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Duck hunt nets the Sharks 5th
straight win
Three 3rd period goals paces 5-3
victory
November is all about home cooking for San Jose,
but they did break things up on Thursday night with a quick jaunt down to
Southern California to take on the Anaheim Ducks. The two teams traded goals in
each of the first two periods, before San Jose jumped out to a 2-goal lead in
the 3rd period on big power play and short-handed goals. San Jose would go on
to win 5-3 and extend their current win streak to 5 games. The win also pulls
the Sharks to within a win of a .500 record, which is a major accomplishment
given the horrific start to the season.
The win also pulled the Sharks
to within 3 points of a playoff spot. Granted it's only November, but to pull
to a top 8 spot after they buried themselves in October means things are headed
in the right direction.
Anaheim was ripe for the picking, having gone
3-5-2 over their previous ten games. Anaheim now sits just one point ahead of
San Jose in the 11th spot in the Western Conference. There are still 5 Pacific
Division teams ahead of San Jose in the standings, but the Sharks are starting
to chip away at those leads.
Ranked 27th in the league, the Ducks have
had a tough time scoring in the opening period this season. That didn't stop
Rickard Rakell, who scooped up a failed clearing attempt 1:09 into the game and
snapped it past Martin Jones for his 6th tally of the season. Defenseman Radim
Simek tried to clear the puck from the left wing boards, but his attempt hit
referee Kevin Pollock in the skates, allowing Rakell to intercept it. Rakell
then skated toward the Sharks net, using Simek to screen Jones, lifting his
shot to the top left corner.
The Sharks tied the game up less than 6
minutes later, but only after a review. Tomas Hertl found himself facing the
net from the left post when a Barclay Goodrow shot deflected off Ducks
goaltender John Gibson. Hertl pushed the puck across the goal line, but
Gibson's right leg pad obscured it from the on-ice officials. Play continued,
but a review at the next whistle clearly showed that the puck fully crossed the
goal line.
The Sharks out-shot the Ducks 11-10, but had more quality
chances in the opening frame.
Penalties bit the Sharks in the 2nd
period. After killing a pair of minor penalties in the period, San Jose could
not stop Jakob Silfverberg, who punched home a feed out in front of Jones after
Brent Burns was sent off for tripping at 12:39. The Ducks entered play with one
of the worst power play units in the league, but they found away to put one
past the league's top penalty kill.
The Sharks drew even once again
with 1:32 left in the period when Hertl ripped a shot from the same spot as
Rakell on the edge of the rights circle near the slot, beating Gibson to the
top left corner. Timo Meier hit Hertl with a pass from the end boards to earn
his 8th assist of the season.
Patrick Marleau just missed on a wrap around chance
6:37 into the 3rd period, after he whipped around the back of the net from left
to right.
A Derek Grant holding the stick penalty moments later setup
a big power play opportunity. Things started precariously for San Jose, who
gave up two good scoring chances to Anaheim with the man-advantage. The second
was a 2-on-none chance that Jones denied.
The Sharks gathered the puck
then headed up ice when Brent Burns ripped a shot that beat Gibson to give the
Sharks their first lead of the night.
A Dalton Prout hooking penalty
put the Sharks back on their heels at 9:10, but the penalty kill turned the
tables on Anaheim. Logan Couture intercepted the puck at center ice, then raced
up the left wing before flipping a backhand pass to Evander Kane on the off
wing for an easy tap in. The goal was Kane's 12th of the season, and it gave
the Sharks the two-goal cushion.
Anaheim cut the Sharks lead to 4-3
with 4:10 left in regulation when Max Jones whipped a shot from the slot, which
deflected off Simek's skate enough to fool Jones.
Ducks head coach
Dallas Eakins pulled Gibson with 1:40 left in regulation, but was forced to
re-insert him in net after a high touch was called on Anaheim, moving the
faceoff to center ice. The Ducks won the faceoff and moved the puck into the
Sharks zone, but Logan Couture stepped in front of a pass, deflecting it into
the neutral zone where he was able to track it down and race up ice
uncontested.
The Sharks captain was three strides to the goal when he
picked a corner and snapped a shot past Gibson to push the lead back to 2-goals
with 39 seconds left in the game to ice the win.
Game
Notes:
* Tomas Hertl's goal gave him a 5-game goal scoring streak,
which is the longest of his career.
* Hertl left the game with about 4
minutes left in regulation and did not return. Hertl injured his left knee last
season, but it was not clear if he aggravated the injury.
* Dylan
Gambrell was the only Sharks forward not to record a shot on goal. San Jose
generated 35 shots. Three skaters had 4 shots each.
* The game marked
the 1000th home game for Anaheim since they entered the league in 1993.
* Evander Kane's short-handed goal was the first scored by the Sharks
in the 3rd period of a game since Patrick Marleau did it in 2011. It was the
first 3rd period shortie scored on the road since 2006.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
| ANA |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, ANA,
Rakell 6 (Silfverberg), 1:09. 2, SJ, Hertl 9 (Goodrow, Meier), 6:47. |
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| 2nd period - 3, ANA,
Silfverberg 9 (Henrique, Rakell), 13:00, (pp). 4, SJ, Hertl 10 (Meier), 18:28.
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| 3rd period - 5, SJ,
Burns 5 (Kane, E. Karlsson), 8:05, (pp). 6, SJ, Kane 12 (Couture), 10:32, (sh).
7, ANA, Jones 2 (Rowney, Steel), 15:50. 8, SJ, Couture 3 (unassisted), 19:21.
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| 1st period - Gudbranson,
ANA (cross checking), 2:36; Prout, SJ (fighting major), 7:33; Deslauriers, ANA
(fighting major), 7:33. |
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| 2nd period - Labanc, SJ
(slashing), 4:18; Bench, SJ (faceoff violation), 6:16; Burns, SJ (tripping),
12:39; Jones, ANA (tripping), 13:56. |
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| 3rd period - Grant, ANA
(holding the stick), 6:42; Prout, SJ (hooking), 9:10. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
32 |
29 |
| ANA - Gibson |
35 |
30 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
11 |
9 |
15 |
35 |
| ANA |
10 |
11 |
11 |
32 |
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| Referees: Pollock,
Kozari. Linesmen: Baker, Knorr. |
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