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Duck's agenda sets
tone
Anaheim's playoff urgency results in 5-2 white
washing
The hungrier team left HP Pavilion with two points
on Saturday night, and that team wasn't wearing teal. After an entertaining 25
minute intro, the Sharks packed it in defensively and let the Anaheim control
the ice in a 5-2 white washing before a sellout crowd. The Ducks top line of
Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan feasted on the Sharks, combining for 3
goals and 5 assists to hand the Sharks only their 4th regulation loss at home
this season.
Fighting for a playoff birth, the Ducks have gone 9-1-0
in their last 10 games to vault past the St Louis Blues, Nashville Predators
and Minnesota Wild to grab the 7th seed in the Western Conference. No team has
been hotter over that stretch and combined with a Sharks roster that played
complacent hockey on Saturday night, it was easy to see who the hungrier team
was.
Jeremy Roenick summed it up in three words. "They played well,"
said the veteran centerman. "We came off a very emotional road trip and didn't
perform the way we're supposed to. We have to come into our building and use it
as a positive. We have to get better and realize that other teams are playing
in playoff mode." Getzlaf stole the show, assisting on 4 of Anaheim's 5
tallies, including highlight reel feeds on Ryan's first goal of the night and
Selanne's back breaker late in the 2nd period. Anaheim jumped out to an early
2-0 lead, only to see the Sharks claw back with a pair of their own goals.
Ryan jammed home a backhand feed from Getzlaf from behind the net at
2:47 of the opening period after James Wisniewski sent a shot in that was
deflected behind thenet. Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov thought the puck was
on its way to the right corner, so he slid over to cover the appropriate post.
Getzlaf pounced on the puck and sent a backhanded no-look pass to Ryan on the
opposite side for the deposit.
Perry put a slap shot past Nabokov for
his 40th of the season 3 minutes later from the top of the right circle.
Anaheim cycled the puck into the San Jose zone before Getzlaf hit Perry heading
toward the net from the blueline.
The Sharks made things interesting
by clawing their way back.
Joe Thornton made it 2-1 midway through the
period after Dan Boyle carried the puck up ice then had it poked away by
defenseman Chris Pronger, who ended up chipping it back to the trailing Sharks
centerman. Thornton scooped it up just inside the blueline then cranked a shot
past Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller after taking two strides toward the net.
Milan. Michalek tied it 4:07 into the 2nd period on a power play
chance after Ryan Whitney took an interference penalty. Christian Ehrhoff
carried the puck from deep in the Sharks zone then flipped the puck forward to
Michalek at the blueline, where the Sharks winger roofed a 35 foot shot past
Hiller.
That would be the closest San Jose would come to the taking a
lead in this game.
"I don't think we used our legs tonight," said
Thornton. "We didn't skate very well I thought for pretty much the whole game.
It's disappointing, but have a chance to redeem ourselves right back tomorrow
night." Mike Brown put the Ducks back on top 4 minutes after Michalek's goal
after the Sharks got caught chasing the puck. Erik Christiansen forced a
turnover behind the Sharks net as he skatd from right to left, then flipped a
pass out into the slot where Brown was cutting to snap a shot off Nabokov's
glove and into the net.
Teemu Selanne put the Ducks back up by a pair
of goals with 2:21 remaining in the period after offsetting penalties had he
teams skating 4-on-4. Getzlaf carried the puck over the blueline and hit
Selanne with a perfect pass as the winger cut in front of Nabokov. Selanne got
a stick blade on the puck, chipping it past the Sharks netminder and the Sharks
comeback had fully evaporated.
"They controlled the play for the most part of the
game and dictated that from us not skating," said Rob Blake. "They're hungry to
get in [to the playoffs] and we have to match that intensity. It was a lot of
what we did tonight." Sharks shot themselves in the foot by putting a red hot
Ducks power play unit out on the ice. Ryan converted on a Rob Blake hooking
penalty with 6:46 remaining in the game on another bang-bang pass in front of
Nabokov. Once again Christensen setup the goal with a laser to the front of the
net.
"We weren't there mentally or physically," said Sharks head coach
Todd McLellan. "That's a dangerous recipe. When we finally started to skate,
which was later on in the game, we didn't make passes and that slowed us down
again. One of the coaches said, 'at this time of the year, you earn your wins,'
and they did. Give them credit. They played an extremely good game. Their top
players were their top players tonight." Game Notes:
Boyle's
assist on Thornton's goal gave the defenseman the franchise record for assists
in a season by a blueliner. The mark was previously held by Sandis Ozolinsh.
Michalek's power play tally extended the Sharks franchise mark for consecutive
games with at least one goal on the man-advantage. Evgeni Nabokov also recorded
an assist on the goal, the first point for a Sharks goaltender this season.
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What did you
think of this game? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| ANA |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, ANA,
Ryan 29 (Getzlaf, Perry), 2:47. 2, ANA, Perry 30 (Getzlaf, Pronger), 5:46. 3,
SJ, Thornton 25 (Boyle), 9:35. |
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| 2nd period - 4, SJ,
Michalek 23 (Ehrhoff, Nabokov), 4:07, (pp). 5, ANA, Brown 2 (Christensen),
8:07. 6, ANA, Selanne 26 (Getzlaf), 17:39. |
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| 3rd period - 7, ANA,
Ryan 30 (Christensen, Getzlaf), 13:14, (pp). |
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| 1st period - R.
Neidermayer, ANA (elbowing), 19:56. |
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| 2nd period - Whitney,
ANA (interference), 3:02; Mikkelson, ANA (roughing), 16:57; Michalek, SJ
(roughing), 16:57. |
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| 3rd period -
Blake, SJ (hooking), 11:59; PRonger, ANA (interference), 16:56. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| ANA - Hiller |
30 |
28 |
| SJ - Nabokov |
28 |
23 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| ANA |
8 |
11 |
9 |
28 |
| SJ |
11 |
12 |
7 |
30 |
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| Referees: Jackson,
Watson. Linesmen: Sharrers, Shewchyk. |
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