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Losing streak reaches five
games
Ducks beat SJ 4-3 in overtime
The Sharks started the month of March by winning
their first six games. Since then, they've done a complete about face and lost
5 in a row after dropping a 4-3 decision to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.
San Jose continued to sputter without regulars Erik Karlsson, Joe Pavelski and
Logan Couture. Special teams was particularly bad, surrendering two power play
goals for the second time in the last 24 hours.
San Jose battled back
from three separate one-goal deficits, only to allow Jakob Silfverberg to waltz
in to their zone and score on the first shot of overtime, just 38 seconds in to
the extra frame. The 3-on-3 overtime didn't favor San Jose who started the
period with Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl and Brent Burns on the ice. Burns is a
defensive nightmare, and Kane isn't a guy that's going to sell himself out on
the backend. Both Burns and Hertl backed up on Silfverberg, who crossed the
blueline and ripped a shot past Aaron Dell from 40 feet out. The Sharks pair
went wide, rather than cutting off Silfverberg's shooting lane, allowing for
the game winning blast.
Burns expanded on the dubious distinction of
being second in the league in giveaways when he coughed up the puck trying to
skate it out of his own zone. Ryan Getzlaf stripped the Sharks defenseman of
the puck, immediately sending it back into the Sharks zone in front of
Silfverberg. Rickard Rakell scooped up a drop pass from Silfverberg and ripped
a shot from above the right circle, catching the top left corner of the net for
his 12th goal of the season.
The Sharks flailed fruitlessly the rest
of the period, squandering a pair of power play chances gifted to them by the
Ducks.
Brent Burns wrapped up the period by taking a tripping penalty
himself, which carried over into the start of the 2nd period.
The
Sharks killed the Burns penalty, then tied the game at the 2:29 mark when Kevin
Labanc found the back of the net for his 14th goal of the season. Labanc
slipped to the slot when Marc-Edouard Vlasic fed a pass from the left wing
boards. The sharks forward gathered Vlasic's feed, then reared back and snapped
a shot pas John Gibson's left shoulder to tie the game at 1-1.
Anaheim
would only muster 4 shots on goal in the period, but the Sharks could not build
on Labanc's goal. San Jose clearly grabbed the initiative in the period, but
the goals just didn't come with it.
Joakim Ryan put the Ducks back on
the power play early in the 3rd period. Adam Henrique converted his 18th goal
of the season on the man advantage at 2:41.
Devin Shore was sent off
for slashing at 4:36 and the Sharks used the ensuing power play to convert the
chance into a goal when Timo Meier punched home his 28th goal of the season
after Joe Thornton fired a shot off Gibson from the left dot. Meier crashed the
front of the net as Thornton's got past Giblson, sitting in the crease just in
front of the left post. Meier reached behind Gibson to sweep home the Sharks
2nd goal of the game.
Referee Graham Skilliter influenced the outcome of the
game by gifting a power play to Anaheim late in the game when he called Melker
Karlsson for a phantom holding call. The Ducks converted when Rakell scored his
2nd goal of the game with 4:55 to play.
San Jose was left scrambling,
but defenseman Justin Braun came through when he pinched on the right side and
fired a deflection past Gibson for his first goal in 42 games. Braun last
scored against Montreal back on December 2nd.
The Ducks ended things
quickly in overtime to at least spare the Sharks from exerting any of the
energy they had preserved in regulation.
Game Notes:
*
Brent Burns set a Sharks franchise record for points by a defenseman with his
77th point of the season with his assist on Timo Meier's goal.
*
Justin Braun enjoyed his 600th career NHL game by scoring his 2nd goal of the
season.
* Gus Nyquist set a new career high with 55 points with his
secondary assist on Justin Braun's goal.
* Aaron Dell's record dropped
to 9-7-4 on the season, and doesn't appear to be a viable replacement to
address Martin Jones' recent struggles. Both goltenders are sporting save
percentages below .900 and goal against averages that are hovering around 3
goals per game. Those are not championship caliber metrics.
* The
mystery that is Joonas Donskoi continues to baffle. Donskoi skated a paltry
10:44 of ice time on 17 shifts, accounting for no shots on goal, 1 missed shot
and 1 giveaway.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
| ANA |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, ANA,
Rakell 12 (Silfverberg, Getzlaf), 7:58. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Labanc 14 (Vlasic, Sorensen), 2:29. |
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| 3rd period - 3, ANA,
Henrique 18 (Perry, Silfverberg), 2:41, (pp). 4, SJ, Meier 28 (Thornton, ),
6:29, (pp). 5, ANA, Rakell 13 (Fowler, Terry), 15:05, (pp). 6, SJ, Braun 2
(Vlasic, Nyquist), 17:20. |
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| Overtime - 7, ANA,
Silfverberg 23 (Rakell, Fowler), 0:38. |
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| 1st period - Manson, ANA
(interference), 9:40; Ritchie, ANA (hooking), 15:46; Burns, SJ (tripping),
19:39. |
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| 2nd period - Holzer, ANA
(slashing), 12:34. |
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| 3rd period - Ryan, SJ
(holding), 1:05; Shore, ANA (slashing, 4:36; Lindholm, ANA (interference),
8:19; M. Karlsson, SJ (holding), 14:14. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Dell |
21 |
17 |
| ANA - Gibson |
26 |
23 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
9 |
11 |
6 |
0 |
27 |
| ANA |
8 |
4 |
8 |
1 |
21 |
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| Referees: Meier,
Skilliter. Linesmen: Sericolo, Racicot. |
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