Ducks vs Sharks RECAP: Ducks Play Spoiler in San Jose
The Anaheim Ducks (11-21-7) took the ice against their rivals up north, the San Jose Sharks (17-16-4). While the only goal Anaheim has is the lottery draft, San Jose is right in the thick of the standings sitting five points behind the Arizona Coyotes with a couple of games in hand, so this game is much more important for them. The Sharks entered tonight with a 4-game win streak while the Ducks were building on their 3-game losing streak. With all of the injuries that the Ducks are dealing with, this game should be pretty easy for a team with playoff hopes, right? Let's see what happened!
FIRST PERIOD
Just five minutes into the period, the Ducks would score first. After regrouping in the defensive zone, Kevin Shattenkirk flipped a pass in the neutral zone to Danton Heinen. Heinen caught the puck, dropped it at his skates, and sent a perfect pass to a streaking Adam Henrique. Henrique had plenty of time to pick his spot and sent a snipe past Martin Jones. Ducks took the early lead, 1-0.
With that goal, Henrique took the lead for goals scored with his 11th tally. Maybe the Ducks will put everyone on waivers because it obviously works.
Anaheim continued the momentum deeper into the period. Alexander Volkov made a nice cut through the neutral zone and dropped a pass to Max Comtois. Off an errant pass, Volkov ended up with the puck to the right of Jones and sent a quick pass to Sam Carrick planted right in front. Carrick got a nice whack at it, but Jones made a great save to keep the Ducks off the board.
Immediately after, Carrick got mixed up with Jeffrey Truchon-Veil and dropped the gloves. Carrick got a couple of good hits in, but had blood everywhere, likely from his own visor. Good scrap.
With less than a minute left, Kevin Labanc was sent off for grabbing Isac Lundestrom's stick right. Turns out, you can't get away with that when you're that close to a referee. Who knew? The period ended halfway through the powerplay with no solid chances.
SECOND PERIOD
The Ducks opened the second period with the remaining penalty time from the previous period. Drysdale found a little open space and sent a shot pass to Comtois on the far post for the easy tap-in goal. Ducks lead 2-0.
In spectacular Anaheim Ducks fashion, Josh Manson took a slashing penalty immediately after the goal sending the Sharks to the man advantage. The Sharks won a puck battle in the corner and sent the puck to Erik Karlsson who pump-faked, sent a soft pass to Labanc who quickly set up a one-timer for Patrick Marleau. The tic-tac-toe play was more than enough to beat John Gibson who was caught way out of position. Sharks cut the lead down to 2-1. Pretty play.
As if two quick goals weren't enough, the Ducks struck yet again on a broken play at the net starring Martin Jones. David Backes took a sharp-angled shot and Jones thought he had the puck covered. Josh Manson got his stick in there to get the loose puck, went around the back of the net, and set up Isac Lundestrom for his sixth goal of the season. The Ducks took a two-goal lead for the second time tonight.
Anaheim kept the pressure on the Sharks. Troy Terry received a pass at the blue line and made a nice cut through the defense. He took a shot that bounced of Radim Simek and straight to Nicolas Deslauriers who had a wide-open net. No chance for Jones on this and the Ducks capitalized on a lucky bounce. Ducks increased their lead, 4-1.
A great period for the Ducks. They won the fight for the neutral zone and did their best to tilt play toward the offensive zone.
THIRD PERIOD
In the first minute of play, Jamie Drysdale was called for a holding penalty, which could have easily been a holding the stick call against Logan Couture. The Sharks only had one dangerous opportunity and the Ducks penalty kill kept their lead intact.
Derek Grant applied pressure at the blue line and got a 2 on 0 breakaway with none other than his best friend, Deslauriers. It went exactly as you would have expected — no goal.
Just to keep things spicy, the Sharks decided to pull Martin Jones with over seven minutes left. It did not work. Grant got the puck to Deslauriers at the blue line and he got it over to David Backes for the empty-net goal. **Insert “are you not entertained?” GIF**
The Ducks would go on to win this game in spectacular fashion. For a team that struggles to score, posting five goals against another California team is always a plus.
Quick Observations
For a team on its way to a high draft pick and missing the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Rickard Rakell, and Hampus Lindholm, this team found a way to light up the San Jose Sharks. Great showing from a young team.
With five goals on the board, the Ducks had 13 (!!) different players register points tonight. That’s a great distribution of production!
Don’t look now! Sam Carrick has a goal and an assist in his two games with the Ducks this season. He’s a career AHLer, but it’s very easy to root for him whenever he gets a shot with the big club.
John Gibson put in another great performance between the pipes. He made some big saves and most importantly, he looked happy. Great game all around.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
When asked about Sam Carrick’s impact in the post-game interview…
“He’s taking all my fights.” - Nicolas Deslauriers
The Anaheim Ducks get back out on the ice against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday at 7pm PDT. We will see you then!