Ducks vs Sharks RECAP: The Night He Stolarz Hearts
After what was a wildly uneventful day, the Anaheim Ducks (12-23-7) took on the San Jose Sharks (18-18-4) at SAP Center in northern California. The last time these two teams met, the Ducks lit up the Sharks 5-1 and would suffer the consequences as that win likely put Ottawa ahead of the Ducks in the waiver order, thus missing out on Victor Mete. Let's be honest though...Bob Murray probably didn't want Mete since he had his eye on Haydn Fleury. Big fish, amirite?
With the departure of two active defensemen, the Ducks lineup looked a little different as Andy Welinski and Jacob Larsson drew back into the lineup. Andrew Agozzino also got the nod for this game as Ryan Getzlaf was held out for a minor injury and Anthony Stolarz started in net with Gibson taking the full night off.
FIRST PERIOD
Immediately off the faceoff, San Jose got things going quickly as Ryan Donato snuck past Josh Manson and got a scoring chance less than 10 seconds into the period. Great.
It wouldn't take long for the Ducks to respond though. Max Comtois would lead an outnumbered attack and send a pass behind him to Derek Grant who had just entered the zone. Grant sent a shot-pass right back to Comtois at the far post for an easy tap-in goal. The Ducks got an early start trying to get Martin Jones his seventh pull (!!) of the season. Ducks took an early 1-0.
This game went a little back and forth as each team got high-quality chances. Rickard Rakell looked like a man who was happy he didn't have the uproot in the middle of a pandemic, nearly dangling a defender to the grave. The Sharks also nearly had a goal, but luckily the goal post had a different idea.
In a weird sequence of events, the Ducks were gifted with an own goal. Sam Carrick slipped a pass toward a streaking Alexander Volkov, but it was intercepted by Tomas Hertl, so Volkov did the only thing he could do. He took a swipe at Hertl's stick and the puck shot toward the San Jose goal and right in past Jones. This is what happens when you're savvy with cap space and help public enemy #1, Vegas Golden Knights. Ducks doubled their lead to 2-0 halfway through the first period.
Unlike other games where the other team scores immediately after the Ducks do, Anaheim decided to flip the script and kept things rolling. Jacob Larsson sent a shot from the blue line, but Jones can't control the rebound which falls right to Adam Henrique. Henrique wraps around the back of the net, sent a pass to the front of the crease where Volkov got an easy tap-in for his second goal of the game. Great pass from Henrique and anticipation from Volkov to dive toward the net. Ducks scored their third goal of the opening period, 3-0.
The scoring would stop there as the first period ended with the Ducks leading 3-0. The shots were even, but Anaheim dominated that period. Anthony Stolarz held his own and flashed the glove a couple of times in great fashion.
SECOND PERIOD
At the start of the second period, Ryan Donato skated right past Manson and was able to get a glorious scoring chance toward a sprawling Stolarz. Max Jones was able to get a stick on the hands to interrupt the shot attempt but would be called for hooking. Anaheim would kill off the penalty with only a single scoring chance going off the post.
Immediately following some chaos in front of Stolarz, the Ducks get an odd-man rush with Max Jones fresh out of the penalty box. Jones sent a pass to the far post for a waiting Volkov, but he was unable to get his stick on it. Volkov was just inches away from a hat trick.
Overall this period was the exact opposite of the first period as the Ducks thought it would be nice to let the Sharks have a little bit of a chance. Thankfully Stolarz played out of his mind and kept the Sharks off the board. The Ducks finished the period with only 3 recorded shots on goal to San Jose's 17. Oh, and they still had 30 seconds left on the powerplay to start the next period. So there's that.
THIRD PERIOD
A few minutes into the third period, Agozzino slipped a nifty pass behind Brent Burns right onto the stick of Rickard Rakell. Rakell fought off Burns and picked the top corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season. The Ducks continue their offensive onslaught with another goal, 4-0 Ducks.
Moments later, Patrick Marleau snuck a pass right to Rudolfs Balcers who was alone against Stolarz, but his backhand attempt went straight into Stolarz's glove. What a huge save.
Anaheim continued to get some chances, but they also gave the Sharks every opportunity to ruin the shutout for Stolarz. Whether it was Manson losing an edge or a turnover directly in front of the net, the Ducks made things difficult for themselves.
Larsson took an untimely penalty for cross-checking, but Anaheim did well to interrupt the zone entries. Timo Meier let it rip from the right dot and hit the third post of the game. That was the only opportunity for the Sharks as the penalty ended leaving the score at 4-0.
With under five minutes left in the game, Manson was called for cross-checking and sent the Sharks to their fifth powerplay of the game. Anaheim’s penalty kill once again locked down the San Jose power play until Marleau was sent off for tripping. The time on both penalties expired and the Ducks were victorious in this matchup against the Sharks. Anthony Stolarz was stellar with the 46-save shutout setting a franchise record for saves in a shutout.
QUICK OBSERVATIONS
Anthony Stolarz was amazing tonight. The Sharks aren’t a powerhouse, but they aren’t pushovers either. Stolarz was solid throughout the entire game even when the team in front of him wasn’t. He came up with huge saves and kept his team in the lead. What a game, what a night for Stolarz.
Alexander Volkov had a solid game with 2 goals and could have easily had a couple more. He gets into the soft spots and has shown good instincts on the ice so far. He could be a valuable piece of the puzzle moving forward.
Sam Carrick adds another assist to bring his total to four points in 5 games with only an average of 13 minutes of TOI. Carrick deserves to be with the big club for the rest of the season. There is plenty of space on the Sam Carrick Bandwagon, so please join me.
With Ben Hutton and Jani Hakanpää moved out earlier today, Andy Welinski and Jacob Larsson got the open slots. It will be interesting to see who else gets a look. Would love to see Josh Mahura get an extended look.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"Brent Burns is not playing a lot of defense in this game." - Brian Hayward
The Ducks hit the ice for their season series finale against the Sharks on Wednesday at 7:30 PM PDT. We will see you then!