

Special teams were once again terrible for the Sharks, giving up a power play goal, and going 0/6 on the man advantage.

So how did this all happen after going up 3-0 in the series and what happened to the offense?

“I think their defense just swallowed up our offense, to be honest with you,” said Sharks captain Joe Thornton. “They played real tight defensively, and their goaltender got really hot like he usually does this time of the year.”

Coach McLellan had similar thoughts.

“From the way I look at it, [the LA] fixed their problems,” he said after the game. “We didn’t. Our problems got progressively worse as we went along. We were awful off the rush. They scored I don’t know how many goals off the rush and we were awful around our net. Every day we came to the rink, we tried the stress that, but we were never able to fix that. It’s frustrating because during the year we’re pretty good in those areas.”

It’s hard to predict right now what changes the club is going to make in the offseason after another good regular season team ends their season early and without a championship. Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson job could be in danger, as he’s built every aspect of this team and still haven’t taken the Sharks into the Stanley Cup final while his neighbors Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings have all been there and have won the Cup. Todd McLellan’s future is also in question now, and he did admit after the game he’s in charge of this team and is to blame as well. Some of the players will no doubt change their home address to another NHL city.

These things happen to the teams that can’t win. But this win in particular will sting for a long time because of how close the Sharks were to advancing into the next round, and how far they let their game slip.

Sharks’s OT win breaks Kings’ home playoff win streak

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Photo credit: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

By Pearl Allison Lo

LOS ANGELES– Patrick Marleau scored his third playoff goal in Game 3 of this series to lead San Jose to a 3-0 series advantage with a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday.

Up until the Sharks’ win, the Kings had won all of their playoff games at home since June 11, 2012.

Besides two straight Los Angeles goals, the scoring went back and forth.

Marleau was aided by Scott Hannan at 6:20 in this much tighter game than the previous two. The goal was their only shot in overtime. Goalie Antti Niemi is now 12-2 in OT careerwise in the playoffs.

Teammate Logan Couture commented on overtime, “…they really took it to us for the first five minutes of that overtime, then we got a lucky bounce and that’s the way things go sometimes.”

On their second shot of the game and 11 seconds into their power play, San Jose’s Brent Burns scored at 3:16 of the first, helped by Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle.

The shot on goal margin for the Kings increased to 7-2, but they could not get the puck in the right spot.

The Sharks paid for a puck over the glass penalty by Jason Demers at 3:23 of the second. Los Angeles’s Tyler Toffoli was able to pass the puck just past Tommy Wingels, and Jarret Stoll shot right away to even the game at 1-1 at 4:48. Drew Doughty also assisted on the play.

The Kings’ Marian Gaborik then single-handedly intercepted one of the passes on his teams’ side and turned it into a 3 on 2 man advantage and goal at 7:59 for the 2-1 lead.

It was short-lived though. Marleau fished the puck out from alongside the boards and passed it to Jason Demers near the blue line. Demers then aimed at the net and Long Beach native Matt Nieto tipped in the puck, to even the game back up at two at 9:17. It was Nieto’s first career playoff goal.

Los Angeles got their fourth power play when James Sheppard was called for tripping. San Jose put the puck over the glass again, but the referees did not make the call.

The other half of Sheppard’s power play continued in the third. Seven seconds before it expired, Jeff Carter had a tip-in from Anze Kopitar and Doughty.

It took more than two power play opportunities following that goal, but three seconds after the second one at 9:17, Sharks’ rookie Tomas Hertl put the loose puck in, persisting several times after it went off goalie Jonathan Quick. Overall in the period, San Jose outshot the Kings 23-8. Hertl was aided by Wingels and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

The Kings’ head coach Darryl Sutter said, “It’s a tough field, and we won’t go away quietly.”

Game notes: The Sharks go for the sweep at Staples Thursday at 7:30pm.

Sharks blow out Avalanche for 50th Win

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By: Phillip Torres

SAN JOSE-The San Jose Sharks (50-22-9) hosted the Colorado Avalanche (52-22-7) on Friday night at the SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks defeated the Avalanche 5-1 in an offensive explosion for San Jose. Marty Havlat recorded a hat trick in the third period to give the Sharks some insurance goals and assure the win for San Jose.

The Sharks took the early 2-0 lead in the first period. Dan Boyle put San Jose on the board first with a goal at 3:01. Boyle’s wrist shot was assisted by Brent Burns and Joe Thornton. Patrick Marleau doubled the lead at 10:11 with a slap shot goal that was assisted by Logan Couture and Havlat.

Colorado scored their lone goal in the second period. Patrick Bordeleau scored on a wrist shot at 15:18 to prevent the shutout for Colorado. The loss for Colorado prevented them from clinching the Central Division title.

Havlat completely took over the third and final period as he registered his sixth career hat trick. Havlat scored at 5:26, 13:40, and 15:04. Havlat’s last goal on the night was scored on an empty netter. The Sharks will be back on the ice on Saturday as they will be hosted by the Phoenix Coyotes in the regular season finale. The puck will drop at 6:00 pm.

Ducks win Pacific; Sharks will face Kings

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Photo Credit: (USATSI)

By Pearl Allison Lo

ANAHEIM– The end of San Jose’s biggest game of the regular season equaled the Ducks’ second straight Pacific Division title, as the home team won for the last time this regular season series, 5-2 Wednesday.

The Sharks now know they will face a familiar Southern California foe in the playoffs, Los Angeles, for the second year in the row as well.

San Jose will have Joe Thornton, which was questionable as he crumbled near the end of the game. Afterwards, what happened was described as a “stinger,” as Coach Todd McLellan said “(Thornton) got hit up in the chest area.”

The game-winner was Patrick Maroon’s first career multi-goal game at 9:35 of the second and brought in goalie Alex Stalock. Teemu Selanne got his second assist and Hampus Lindholm chipped in on the attack. The Ducks never looked back afterwards. Rookie goalie John Gibson won his second game in a row and stopped 36 shots.

The team’s first power play opportunities came almost simultaneously. 15 seconds after the interference penalty to San Jose’s Brent Burns ended, Anaheim was called for too many men on the ice.

Gibson was able to fight off shots by Jason Demers earlier, but Demers broke through at 18:17 of the first, to score the game’s first goal. Joe Pavelski aided on the goal.

The Ducks’ Corey Perry, however, went stick to stick with Justin Braun and tied the game with three seconds left in the first period. Matt Beleskey and Francois Beauchemin got the assists.

Three individual mini fights broke out to cap the end of the first period and led to a Sharks’ power play to start the second period.

Anaheim got their first lead when Selanne passed the puck to Maroon. Maroon then went around the net chased to make the game 2-1 at 3:32 of the second.

17 seconds after San Jose killed their second penalty, Logan Couture re-tied the game at two at 7:23.

The Sharks’ goalie change didn’t halt the Ducks, as they moved further ahead when Beleskey got Perry’s rebound off Stalock. It was the game’s first two-goal margin at 16:46.  Ryan Getzlaf had the second assist.

Beleskey then went in the box with 24.8 seconds left and San Jose started the third period on the power play again.

Demers ran into Stalock who fell backwards and hit the goalpost. After he was down and later came back up again, Stalock was called for delay of game for the puck going beyond the glass at 12:35.

It looked like a 6 on 4 with 2:44 left, but Gibson came back and Jakob Silfverberg scored a shorthanded empty net goal at 18:22. Andrew Cogliano got his 20th assist.

Both teams were coming off 3-0 games as Anaheim killed all five of the Sharks’ power plays.

Game notes: The Sharks’ Bracken Kearns played after returning from Worcester Tuesday. Before the game, it was announced that the Ducks’ Luca Sbisa would not play because of an upper body injury. San Jose’s Marty Havlat and Raffi Torres were also ruled out. Anaheim’s Cam Fowler returned from his mid-March knee injury.  The Sharks’ second to last regular season game will be Friday at 7p versus the Colorado Avalanche.